Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith 32GB DDR5-5600 CL40 Memory Kit Review

The second year is starting for the DDR5 memory series, and we finally have a chance to check Silicon Power’s latest offerings. Silicon Power maybe isn’t the most popular brand, but it is expanding each year and delivers great products at a reasonable price. The new Zenith DDR5 memory series is precisely one of those products, so I’m sure it will interest our readers. Today’s review presents a memory kit that should meet the needs of gamers and all those who care about stability more than breaking world records.

Specifications and Features

The below key features and specifications come from Silicon Power, and you can also find them on the product’s website.

Key Features

• DDR5 Unleashes Game-Changing Performance

  Experience even faster frequencies, greater capacities, and lower voltages with the latest release in our Zenith Series, the XPOWER Zenith RGB DDR5 UDIMM module. Take your gaming abilities to new high scores with turbo speeds ranging from 5200MHz to 6000MHz. It’s available in 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB module densities with double the banks and double the burst length compared to DDR4 to give hardcore gamers and overclockers the power to harness DDR5’s game-changing performance.

• Eliminate The Competition Without Turning Up The Heat

  The aluminum heatsink, available in black or white and finished with a hairline texture, promotes maximum heat dissipation and thermal management. This effect is boosted even further by low 1.25V-1.35V power consumption, an On-Die Error Correction Code (ECC), and a power management integrated circuit (PMIC) to provide reliably stable and uninterrupted gameplay at the highest resolutions while keeping its cool no matter how heated the competition gets.

• Easily Overclock Like There’s No Tomorrow

  Do you like to pursue speed while pushing the limits? The XPOWER Zenith RGB DDR5 UDIMM module is ready and certified to support Intel® XMP 3.0 and one-click overclocking technology. Experience ultra-fast overclocking at the ease of a single click with fully customized, saved profiles. Spare the hassle of making manual adjustments to BIOS settings every time and get to overclocking faster than ever before.

• Light It Your Way

  It’s not just about speed and performance: the XPOWER Zenith RGB DDR5 UDIMM module is equipped with a colorful band of RGB lights that will electrify any gaming PC rig. Providing the most colorful dimensions that come with RGB lighting, it is sure to invigorate and enhance the style of any set-up. Plus, it’s fully customizable to create a unique design that’s totally yours.

• Play To Your Heart’s Content: Lifetime Warranty

  The XPOWER Zenith RGB DDR5 UDIMM module is compatible with 12th Gen Intel® Core™ processors that support DDR5 and DDR5 compatible motherboards. And it is 100% factory-tested to guarantee superior quality. In fact, we are so confident that we back it with a lifetime warranty promising complete Silicon Power technical support and services. Play to your heart’s content, worry-free.

 

Specifications

The Zenith DDR5-5600 memory is available in kits that contain two 16GB modules. This is optimal for most users regarding compatibility and capacity. Modules have one programmed XMP profile, which works without issues on our test rig (an ASUS X670E Gene motherboard). The memory kit was designed for Intel chipsets, so I’m glad it also works on AMD.

The tested memory kit is rated at DDR5-5600 and pretty standard timings of CL40-40-40 at 1.25V. It’s a bit surprising that Silicon Power used these timings, as existing memory chips can make much more. You will find out what I mean during the performance tests.

Below are screenshots from the ASUS Mem TweakIt software, with a more detailed timings list and additional confirmations in CPU-Z. Silicon Power Zenith uses Hynix M-die IC, which overclocks high and produces less heat than the Samsung IC, so it promises good results. This is excellent info for all who are into overclocking.

Since we are using the AMD platform for tests, then the XMP profile is named DOCP. Memory kits designed for new AMD chipsets will have profiles named EXPO. All these profiles should work in a similar way but may include little differences related to the used chipset. The main timings and voltages shouldn’t change, so in most cases, there shouldn’t be any compatibility issues.

Packaging and Product Photos

Packaging

The Zenith DDR5-5600 kit arrived in a retail package which is a flat blister-type box. The package is similar to what we could see in the Silicon Power DDR4 series. Besides the two memory modules, in the package, we will find a short manual. There is nothing else, but we also won’t need anything more. The installation of memory modules seems straightforward, so it doesn’t really require any additional manuals, but it can be still handy for users who are not building computers more often.

RAM modules

The Zenith DDR5 series looks about the same as the previous DDR4 series. Modules are protected by aluminum heatsinks which are white. There is also a black version. You can see on the test rig that even though memory modules are white, they don’t really stand out from all other black components. This is because of RGB illumination, which reflects on white heatsinks.

We could expect more changes compared to the DDR4 series, as this is a whole new generation. For most users, it won’t make any difference, so it’s hard to see it as a disadvantage. There is still a huge potential to make this product even more interesting for enthusiasts.

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RGB Illumination

The RGB illumination is supported by our ASUS motherboard without significant issues. There is still one problem, probably related to the motherboard’s software. RGB LEDs sometimes get stuck when we change modes too often, or dynamic modes cause single LEDs to blink in different colors. A simple PC restart helps to fix it. It’s hard to say if it’s a hardware or software issue as the test platform is new, and the manufacturer is still releasing various software and firmware updates. It’s always a good idea to keep the software up to date.

