How to identify your memory kit:
Basic features:
You will tell me that it is quite easy since you just have to look at the references announced by the manufacturer. Yes, but this is not enough, especially if you plan to overclock it! Some information is given by the manufacturer, but you’ll have to search or even remove the heat sinks to find out the others.
On one side of the heatsink you will find the inscription “Trident Z5 RGB” and on the other, a label with the technical specifications of our example. This is what we will look at in detail. For example, in the case of our example of the day, this is the information we know.
- The brand : GSkill
- The model: Trident Z5 RGB
- The capacity: 2 x 16 GB
- The frequency: 6400 MT/s
- Timings: 32-39-39-102
- Voltage : 1.40 volts
- Revision: September 2022
In order to get an idea of the overclocking potential of your kit, this information is not enough and you will have to go further. Indeed, it is also very important to know the revision of the PCB as well as the model of the chips that equip your memory kit. Depending on this information, the overclocking performance of the kit will be very different.
To find this information, there is currently only one solution, dismantle the heat sinks. The Taiphoon Burner software does not currently support DDR5 kits. Moreover, there is no indication that this will be the case in the coming weeks.
CPU-Z still present:
Fortunately, our trusty CPU-Z software is still around and allows us to check this information, especially about the type of chips that equip our kit. Currently, there are three types of chips: Samsung, Hynix and Micron. Be careful, since from now on on the DDR5 kits, we can have either Hynix M-die or Hynix A-die.
Our kit is perfectly recognized under Windows 10 and the different timings perfectly read. The memory chips that equip our kit are Hynix. They are the chips with the best potential in overclocking. It remains to be seen whether they are M-die or A-die. The latter still having a better potential.
The PCB of our memory kit :
We are going to disassemble the heatsinks in order to be able to observe the PCB and identify the chips. Be careful not to accidentally detach any chips from the PCB! The best technique is to heat the heatsink with a hair dryer before gently prying it off and being patient.
As a reminder, the design of DDR5 modules will also be different from DDR4 with the presence of a PMIC (power management integrated circuit) chip on board. The idea is to allow a better management of the power supply and thus the stability of the system.
Our kit therefore benefits from the Hynix M-die chips, of which there are 8. We are on a kit known as “SR” for single rank, meaning that all the chips are on a single side. On the other hand, we can find “DR” kits for dual rank with chips on both sides of the PCB. The Hynix chips have the reference “H5CG48MEBD 220A” and are 2GB versions.
