Patriot Viper Elite 5 DDR5-6000 UDIMM 64GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit Review

TweakTown Rating: 97%

Our Verdict

Patriot is all about the sweet spots with these Viper Elite 5 6000MT/s 64GB kits. Better than expected performance, support for both camps, stunning visual appeal, and has the lowest in-class cost, making them hard not to buy.

Pros

• Density
• Some OC headroom
• High contrast appeal
• Price
• XMP / EXPO

Cons

• Lower OC due to density
• Whitewashed ICs

Should you buy it?

AvoidConsiderShortlistBuy

Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

While it may seem like every time we look at our porch, there is another set of Patriot DDR5 just sitting there waiting for our time. Patriot is by far the most aggressive in providing us with samples to showcase their capabilities. To be blunt, if we were regularly hammering the market's options, we would be just as happy to share the love and make it known to all who are willing to see the results. It's not just the speed; it certainly isn't all found in the first four timings, and it takes more than a pretty face or celebrity levels of fandom to earn our purchase.

Patriot also covers the gambit, ranging from value sticks with minimal upgrades, such as a PCB, some ships, and a sticker covering part of it, to some of the most amazing Viper Xtreme, RGB or not, which are willing to take your latest hardware to higher levels of DRAM performance. However, there is a massive market in the middle, where a user wants good value, style, performance, density, and might even be camp-AMD, where the current advice is within the range of 6000 MT/s to around 7200 MT/s on the newer X3D CPUs. The Elite 5 will be the type of review for the masses, with no grandiose expectations of reaching the moon with this DDR5 set, but it still needs to stand out to justify the effort over the Crucial 6400 MT/s JEDEC specials.

Though the speed may not be exceedingly fast, it is well within the sweet spot for many a user, camp AMD or camp Intel, but on paper, it is much tighter than what JEDEC would set at said speed. Wrapping everything we have discussed into the white with black trimmed Viper Elite series is another step up from say the Viper Venom, and anyone with white components on their brain for the next build, Patriot may just have the easy answer to the everyman's quest to find a decent amount of density at average speeds, that can do what's intended, come out ahead of in-class competition, and not strip your wallet bare while getting them, yeah, these could be those sticks.

This latest set of Viper Elite 5 comes to us with the VEB564G6030KW part number, and if you read the 5title of the review, the letters and numbers are easy to sort out. We mentioned that this DDR5 UDIMM comes in white, but we did not mention its trim is matte black for the logo, and the real accent is shiny as can be. The heat spreaders, made of aluminum, help expel heat due to their well-adhered thermal tape.

Once you install the 64 GB DDR5 kit in the UEFI, you'll see more detailed information that is not immediately apparent. JEDEC for this set of RAM is at 4800 MT/s with 40-40-40-77 2T timings, sipping 1.1 VDIMM. The primary XMP file will set the RAM to 6000 MT/s with 30-40-40-76 2T timings using 1.35 VDIMM. If instability affects you, or if 6000 MT/s is too fast, a secondary profile is available, programmed to 5600 MT/s with 36-36-36-68 2T timings, and it only requires 1.25 VDIMM.

As we do with every kit, we break out the measuring devices and see what we got. Our Patriot Elite 5 features a stick that measures 133.8mm long, 41mm tall, and 7.1mm thick, weighing 44.4 grams per stick.

Along with a limited lifetime warranty to back your purchase, we scanned the current pricing for a kit of this nature. DDR5, 6000 MT/s, 64GB (2 x 32GB), and then CAS30, and clicked filter. Swapping the listings by cost, with the lowest first, we find the Patriot Viper Venom to be the most affordable option in this class. However, if brushed metal isn't your thing but white memory is, the $184.99 price tag for the Viper Elite 5 we'll be showing you is well worth it. Knowing the others won't stoop to price competition, you will pay more for many other options. But why do so when the Patriot Viper Elite 5 is here and ready?

