Double Height DDR4: 32GB Modules from G.Skill and ZADAK Reviewed
by Ian Cutress & Gavin Bonshor on January 23, 2019 9:00 AM ESTDC RAM Overclocking Performance
Memory overclocking can usually be approached in multiple ways. DDR4 Memory kits come supplied with integrated 'XMP 2.0' profiles which means users don't really need to do anything other than clicking a button inside the BIOS in order to achieve the memory kit's rated performance. However manual tweaking is required to go further.
The fine art of memory overclocking is a long and windy road for minimal performance gains. It almost becomes a performance piece, needing a seasoned expert to get the best out of it. However most users can at least adjust the frequency the primary latencies. The frequency which can be changed via the strap/multiplier and through the base clock generator is more common, while the timings are usually done as the second step once a stable frequency has been found.
Both of the memory modules we have are equipped with Samsung B-die chips. These chips are often considered some of the best overclocking parts, however there is some natural speculation as to how they will perform in this double height form factor.
To measure the overclockability of the DC RAM, the stock performance with the XMP 2.0 profile applied on both the G.Skill TridentZ RGB DC and ZADAK Shield RGB DC 2x32 GB kits are used as a baseline. We exokired both pushing the frequency as high as could be managed, and then with latencies as tight as much as possible. As WinRAR 5.40 proved one of the more memory sensitive benchmarks in our list, we used this to highlight the performance, if any, from the DC memory.
Highest 24/7 Frequency at 16-16-16: DDR4-3500
The maximum overclock we managed to achieve with a voltage of 1.5 V on the DRAM for each kit is as follows:
G.Skill TridentZ RGB DC - DDR4-3500 16-16-16-38
ZADAK Shield RGB DC - DDR4-3500 16-16-16-38
We were unable to go beyond DDR4-3500 even with 18-18-18 sub-timings.
Best 24/7 Latencies at DDR4-3200: 12-12-12
The tightest timings while keeping the frequency at their XMP rating of DDR4-3200 with a voltage of 1.5 V on the DRAM is as follows:
G.Skill TridentZ RGB DC - DDR4-3200 12-12-12-32
ZADAK Shield RGB DC - DDR4-3200 12-12-12-28
Overall Reasonable Overclock: DDR4-3400 14-14-14 at 1.5 V
The highest achieved DRAM frequency achieved with tighter timing adjustments with a voltage of 1.5 V on each kit is as follows:
G.Skill TridentZ RGB DC - DDR4-3400 14-14-14-34
ZADAK Shield RGB DC - DDR4-3400 14-14-14-32
As our maximum achieved overclocks show, there isn't much additional headroom available to push the dual capacity DRAM much further than the XMP 2.0 profiles already allow. Both the G.Skill and ZADAK kits allowed us to overclock up to DDR4-3500 with 16-16-16-38 at 1.5 V. Any attempt to go past DDR4-3500 would result in failed POST even with timings slackened as loose as up to CL18. When it came to tightening up the latency timings, both kits experienced similar timings with the G.Skill TridentZ RGB DC allowing for DDR4-3200 14-14-14-32, with the ZADAK Shield RGB DC giving slightly tighter tRAS timing with DDR4-3200 14-14-14-28.
Users thinking that overclocking will be as prosperous as others have achieved on DRAM in 1Rx8 or 2Rx8 featuring Samsung B-die ICs aren't going to be as happy with the headroom on these modules. The headroom available is limited and the performance displayed in our WinRAR test was mirrored here. On the G.Skill TridentZ RGB DC kit a total of 0.9 seconds with a mixture of frequency and timing adjustments equalling DDR4-3400 14-14-14-34 applied. Overclocking the ZADAK Shield RGB DC memory to DDR4-3400 14-14-14-32 proved the best settings that we tried with a reduction of 1.3 seconds. Answering any questions about the overclocking ability of the memory, our testing with the samples we received proved dreary in comparison to what's usually expected from Samsung B-die ICs.
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CheapSushi - Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - link
I honestly really love it aesthetically. It makes the rest of the motherboard balance out Z-height wise with PCIe cards. I know nobody else cares but there's something about it that I like. It's also an interesting solution; reminds me of early OCZ PCIe SSDs with dozens of chips on them. I would honestly love if these worked on quad and deca DIMM slot boards.SmCaudata - Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - link
I was pressed for time upon initial scanning and jumped to conclusion. Then I dug a bit deeper. In the conclusion you state that the G.Skill is substantially larger while the other only has a marginal height difference. This makes the ZADAK sound smaller, when in fact, the G. Skill double is actually the same size as the ZADAK single.G.Skill 45 mm height up to 60 for the double
ZADAK 60 mm height up to 73 for the double
Anyway. Based on percentage of size increases, yes, the G.Skill grew more, but you may want to consider some clarity in your description as there are a lot of people that just read the conclusion and may be concerned about size.
DanNeely - Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - link
I was confused too, because the ZADAK dimms looked significantly larger than the G.Skill.DigitalFreak - Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - link
This proprietary solution is pretty much DOA now that true 32GB DIMMs are supported by Intel on Z390 systems. All it needs is a BIOS update.nevcairiel - Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - link
Clearly the base technology would also scale up to using 16Gb dies for 64GB in one DIMM. The argument for small systems with only two slots still exists.The_Assimilator - Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - link
The number of people who want/need 64GB on a 2-DIMM-slot motherboard can be counted in the thousands, maybe. The number of people who want/need 128GB on a 2-slot motherboard can be counted on your fingers. This is a product without a market.yuhong - Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - link
The DDR4 spec only goes up to 16Gbit though.rocky12345 - Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - link
Great write up thank you.It also makes me see how much I need to upgrade my own system because I am still on DDR3@2200MHz with tight timings though but still I am sure this is holding me back a lot. My Aidia 64 latency score is like 42ns-43ns and I also thought that was fairly good and would help me get better responsiveness in my games and maybe it does. Like I said though my 2200MHz is probably really on the slow side when you think of DDR4@3200MHz and higher being able to push the systems so much harder.
Targon - Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - link
Why not test these on an AMD Ryzen based motherboard or two and see if they will work? Just because things are only officially supported on one platform or another doesn't always mean that they won't work. Also, Intel vs. AMD is very different in terms of memory support, and while it is more difficult to get DDR4 3633 and above working on the AM4 platform, if it works, it works. 3200 isn't a difficult speed at this point.Targon - Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - link
I disagree with the final paragraph where the focus is for SFF and motherboards with only two memory slots. If you have four memory slots and you can install 32GB in each slot, 128GB of RAM might be important for some people. What if you have a motherboard with more slots, if you really want/need the RAM and this stuff works, it doubles the allowed amount of RAM on the motherboard.The official specs for what a MOTHERBOARD supports are often limitations of the technology of the time. How many old machines said "Max 4GB RAM", because there were two slots, and at the time, you never saw 4GB memory modules. I've gone back to some of those old machines, and used 4GB modules to give 8GB of RAM in a machine that theoretically could only take 4GB.