Corsair Vengeance 32GB DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory Kit Review (AMD EXPO)

Today we have one more memory kit for the latest AMD chipsets. This time it’s Corsair Vengeance 32GB kit rated at DDR5-6000 and equipped with the AMD EXPO profile. AMD recommends 6000MT/s for optimal performance and compatibility, so it’s no surprise that the leading RAM manufacturers are optimizing their AMD memory series for this specific speed.

The tested memory kit doesn’t have RGB or anything else that could raise its price. Still, it’s an advantage for many users who care about performance and stability and dislike all the noise related to RGB illumination. Also, we will focus on the most critical features and let you know how well Corsair Vengeance performs.

Specifications and Features

Deliver the higher frequencies and greater capacities of DDR5 RAM technology in a high-quality, compact DDR5 memory module that suits your AMD® Ryzen™ AM5 system.

The below key features come from Corsair, and you can find them also on the product website.

Key Features

• DO IT ALL, AND DO IT FASTER
  In the many-core era, the unprecedented processing speed of DDR5 ensures your high-end CPU gets data quickly and with ease. Whether you are gaming, creating content, opening 100 tabs, or multi-tasking, your gaming PC can power through complex tasks faster than ever before.
• ONBOARD VOLTAGE REGULATION
  You have the power and the control. Built-in voltage regulation with iCUE software control makes for easier, finely-tuned output that provides more stable overclocking than ever.
• CUSTOM AMD^® EXPO PROFILES
  Ditch the tedious process of manually adjusting your performance settings each time you save your AMD EXPO profiles through iCUE.
  Easily customize and tailor your setting profiles by app or task for greater efficiency.
• WIDE COMPATIBILITY
  Need help deciding which memory to go with? Find the best memory for your needs with our memory finder tool, integrated directly into the memory page, with loads of options to dial in your system config and get you paired up with compatible memory kits.
• LIMITED LIFETIME WARRANTY
  For complete peace of mind and years of worry-free performance.

Corsair Vengeance Advert

Specifications

The tested Vengeance memory kit contains two 16GB modules rated at 6000MT/s and quite tight timings of CL36-36-36-76. The EXPO profile is programmed to use a voltage of 1.35V, which is perfect if we wish the memory to run fast and cool simultaneously.
32GB is perfect for most gaming computers. Even if you work professionally, then in most cases, it will be enough.
6000MT/s is what AMD recommends for the latest Ryzen processor series, so the memory kit we are presenting perfectly matches the recommended specifications.

Below is a list of timings on the EXPO profile. It’s not the tightest set of timings but looks much better than at automatic settings. The tested Vengeance memory kit uses Samsung IC. Used timings and frequency already suggest that. Even though Hynix IC is more popular and can overclock higher, it doesn’t make a difference on the AMD platform because of a limited maximum memory frequency. At a range of 6000-6400MT/s, results shouldn’t be much different.

Packaging and Product Photos

The Vengeance DDR5 memory kit arrived in retail packaging. In a small, flat box, we will find two memory modules and a short user guide. The package looks quite simple, with a picture of the memory module in front and some additional info on the back. Since products like that are mainly purchased in online stores and not directly from a store shelf, then it doesn’t matter much. The most important is inside the box.

The installation is straightforward, and most users won’t have problems. Those who aren’t sure how to install memory modules on the motherboard should look at the user manual available in the memory box or on the motherboard’s website.

Corsair Vengeance 32GB DDR5-6000 CL36 EXPO – Package 1

Corsair Vengeance 32GB DDR5-6000 CL36 EXPO – Package 2

Corsair Vengeance 32GB DDR5-6000 CL36 EXPO – Package 3

Corsair Vengeance 32GB DDR5-6000 CL36 EXPO – Package 4

Memory modules are low profile. I would say standard height, but with so many tall heatsinks on the market, it’s actually low and should fit under every popular CPU cooler. The heatsinks are made of aluminum and are in cool gray color, as we can read in the specifications. Heatsinks also have an interesting texture with tightly packed triangles. Everything seems simple but looks very good.

Test Results

Since the memory kit doesn’t have any RGB illumination, then there is no additional software needed for configuration. The EXPO profile has to be set in the motherboard’s BIOS, and the programmed profile works without issues.
Below are a couple of photos of the listed test setup.

Corsair Vengeance 32GB DDR5-6000 CL36 EXPO – Test Setup 1

Corsair Vengeance 32GB DDR5-6000 CL36 EXPO – Test Setup 2

Corsair Vengeance 32GB DDR5-6000 CL36 EXPO – Test Setup 3

Corsair Vengeance 32GB DDR5-6000 CL36 EXPO – Test Setup 4

Stability at Rated Speed

The EXPO profile was tested in AIDA64 System Stability Test and passed without problems. There were multiple other tests and tests at overclocked settings that confirmed the high quality of the tested memory modules.

Comparison Tests

Tests were performed on popular synthetic benchmarks and benchmarks included in popular games. The list consists of tests that react well to memory performance. Older popular benchmarks and tests based on pure CPU performance were skipped as we wouldn’t see any difference.

For readers’ convenience, I added the overclocking result for comparison, so you see if it’s worth the overclocking.