Packaging and Patriot Viper Elite 5 UDIMM

27

Helping everything shown on the front to pop is the matte gray backdrop. It makes it much easier to see the logo and informational sticker at the top, the RAM contrasts nicely with the gray, and at the bottom, we read that these are part of the Elite 5 series.

27

The back keeps the gray backdrop, and under the big DDR5, we see that these are performance UDIMM that are XMP 3.0 and EXPO ready. The windows allow a view of the sticks and product stickers, while the part number, Patriot homepage code, and social media information are to the left.

27

Ensuring static is no concern to your memory, the clamshell packaging kept our sticks free of damage in any form. While the cardboard is mostly for show, if packages are dropped or stepped on, you are depending on this well-tried method of delivery.

27

The shiny black plastic top portion grabbed our eyes, but you are immediately drawn to the vast whiteness, sporting a matte black logo on the right end of the sticks. The styling is similar to most high-end series, but the contrast offered by this set of Elite 5 is what will sell it, regardless of performance.

27

The other side is nearly a mirror image of what we just saw, down to everything but the fact that this side delivers the product sticker. If you bin the box, you can still retrieve the part number, type, density, speed, timing, voltage, and even the serial number, which can be used to contact Patriot if you encounter any issues.

27

As seen in a system, even if the 24-pin blocks the back half of the kit, the bright white VIPERs at this end of the kit ensure everyone knows whose RAM you went with. The Elite 5 delivers an almost inverted piano key effect, making us want two more just to fill all the slots to see how good it looks.

27

We call it a cover because there are no lights to diffuse, and its shiny black nature means lighting wouldn't pass through it anyway. The added boost to the styling here is found at the right end of the sticks, where again, that high contrast white paint makes your eyes look directly at the Viper name.

27

While warm, we removed the heat spreaders to have a look under the hood. Where we would typically see Hynix part numbers, we see that Patriot is whitewashing some of its ICs for binning purposes. UEFI does tell us the manufacturer is indeed SK Hynix, but the actual part number eludes us. On the inside of the heat spreader, you will find thermal tape for the ICs and a thermal pad for the PMIC components.

27

Using the models shown on these chips yields little information, but thanks to the UEFI, we can determine that the PMIC is unlocked and made by Richtek, whereas ABLIC makes the SPD chip.

27

Although they do not provide internal lighting, once installed and powered, the shiny black surface will reflect all the lighting within the chassis. While more flat white paint will not reflect so much, it does take on the colors with a nice, even glow across the spreader. In this image, we made sure to keep the contrast, not only to highlight the RAM, but to show how good it looks, even with an all-black theme.

The primary timings are as expected, and in the secondary, we observe a 480 tRFC and a tREFI of 5851, ensuring that 6000 MT/s maximizes the performance of these ICs. Tertiaries appear normal, and none of the timing in the following tabs is of any concern or wildly high.

Test System Details

27

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 ASRock, our wallet, HYTE, Patriot, GIGABYTE, and be quiet! for supporting us with this venture. Detailed specifications of the system can be found below.

27

As expected, after clearing CMOS and enabling the first of two XMP selections, our Elite 5 runs at 6000 MT/s. Timings are as advertised at 30-40-40-76 2T, while voltages were 1.35VDIMM, 1.280 VCCIO, and 1.024 VCCSA.

27

Adding voltage was of no help, so with the voltages expressed above, we took the timings down to 28-36-36-76 2T. We did so while keeping the tRFC and tREFI tight, as opening them reduced performance, making the extra reduction of timing afforded not worth the squeeze.

27

Looking at whatever speed was left in the tank, we ended up with a solid 6400 MT/s while keeping the XMP timings and voltages. We achieved 6600 MT/s in Windows, but we were unable to pass all the tests. 6533 MT/s is doable, but we had to opt for CAS 32, which removed any advantage the speed could give.

