Packaging

For those who are looking to gather information about this product just from the box will be pleased to see PNY offers a lot of detail. However, it is soured by a mix of slightly incorrect information pertaining to DDR5. For example, Instead of DDR5-6400 or 6400 MT/s, it is labeled as 6400 MHz, which is incorrect, as the kit does not run at 6400 MHz, because DDR (Double Data Rate) has data on the rise and fall of each clock cycle, the effective clock is 6400 MHz, but the actual frequency is only half that at 3200 MHz.

Next up is the "Compatible With" part (written in the corner), which has a list going from 6400 MHz to 4800 MHz. Ignoring the MHz part, this memory kit only comes with a 6400 MT/s and 5600 MT/s profile. Listing the other speed options is just marketing and is a bit misleading. 6200 MT/s and 6000 MT/s would need to be manually set in the motherboard BIOS if to be used. Those are not XMP / EXPO memory profiles included.

A bit more confusion comes from the product name. The part number brings up PNY XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X RGB, but the MAKO title is printed on the memory itself and the packaging. Besides that, the box front gives a clear indication that this is indeed DDR5, of the XLR8 series and in a configuration of 2x16 GB. At the bottom are all the badges for this RGB illuminated kit. It supports multiple motherboard vendors' RGB software, including ASUS Aura Sync, GIGABYTE RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Light Sync and ASRock Polychrome Sync.

Flip the box around, and we get some of the same information as the front, but another mishap is calling DDR5 "Quad Channel." This packaging is full of technical errors and should be addressed in further revisions.


The box has some tape to prevent anything from falling out during shipping. Once cut and removed from the outer packaging, the memory sticks are secured and protected from minor damage with a clamshell inside the outer box.