Patriot Viper Venom RGB DDR5-6000 32GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit Review

TweakTown's Rating: 92%

The Bottom Line

Some of the lowest latency at 6000 MHz from the Viper Venom RGB is a slick start, but as much fun as we had overclocking, and the results it brought make this a memorable experience from Patriot with little to invest.

Pros

• Lower timings
• Overclockability
• B-Die ICs
• Mainstream use

Cons

• Availability
• Whitewashed ICs

Should you buy it?

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Buy at Newegg for $145.98 USD

Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

Anyone who watches the RAM news that hits occasionally may have noticed that manufacturers of DDR5 are starting to be able to make big moves with timings. We have seen this in the FIT V we reviewed, with its 6000 MT/s at CAS 32, and there was all the press you could ask for with G.SKILL releasing their low latency Trident Z 5 and The Z 5 Royal kits. However, we have seen with overclocking previous examples that this only sometimes equals terrific results.

What we have in hand today is slightly different. The previous examples were expansions on a top-tier name, and the other was a brand's introduction into the mainstream RAM game; when it came to Patriot, there was little to no news about their move to tighten things down. This isn't even part of the Xtreme 5 or Elite 5 product lines. Patriot has decided to slip some new Viper Venom skews into the mix, delivering what we hope will be some impressive results hidden within Patriot's mainstream offerings.

Even with these newer examples slipping under many people's radars, we bring forth the newest Patriot Viper Venom RGB samples with a fair amount of speed but tighter timings than we have yet to see anywhere else. What you are about to see must be the tightest kit of RAM ever, as we found that we could lower them, but nothing beyond what Patriot sets as the XMP profile will run with any stability. Not many companies will take DDR5 to the bleeding edge for their customers. Still, with Patriot, it is something we find repeatedly, and we feel that when it counts most, these new Viper Venom RGB sticks will take the task at hand and make it as smooth of an experience as you could expect.

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Even though the chart above may seem like standard information for the other CAS 36 version, there is a 30 in that PVVR532G600C30K part number that should be attractive to many. Of course, this is DDR5, UDIMM, and has a black PCB, some ICs, and a PMIC, as it all has been, but with the Viper Venom line, we get black and silver aluminum heat spreaders. Each stick in this set is 16GB in density, and the JEDEC profile boots this set of Viper Venom to 4800 MHz with 40-40-40-76 2T timings, sipping on 1.1V.

Beyond JEDEC, there are two options for XMP 3.0/ Patriot. The first sets the main XMP at 6000 MHZ with 30-40-40-76 2T timings but needs 1.35V to function with stability. Those who may run into stability issues or, for some reason, do not need/want 6000 MHz can opt for the second XMP setting at 5600 MHz with 36-36-36-68 2T timings but need only 1.235VDIMM to run.

If you are worried about size, the Viper Venom RGB is 137.78mm in length. It is 7.4mm thick but 43.3mm in height, which may trip up some users under air coolers. Each stick weighs 52.1 grams, and as with all Patriot RAM, it comes with a limited lifetime warranty.

Lastly, and most importantly, we need to discuss the cost and availability. Let's start with the money. Shockingly, when we were given the MSRP, we looked back at the older CAS 36 offerings and found them to sell at an identical $104.99 that these lower latency Viper Venom RGB sell for. Not only did Patriot slip them in out of nowhere but keeping them at the same price as the previous option was a stellar move on their part.

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Packaging and Patriot Viper Venom RGB

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On top of matte black and smoke for the backdrop, we see the Viper Gaming name and logo and the kit inside taking up most of the panel. Around it, we find the density and speed at the top, while the bottom covers the RGB, denoted XMP and EXPO supports. The Viper Venom at the bottom concludes this panel.

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The reverse has the product name and notations at the top, while the tiny text tells us that this is a DDR5 performance UDIMM with XMP 3.0 and a limited lifetime warranty. There is a code to take you to the product page above all the social handles, which are to the left of the windows, allowing us to see what is inside.

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Shipped inside form-fitting plastic, our DDR5 is ensured of many things. First, they will not be damaged. Second, this plastic does not mar the paint. It keeps the kit clean while in transit. Lastly, and possibly most importantly, the plastic eliminates static reaching the DIMMs.