Chad's Intel DDR5 Dual-Channel Test System Specifications

Intel Performance

27

Slightly behind the new JEDEC is where the Viper Elite 5's read performance lands, at 92,006 MB/s. At CAS 28, the score did not improve, but with some added speed, we were able to gain 7123 MB/s over XMP with the 99,129 MB/s score.

27

In AIDA write performance, the Viper Elite 5 outperforms the new JEDEC kit, achieving an entry into the chart at 86,012 MB/s. Using CAS 28, there is a slight gain, but at 6400 MT/s, that 91,875 MB/s is a free 5863 MB/s boost over XMP performance.

27

While Intel Ultra CPUs seem indifferent to high latency, we monitor the situation, and the Viper Elite 5 results are better than average. 91.8 nanoseconds isn't a blazing-fast latency, but ahead of the curve for averages. We managed to improve it with an overclock, but as you can see, the gain was minimal.

27

If competing with your buddies for Super Pi time is your way to relax, you may want to opt for another kit. The Viper Elite 5 lands in the middle of the pack. With any tinkering we did, it appears to backfire, giving us longer run times than XMP delivered.

27

Using the "efficiency" test called PCMark 10, we can see that the Viper Elite 5 came out of the box swinging, climbing up on the heels of much faster kits. The XMP results are so good that we're not even upset about the score drop due to messing up what's already good enough for this test.

27

PCMark 10 seems to favor the JEDEC-6400 kit slightly, with Patriot around 40 points behind. While overclocking often doesn't help our cause, you see that both options with overclocking net us nearly 100 points, pushing this kit much further up the chart.

27

Using file compression in 7-Zip as one of our real-world applications, the Viper Elite 5 is well ahead of those 6400 JEDEC results, hitting the charts at 325.1 seconds for nearly 8GB of data. A couple of seconds can be gained using CAS28 at 6000 MT/s, but at 6400 MT/s, we got almost six seconds off the XMP time to complete.

27

Transcoding is an area where our combination of parts didn't perform as well. Handbrake indicates that the XMP results are not great, but they are in line with their speed. We were able to make gains with both overclocking methods, but using more speed wins out with a nearly thirteen-second advantage for every 4GB of data.

Final Thoughts

Addressing the obvious, we love the look of the Viper Elite 5. The combination of a lot of white, with matte and shiny black accents, makes this DDR5 stand out in any system. With the Viper name on three sides, four logos, and a shape unique to Patriot memory, this kit is a visual pleaser. However, our rule states that no matter how pretty, no matter the feature set, the RAM must perform first, and anything else should come as an add-on, not as a sales ploy.

AIDA64 results may not be mind-blowing, but at 6000 MT/s, the Elite 5's results were either expected from the outset, particularly in the read tests, or significantly exceeded expectations in the write, copy, and latency tests. Super Pi scores aren't bad by any means, as they are right behind the Viper Elite 5 Ultra 8000 MT/s score. PCMark 10 loved the XMP settings, 7-Zip scores were better than they could be, and Handbrake may not love them, but it was fair to them, no matter how we tried to run them.

Overclocking was a mixed bag. While we appreciated being able to take the timings down to 28-36-36-76 2T, the gains were marginal, sometimes even delivering a loss in performance. Adding speed seems to be the solid answer when looking to tinker with this 64 GB kit of DDR5. Given that much density, it's no surprise we only saw 400 MT/s for free. We would have loved to see the ICs react to voltage adjustments, just to push this kit further, but in the end, for free, we're fully appreciative of the extra speed boost we got from our Elite 5.

If you are looking for a 64GB DDR5 kit that fits the sweet spot for both AMD and Intel systems, and don't want to spend top-tier money, look no further. There is one more affordable solution in this class, and it is the Viper Venom version of this kit. If black, gray, and brushed metal aren't your thing, and you're looking for a standout RAM set for your build, the Viper Elite 5 is the next best choice. The fact that this 64 GB kit of DDR5-6000, dialed back to CAS 30, sipping on voltage, will set you back just $184.99, makes it hard for us to see where you could go wrong opting for these.