Tweaking for Speed

With testing out of the way, I endeavored to see if these sticks have any headroom. For Intel, I kept the same procedure I have been using: I used the XMP profile and increased the operating frequency until the system lost stability. After finding that limit, I manually tweaked for both the maximum frequency and lowest possible timings. Voltage modification from stock is allowed. After all, this is overclocking!

The 11th Gen Intel Core processor paved the way for things to come. The introduction of the memory controller Gear Ratio allowed the system memory to run in synchronous 1:1 mode with the CPU memory controller, or in a 2:1 ratio. With the release of Intel's 12th Gen Alder Lake based processors came DDR5 support and the additional 4:1 ratio.

1:1 ratio generally falls between 3600 and 4000 MT/s for Alder Lake CPUs. This is completely dependent on the CPU memory controller and supporting voltages. In rare instances, higher-end motherboards can increase this slightly and offer better overall compatibility due to trace length, PCB layer count and memory training. My Intel Core i9-12900K maxes out at DDR4 4133 MT/s, which is rare if going by the sheer number of forum posts about many struggling to reach 3800 MT/s. It is safe to say that anything greater than 3600 MT/s in a 1:1 ratio will require some hands-on tuning.

DDR5 has a higher operating frequency and dual 32-bit data bus, synchronously operating it in 1:1 is unlikely to function at all. That only leaves 2:1 Ratio and above as a viable option for any DDR5-based setup. The motherboard should automatically switch to the 2:1 ratio. If all else fails, you can manually set this in the BIOS. With this information, Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake paired with DDR5 will gain the most from the highest-possible frequency until the 2:1 ratio is not longer possible. At that point the cycle starts over again with a 4:1 ratio being beneficial to only certain applications that need the increased overall bandwidth DDR5-8000+ can provide.

Intel Results

Being that this particular memory kit uses Micron ICs, in which case heavy overclocking was out of the question. Instead of going to the limits of what Micron DDR5 can execute, I took a different approach and used one of the pre-defined Micron profiles in the ASUS Z690 Hero BIOS. Normally I don't recommend applying these profiles because often they often have high voltages applied and if you are not careful, can damage the CPU or the memory itself.

After this assessment of potential danger from using a predefined overclocked profile, It was deemed safe to at least try as the set voltages would not cause damage. This overclocking brought the memory up to 5400 MT/s with a modest voltage increase to 1.25 V. Adjustments to the primary and secondary timings were applied as well. This turned out quite well. I wouldn't buy this memory in the hopes to get some heavy overclocking. However, you are feeling up to the task, 5400 MT/s should be doable with a bump to the voltage. Just keep in mind that no overclock is ever guaranteed and can void your warranty or leave you with an unstable system.

Note: All memory overclocks passed Karhu stress test 2000% or more.