A Closer Look

Patriot has three different series currently available for DDR5 available under the Viper Gaming branding. These include Viper Xtreme 5, Viper Venom and Viper Elite 5. All have distinct aesthetics and different targeted markets to offer a kit for every type of consumer. The Xtreme 5 starts at 7600 MT/s and currently goes up to 8400 MT/s, placing it as the current flagship product line for Patriot. This review covers the Elite 5 series, which is geared towards those who aren't looking for the pinnacle, but also need a little bit more than what 4800 MT/s JEDEC memory offers. These Elite 5 memory kits are only sold with white heatspreaders. Non-RGB versions are also listed on the website.


Similar to the rest of Patriot's lineup, Each memory module has the Viper branding on both sides of each memory DIMM.


On one side of each DIMM module is an identification sticker listing the product number, rated XMP / EXPO operating frequency, voltage, and the CAS value.


Laying the DIMMs on the side, you can see "VIPER" written in black on one corner. The entire plastic strip in the middle will be illuminated when the system is powered on and lighting can be controlled with supported motherboard software.


Patriot Elite 5 RGB DDR5-6000 kit weighs in at 43 grams on the scale. For Z-height, it comes in at 41 mm rounding up.


After taking the heat spreader off, we see that these are single-sided DIMMs with eight 3 GB ICs. A single thermal pad strip covers all the memory ICs. This particular kit does have a thermal pad covering the PMIC and surrounding components.


Currently, Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix are the three suppliers of DDR5 ICs. However, only Micron / Spectek and SK Hynix have released Non-binary 3 GB ICs to the consumer market. Micron 3 GB ICs have shown to reach at least 7000 MT/s, while SK Hynix has seen up to 8400 MT/s in a retail kit so far.

A closer look at the ICs shows that these are SK Hynix (H5CGD8MGBD-X021). Which can be abbreviated to SK Hynix 3 GB M-Die, not to be confused with SK Hynix's first DDR5 M-Die (2 GB) in 2021. Up until the release of 3 GB ICs, the previous world record title was held by SK Hynix A-Die (2 GB) and is still considered a good choice for high frequency overclocks paired with lower primary timings.


With DDR5, one of the major changes is how the motherboard directly provides 5 V to the memory module's PMIC, which is then stepped down and split accordingly. No longer is the motherboard responsible for regulating the voltages, as with DDR4. The PMIC has the part number "OP=9E W0X." Software reports this as Richtek being the manufacturer. Internet investigation provides no additional information.