Below are some of the test rig photos with RGB illumination on the ASUS Crosshair X670E Gene motherboard.

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Test Results

Stability at Rated Speed

The XMP/DOCP profile has been tested in AIDA64 System Stability Test, and it passed without problems. The same as all performance tests, also this test was performed on the ASUS Crosshair X670E GENE motherboard.

Comparison Tests

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

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

Benchmarks list includes:

• AIDA64 Cache & Memory Benchmark
• 3DMark: Time Spy, Speed Way, 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, and as we can see, it’s scaling great with memory frequency. The best results are on the overclocked memory kit with tightened sub-timings. The limit on the test rig was DDR5-6400, while the tested Silicon Power memory kit can clearly make some more. For most users, the XMP/DOCP profile will be more than enough, while for competitive benchmarking, the DDR5-6400 CL30 will be about the best setting.

3DMark – Fire Strike Extreme

In 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme, we can’t see any significant difference, which suggests that even the XMP profile, which isn’t really high, is fast enough. This test shows us performance differences between all memory kits close to results in games at 1440p, presented below.

3DMark Time Spy

The Time Spy test reacts better to RAM settings. Considering how this benchmark works, over 500 points difference is already significant. 

3DMark Speed Way

3DMark Speed Way is a new benchmark, so I wanted to show it instead of Time Spy Extreme. Our scores are all nearly the same, and it doesn’t make a difference if we use the XMP profile or overclocked settings.

Unigine Superposition

Results in the Unigine Superposition benchmark are on the edge of the margin of error. They’re so close that rerunning the benchmark may change the order.

Final Fantasy XV Benchmark

The Final Fantasy XV Benchmark also shows us nearly the same results in all settings.

Shadow Of The Tomb Raider

Benchmarks based on games usually react better to RAM performance, but not this time. We can see up to 4FPS gain that isn’t anything spectacular.

Far Cry 6

In Far Cry 6, overclocking gave us 3FPS. It’s not worth the hassle and time to overclock and test stability.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

In the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, results are even closer to each other, and the overclocked setting improves the performance only by 1FPS.

Even though the XMP profile of the Zenith DDR5-5600 memory kit is very conservative, then it’s fast enough to give us results close to higher memory kits. It can be a platform or software limitation, but it clearly suggests we can save some money going with cheaper memory kits as we won’t see the performance gain going with the top and the most expensive series.

For some users, the XMP profile is never enough. All those who love to push the limits will be happy to hear that the Zenith DDR5 has a high overclocking potential. Let’s look at our results.

Overclocking

Temperatures and Voltages

On the AMD platform, then we are limited to DDR5-6400. At this clock, we are not required to use very high voltages as it simply won’t help us to gain better performance. It’s even easier to set DDR5-6400 CL30 than try to push for lower CL, which requires much higher voltages. The DDR5-6400 CL30 required 1.45V and was the best-performing setting.

For daily overclocking, including games, I’m not recommending anything above 1.45V as the performance gain won’t be really visible, while some memory kits may generate random errors. I was a bit surprised that the Zenith DDR5 wasn’t really running cool, but there were no errors in tests like in some competitive memory kits at similar temperatures. Typically, 63-65°C already causes some problems. Here we could run up to 67-68°C without additional airflow, and everything was stable.

Below are two overclocking results that show the highest frequency and the lowest CL.

DDR5-6000 CL26-37-37-32 1.50V

The tested memory kit could run at DDR5-6000 CL26 without issues. It didn’t work even on the G.Skill DDR5-6000 CL30 kit, reviewed some weeks ago. The used voltage of 1.50V is a bit high for daily usage, but also the DDR5-6400 setting gives us slightly better results at lower voltages.

DDR5-6400 CL30-38-38-36 1.45V

It was possible to set CL28 at DDR5-6400, but it required slightly over 1.5V. However, the test results were nearly the same as at CL30, so I picked the lower setting for the comparison as it requires a much lower voltage and runs cooler.

Expected latency may vary depending on the used operating system and software running in the background. Since the test OS includes additional software and Windows 11 isn’t the fastest option, then we couldn’t go below 60ns in the AIDA64 benchmark. Expect that the freshly reinstalled OS will give closer to 55ns at the above settings.

Conclusion

As expected, Silicon Power delivered one more well-performing memory kit, which is also expected to be available at a reasonable price. It’s currently unavailable, but as the manufacturer confirmed, it will appear in stores soon. Prices will vary depending on the seller. The tested memory kit had no problems with XMP compatibility or manual overclocking. The XMP isn’t any special, but our results confirmed it’s not giving us significantly slower performance than the higher-rated memory kits. We still wish to see higher settings as the memory kit has amazing overclocking potential, which is even limited by the new AMD platform.

There were little issues with RGB illumination that could be easily solved, so hard to call it any big disadvantage, but it’s still worth mentioning. The design of the Zenith DDR5 could be improved compared to the DDR4 generation, but the memory kit looks well and should match all modern motherboards. The XPOWER Zenith DDR5-5600 memory kit is better than expected and should satisfy most gamers and computer enthusiasts, so it receives our Approved Stamp!

Click the stamp for an explanation of what this means.

Bartosz Waluk – Woomack