Benchmarks list includes:

• AIDA64 Cache & Memory Benchmark
• PCMark 10 – default benchmark
• 3DMark: Time Spy, Time Spy Extreme, and Fire Strike Extreme
• Superposition Benchmark – 8K Optimized
• Final Fantasy XV Benchmark – 4K High Details
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider – 1080p, high details, default benchmark
• Far Cry 6 – 1440p, high details, default benchmark
• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – 1440p, high details, default benchmark 

AIDA64 Cache & Memory Benchmark

AIDA64 offers us the most popular synthetic memory benchmark. Results are easy to read; as we can see, it’s scaling great with memory frequency.

As usual on the AMD chipset, results are not as high as on Intel, but they’re still quite respectable. The Vengeance memory performs about the same as the recently reviewed G.Skill DDR5-6000 CL30, even though there is a significant difference in timings. Overclocked results are as always much better in the AIDA64 benchmark than guaranteed XMP or EXPO profiles.

PCMark10

PCMark 10 uses popular applications to perform tests close to daily tasks. The same as in the last review, Corsair Vengeance looks to be the best in this benchmark.

3DMark – Fire Strike Extreme

3DMark Fire Strike Extreme doesn’t react well to RAM performance on our test rig. There is barely any difference between EXPO and overclocked settings, which suggests that the EXPO profile is fast enough for this workload.

3DMark – Time Spy

In Time Spy, results look a bit better, and we can see about 580 marks difference between the EXPO profile and our overclocked settings. This difference, even though more significant, will be important only to competitive overclockers.

3DMark – Time Spy Extreme

In Time Spy Extreme, both Corsair Vengeance settings give us similar results and are slightly faster than the competition.

Unigine Superposition

The Unigine Superposition benchmark is not reacting to RAM performance on the test platform. All the results are at the edge of margin error, the same as in our previous reviews on the AMD chipsets.

Final Fantasy XV Benchmark

The Final Fantasy XV Benchmark shows a bit better results on the G.Skill memory kit. It’s nothing really significant, but it was repetitive, with similar scores on each run.

Shadow Of The Tomb Raider

In Tomb Raider, we have finally passed the 300FPS mark on the overclocked Vengeance memory, which is about 5FPS higher than on the overclocked G.Skill memory from our last review. All those gamers who want to reach very high FPS for specific titles can clearly take advantage of fast memory kits like Corsair Vengeance. It’s not so obvious at higher display resolutions, but at 1080p, we can be surprised how much the RAM can help.

Far Cry 6

Far Cry 6 also reacts pretty well to RAM performance. At 1440p, we can expect up to 10FPS better results than at more standard RAM series and the next 10FPS after further overclocking.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla gives us nearly the same results as in the last review, with +/-2FPS between the slowest and the fastest memory kit in the comparison. Since we already reach over 175FPS, then it’s insignificant.

There is always overclocking for users who expect more performance than at the manufacturer’s profiles. Let’s take a look at our results.

Overclocking

Temperatures and Voltages

I’m pleasantly surprised about the temperatures of the Corsair Vengeance memory. Sensor readings show lower temperatures than on most competitive series. It even looks better when we compare the heatsink size. Corsair uses low-profile heatsinks, so we won’t have any problems installing this memory in smaller computers or under larger CPU coolers without the risk of overheating. 61°C in a long stability test is a very good result, as we could see memory kits reaching over 70°C at not much higher voltages.

For daily overclocking, including games, I’m not recommending anything above 1.45V as the performance gain at tighter timings or higher frequency won’t be apparent. At the same time, memory may generate random errors, or we may require direct cooling or multiple push-pull fans in the PC to force good airflow.

DDR5-6400 CL32-36-36-36 1.45V

On our test platform, we could reach the DDR5-6400 at tight timings. The required voltage was 1.45V, which isn’t a problem for daily work without additional airflow.

Secondary and tertiary timings couldn’t run at very low values, but the performance was still high. I bet that with more time, we could squeeze some more out of this memory kit. It probably would be a waste of time, as out of AIDA64 bandwidth and latency tests, we wouldn’t really see a further performance gain. Competitive overclockers can get missing points in specific benchmarks, but gamers are searching for fast RAM without the hassle of long stability tests. The test rig doesn’t work at DDR5-6600 or higher, so we couldn’t check any higher frequency.

If you are into overclocking, feel free to share your results on our forums.

Conclusion

The Corsair Vengeance memory that’s designed for AMD Ryzen is better than I was expecting. Samsung IC’s are not the most demanding in the high DDR5 memory series, but it proves that for AMD, it’s as good as Hynix, if not better. The tested memory kit could run at quite low voltages and temperatures. The memory kit performed exceptionally well, even at the EXPO profile. There were no problems with compatibility, while the Vengeance memory was tested on two different AMD setups with ASUS motherboards.

The tested memory kit costs $169.99 in the Corsair online store, which is a pretty good deal for what it has to offer. RAM prices went down significantly in the last few months, so it’s hard to say that the new and fast RAM is still overpriced. It’s not cheap, but prices are finally reasonable for what we get. The Corsair option is less expensive than some other memory series and gives us all that’s most important, so high performance and stability.

The Vengeance 32GB DDR5-6000 EXPO memory kit is clearly worth our recommendation as it’s fast, stable, looks well, and is inexpensive. This memory kit should satisfy all AMD users, even those most demanding.

Click the stamp for an explanation of what this means.

Bartosz Waluk – Woomack

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