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The matte black spreaders with large silver portions and the bright red pops of paint make the Patriot Viper Venom RGB an attractive option when choosing a kit to blend into a build. The angles are still there as they were, and the diffuser still shines through the sides as they did; the only change here is the timings.

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The opposite side of the stick is identical to what was previously shown, but the product sticker is placed in the center of the heat spreader. On it, we see the part number, type, density, speed, CL30 rating, voltage, and serial number.

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Standing on the edge, we see them as anyone would in a build without our APEX Encore detracting from the styling. The mix of black, silver, red, and white is slick-looking, and once power is added, the RGB comes to life, making it an even more attractive option at this price.

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The diffusers are flat across the surface, with angles at the ends and protrusions to fit the slots on the heat spreaders. The VIPER name is placed centrally and pops with the choice of red used.

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We give everyone crap about whitewashing ICs, so we talked to Patriot to find out why. We were told it is a branding move, and with things like Thaiphoon Burner and the fact that Patriot programs the SPD properly, there isn't a need to open them. We found an unlocked Richtek PMIC along with the eight B-Die Hynix ICs.

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Once they get some power, the Viper Venom RGB is even more impressive to look at than it was out of the box. You see the default RGB profile that Patriot installs, where light moves from the center out, with a full rainbow assortment of colors, but any motherboard or standalone RGB software will allow changes to be made.

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As mentioned earlier, by downloading Thaiphoon Burner, you can see everything you need to know about the Viper Venom. On the left, we see they are Patriot RAM; they are 4800 speed-grade, which explains the JEDEC, and these were made not long ago. The central column shows us they are Hynix ICs with the part number H5CG48?EBDX014, or B-die ICs.

Thaiphoon Burner combined with Mem TweakIt tells you everything you could imagine about what goes on with the RAM with XMP set. 30-40-40-76 2T is a great start, but seeing the 480 tRFC and the 5851 tREFI is impressive, especially once you look at how tight the tertiary set is. The Bank and Rank structure is tighter than we have seen before. The rest is just for your viewing enjoyment.

Test System Details

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To obtain the Intel CPU-Z screenshots, you will see directly following this image; this is the system we used to do it, as well as to get the results seen in the following pages. Thanks to ASUS, Intel, be quiet!, MSI, EKWB, and Sabrent for supporting us with this venture. Detailed specifications of the system can be found below.

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As you would expect from enabling XMP, our Viper Venom RGB falls right into line. CPU-Z shows us we indeed have this RAM running at 6000 MHz with 30-40-40-76 2T timings, and as far as voltages go, the VDIMM is 1.35V while the SA is 0.785V, and the MC used 1.083V

We cannot say the timings did not move, just that nothing we did would make them stable. We could run most of our tests at 6000 MHz with 28-34-34-76 2T timings at 1.45VDIMM, but again, without stability, we can only use it for suicide runs.

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At 1.45VDIMM, we got to 6400 MHz without issue, but we could tell there was more in the tank. We upped the VDIMM to 1.55V and got rewarded. We have the Viper Venom RGB now running at 6667 MHz, but the best part is we did it with the XMP timing set intact. For those wondering, we only needed a tenth of a volt more for SA and MC to stabilize things.

Chad's Intel DDR5 Dual-Channel Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS Maximus Z790 APEX Encore - Buy from Amazon
• CPU: Intel Core i9 14900K - Buy from Amazon
• Cooler: EK Nucleus AIO CR360 Lux D-RGB - Buy from Amazon
• Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Gaming Trio 24G - Buy from Amazon
• Storage: Sabrent Rocket 4 PLUS-G 4TB - Buy from Amazon
• Case: Custom Thermaltake Core P3 TG
• Power Supply: be quiet! DARK POWER PRO 12 1500W - Buy from Amazon
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Home - Buy from Amazon

Intel Performance

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To be blunt, we expected the Viper Venom RGB to wipe the table of all 6000 MHz kits, but the 94,836 MB/s XMP result has Patriot just behind the FURY Renegade in read performance. If you are willing to tinker and add some speed into the mix, you can gain 9552 MB/s, where you find much faster offerings.

