Page 2 - A Closer Look, Test System
The Lexar ARES RGB DDR5-6000 2x16GB kit is a neat set of memory, although I would not say it is too different from others. For one, you can see the RGB LED diffusion bar at the top. This area allows for an even diffusion of the LED lighting underneath. We have a medium profile gray heatspreader underneath. The metal has some indentations on both sides for an interesting effect. There are some stripes painted down both sides. The ARES name can be found on the translucent bar in black, while the Lexar name is printed on the aluminum sides. There is also a marking of DDR5 at the bottom to remind users to only use it in DDR5 memory slots.
The metal heatsink is relatively light and serves as a decent heat conductor. It does increase the height of the Lexar ARES RGB by 12mm compared to modules with no heatspreader at all. While extra aluminum on the side may or may not affect the performance, it is quite rare to find performance memory without any form of heatspreader attached. They do definitely serve a purpose in dissipating heat while also having an added benefit of making the memory more pleasing to the eyes, especially as it diffuses the LEDs installed.
The Lexar ARES RGB DDR5-6000 modules are symmetrically designed. The plastic diffuser protrudes out to ensure the aluminum stays aligned and there are locking clips between the two metal pieces to keep them attached. Otherwise, both sides show off the aforementioned logos, and one side has a specifications sticker. It lists the model number, voltage, and some certification labels. As with all of Lexar products, this memory kit is made in China.
The two aluminum sides are held together with strips of thermal conductive adhesive over the chips. This adhesion force between the heatspreaders and memory ICs is quite strong and I struggled to even get one side off the memory modules. Either way, you will probably never remove the heatspreaders, especially as it would also mean hampering the lighting diffusion on this set of memory. As such, you should be aware if your aftermarket cooler does end up interfering with the memory modules. Underneath on the black PCB itself, there is a power management integrated circuit, or PMIC, in the middle of the module.
Unfortunately, the adhesive between the heatsink and the memory chips was quite a bit stronger than anticipated. As well, due to the locking mechanism on the heatsink, it was not possible for me to remove the heatspreader and get a closer look at the memory chips. I was able to wedge a side open long enough to see each IC had the markings of "H5CG48MEBDX014". We have previously seen these in the Kingston FURY Renegade RGB DDR5-6000 2x16GB, Patriot Viper Venom RGB DDR5-6200 2x16GB, and XPG Lancer RGB DDR5-6000 2x16GB. These are SK hynix-manufactured chips with eight 2GB chips on one side only for a total of 16GB per DIMM. These RAM modules run at DDR5-6000 speeds with 34-38-38-76 latencies. These latencies are pretty low compared to the competition, which is good, but we will see how the ARES RGB performs in just a moment. These modules operate at a stock voltage of 1.30V, which is in between the base DDR5 voltage of 1.1V and most of its competition at 1.35V.
Our test configuration is as follows:
CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K
CPU Cooling: Noctua NH-U12A chromax.black
Motherboard: ASUS ProArt Z690-Creator WiFi
Graphics: EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING
Chassis: Thermaltake Core P3 TG Pro Snow
Storage: XPG Atom 30 1TB
Power: FSP Hydro PTM Pro 1200W
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
Compared Hardware:
- Lexar ARES RGB DDR5-6000 2x16GB @ DDR5-6000 34-38-38-76
- Crucial CT2K16G48C40U5 DDR5-4800 2x16GB @ DDR5-4800 40-39-39-77
- Crucial CT2K16G52C42U5 DDR5-5200 2x16GB @ DDR5-5200 42-42-42-84
- Crucial CT2K16G56C46U5 DDR5-5600 2x16GB @ DDR5-5600 46-45-45-90
- Kingston FURY Beast DDR5-5200 2x16GB @ DDR5-5200 40-40-40-80
- Kingston FURY Renegade RGB DDR5-6000 2x16GB @ DDR5-6000 32-38-38-80
- Patriot Viper Venom RGB DDR5-6200 2x16GB @ DDR5-6200 40-40-40-76
- XPG Lancer RGB DDR5-6000 2x16GB @ DDR5-6000 40-40-40-76
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look, Test System
3. Benchmark: AIDA64 CPU
4. Benchmark: AIDA64 FPU
5. Benchmark: AIDA64 Memory
6. Benchmark: PCMark 10
7. Benchmark: 3DMark
8. Benchmark: PassMark PerformanceTest 10
9. Benchmark: SuperPI 1M, Cinebench R23
10. Overclocking and Conclusion
