Now that we have benchmarked this memory and performed a bit of overclocking, it's time to go over what Netac brings to the market with its Shadow II DDR5 memory kit. This should be a fairly short wrap up since there isn't much to talk about. In any case, we will stick with the standard format by beginning with what Netac could improve upon and finish on a positive note.

For those who are already up to date on DDR5 reviews will find that this Netac Shadow II DDR5-4800 16 GB kit benched exactly as expected of any 4800 MT/s memory kit. It conservatively follows the JEDEC specifications for maximum compatibility, which isn't always a negative characteristic. Viewing game benchmarks, the difference in frame rate can be fairly large in this "non performance" grade when compared to "enthusiast" grade memory. This gap widens at lower graphical settings as the CPU becomes the lowest denominator. For example, if the CPU is waiting for the graphics card to finish the rendering, no extra frames will be gained by a higher binned memory kit. The opposite can happen as well. If the graphics card is waiting for the processor to finish the current calculations, any additional means to decrease the frame-time would only occur if calculations can be completed in a shorter time. This of course can be offset by a faster processor/faster system memory in some instances. That being said, understanding if your system is CPU or GPU bound is the key component here. A memory kit geared toward gaming with ultra-low timings and higher frequency will have little performance gains if the CPU isn't the limiting factor.

When you have limited funds, sacrifices must be made to keep within the given budget and here we have a 16 GB kit in 2022. This amount of memory is still okay for strictly gaming with minimal background software running. Unfortunately bloatware is everywhere, which means 16 GB may not be suitable for users who do not tweak the software installed on their PC. Since DDR5 is still in the early adoption phase, even the most basic memory kits like this one can be a bit overpriced for the performance, when comparing to DDR4. For Intel, users still have a choice, for AMD's upcoming platform, DDR5 will be the only option. Therefore, it is highly suggested to shop around, see what options are available in your personal price range.

Netac does a number of things right here. The company offers a lifetime warranty policy. The Shadow II DDR5-4800 kit also follows the JEDEC specifications of 4800 MT/s and operates at 1.1 V. This is perfect for those who like sticking with official guidelines from CPU manufacturers. In this example, since Intel is currently the only supporter of DDR5, the 12th Gen Core processors officially only support up to DDR5-4800. Above this frequency is considered a system overclock by Intel. As for AMD, it is unknown currently at this time, but chances are, it will be a similar value as well.

When it comes to a basic set of DDR5 memory, this is it. As said, before this isn't a bad thing, but it's not going to get any sort of special praise. Netac Shadow II DDR5 comes in multiple configurations and frequencies for those looking for a bit more bandwidth. Without a sample of those other Netac kits in hand, it is hard to say if those would be a good choice considering other brands that are available. What I will say is Netac provides an entry level kit that performances exactly as expected. As the saying goes; if it quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, it's probably a duck. You are getting exactly what is on offer and that is just fine for the budget conscious consumer. Not every memory kit has to be the best or reinvent the wheel.