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The write performance could have been better in synthetic testing, landing in our chart at 83,036, the slowest of all 6000 kits. However, there is still hope. With the Viper Venom RGB at 6667 MHz, we gained 7775 MB/s, again taking the Patriot RAM into the 7000 MHz score range.

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Looking at copy performance, we see some headway is made, with only the KLEVV FIT V scoring better than the 86,080 MB/s. Overclocking shows its benefits again, but this time to the tune of 8196 MB/s more than XMP, taking Viper Venom RGB into the range of much more expensive solutions.

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When it came down to the latency of the Viper Venom RGB, the scores did not give us much hope until that last result popped up in the first row of AIDA. 66.8ns is a great place to be for the Viper Venom RGB, well beyond any of the similar speed sets in the chart. What is even better is that with the added speed we can get from them, we got these down to 63.6ns, which is overly impressive for this memory.

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There appears to be little rhyme or reason for this kit's low score on the chart, but the Viper Venom RGB at CAS 30 could have done better here.

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We have called PCMark 10 the efficiency test for all DDR5, and it appears that out of the box, there are a select few that this metric likes more than the Viper Venom RGB. At 10066, it is a hell of a start, but sadly, adding speed reduces their efficiency. It still helps with those metrics we tested before this.

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When looking at the 7-Zip compression test, the Viper Venom RGB is not quite as good as the FIT V here but does beat the rest of the 6000 MHz options. Cranking up the speed took a decent result and made it stellar, with a fourteen-second reduction in time to complete. It is now ranking up there with a 7600 MHz offering.

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Transcoding shows much of the same, with the Viper Venom RGB beating most of the competition, except that dual-sided FIT V. Overclocking pays huge dividends. It leaves the Viper Venom RGB with an 8000 MHz prototype kit.

Final Thoughts

The Viper Venom RGB line is nothing new to us, as we have had a few sets cross our desks in the past, but by far, this is the most tightly tuned set of DDR5 we have seen from Patriot thus far. We have always liked the mix of black and silver, the chunky heat spreaders that work instead of trapping heat. Patriot even went as far as to change the thermal tape on the ICs. It is thinner and much stickier than in previous kits and was done to help with heat flow from the components to the chassis. While everyone else is keeping with the same bits, and some are not even cooling the PMIC, it's great to see a company making moves to improve themselves, even when they have the rest of the industry chasing them.

While not sitting on their hands, Patriot almost sneaks these kits into the public domain. We saw no press blasts, nothing on their social media, and just a message asking if we wanted to try them. Not only did they slyly introduce them with an updated set of options on the product page, but they did so in their mainstream lineup. While this may not be the fastest kit on the planet, and it may not like synthetic testing, you can see that in real-world applications, the Viper Venom performed, on average, better than any of the other 6000 MHz single-sided sets. The Fit V has an advantage with so many ICs that comparing them apples to apples is unfair.

We get that this isn't the sweet spot for AMD users, and it is nowhere near as fast as what you have seen us bench on the APEX Encore. However, you can sometimes win with less speed if all the ducks are in a row, and this is one of those times. Are they the best thing since sliced cheese? Not really, but they do have a strong presence. While gaming or working, where it matters, the Patriot Viper Venom 6000 CAS 30 kit is a seriously considerable solution to your daily adventures.

One of the better parts about all this is that you can skip digging deep into your accounts to get these sticks. While others are making a money play with low-latency options, Patriot delivered the Viper Venom at CAS 30 for the same as their existing CAS 36 option at $104.99. While not the most affordable listed set of CAS 30 6000 MHz sticks, they compare to the G.SKILL Flare, which has no RGB or the likes of the TEAM Delta RGB, but to get something this attractive with RGB, many of the bigger players want more. With everything coming down to the nuts and bolts of what you should do, we are on the fence.

The XMP performance is a mixed bag with synthetic testing but has stunning real-world performance for the price. The choice is yours, and while there are some tighter-timed options, Patriot was first to step up and show what they have. In the end, we had a blast with overclocking this set of DDR5, and with such a low cost involved, you almost have to try a set. Sadly, they are still shipping to e-tailers, so you may have to wait to try them.