DDR5 at the limit: Overclocker “saltycroissant” breaks 12,800 MT/s with ASRock Z890 Taichi OCF – new world record for DDR5 RAM

Anyone who thought DDR5 had reached the end of the line may have to think again. Within a few hours, a new world record in memory overclocking was broken – more precisely by a Canadian extreme overclocker with the less than appetizing pseudonym saltycroissant. With a whopping 12,806 MT/s, he took the top spot, displacing the previous record holder bl4ckdot, whose record of 12,774 MT/s was barely older than a day’s outing.

The setup: Nitrogen, tension and a bit of luck

As is so often the case, the new record was set using liquid nitrogen. An Intel Core Ultra 7 265K was cooled, mounted on an ASRock Z890 Taichi OCF, which has established itself as the unofficial reference platform for ambitious RAM experiments in recent months. Corsair Vengeance DDR5 modules were used as memory – presumably selected Hynix A-Dies, as used in various high-end OC kits. The validation was carried out via CPUI-Z and HWBot, whereby the 12,806 MT/s achieved ran under identical latencies as the previous record: CL68-127-127-127-2. In concrete terms, this means: no softened timings, but the same conditions – only with a slightly higher clock frequency. Or to put it another way: not a record with a crowbar, but a clean improvement in detail.

12.806 MT/s – cosmetic figures or real progress?

Of course, as always, the question arises as to who benefits from such records. In everyday life, at least no one, unless you run Excel under nitrogen. But as with many extreme values, it’s not about practical benefits, but about technical feasibility. The fact that the modules and the board still work stably at just under 1.6 volts and arctic temperatures shows one thing above all: the Z890 platform is currently the benchmark for anyone who doesn’t want to stop at 8000 MT/s with DDR5. It remains remarkable that manufacturers are not ceasing to place their memory products in this league. Whether V-Color, G.Skill or Corsair – the elite of DRAM producers regularly provide fresh fodder for HWBot’s high score ticker. So it’s no surprise that ASRock proudly announced the new record via its own channels – including a thank-you message to well-known names in the scene such as Sofos, Nick and Splave.

13.000 MT/s – the next goal?

The fact that the new record is just below the symbolic 13,000 MT/s mark is probably no coincidence. A jump of another 200 MT/s sounds marginal on paper, but in practice it is a different caliber – not least because of the exponential problems with signal stability and IMC load. Whether this limit can be exceeded in the coming weeks will depend not only on the silicon, but also on the weather forecast and the availability of nitrogen. In any case, it will be more interesting to see whether mainstream systems will even come close to such values at some point – without a laboratory setup. Currently, even DDR5-8000 profiles on consumer boards are the exception rather than the rule, and anything above that requires a lot of patience or luck. It goes without saying that you can’t expect a “plug & play” solution for 12,806 MT/s.

Physics meets madness, with a touch of prestige

World records in overclocking often have little to do with everyday life, but a lot to do with enthusiasm for technology and experiencing the limits. saltycroissant has shown what is currently possible on the platform with his setup of ASRock Z890 Taichi OCF, Corsair DDR5 and an Ultra 7 265K – and also snatched the world record from bl4ckdot. It doesn’t really matter whether it lasts for hours, days or weeks – the race goes on. And who knows, maybe the 13,000 mark is already waiting in the wings, along with the next nickname that sounds like breakfast.

Source: HWBot, CPUI-Z