Test : Kingston Fury Renegade 6400 MT/s CL32

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We continue our series of tests of DDR5 memory kits with today’s reception of the Kingston Fury Renegade 6400 MT/s CL32 kit. This is a new kit available recently and offering a high frequency with tight timings of 32-39-39-84 for a voltage of 1.40 volt. This kit is already referenced and available at a price of 384 euros. A version, still in 2 x 16 GB, is also available in 6000 MT/s CL32 for a price of 326 euros.

We have already had the opportunity to review the Kingston Fury Beast kits in 5200 MT/s CL40 but also the Fury Beast version in 6000 MT/s CL40. So we will see what this Renegade series in DDR5 has in the belly !

We take a look at the kits available to us:

Since this is an article where we are going to make comparative tests, we thought it would be interesting to review the different kits in our possession. You will be able to know in detail the characteristics of each of them. You can also take a look at the section where our latest memory kit tests are available and find the one that interests you.

• 32 GB Corsair Vengeance RGB 6400 MHz CL38 (Hynix)
• 32 GB Teamgroup Delta RGB 6600 MHz CL34 (Hynix)
• 32 GB Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 6600 MHz CL32 (Hynix)
• 16 GB Kingston Fury Beast RGB 6000 MHz CL40 (Hynix)
• 32 GB Corsair Vengeance 5600 MHz CL36 (Samsung)
• 32 GB Teamgroup Delta RGB 6400 MHz CL40 (Hynix)
• 32 GB Dominator Platinum RGB 5600 MHz CL38 (Samsung)
• 32 GB Kingston Fury Beast 4800 – 5200 MHz CL40 (Micron)
• 32 GB GSKill Trident Z5 5600 MHz CL36 (Samsung)

So, a little comment on the choice of unit for the memory frequency. For several months now, manufacturers and many of our colleagues no longer use MHz to talk about the frequency of the memory. Either some use MT/s or Mbps. On our side, we will pass on MT/s at the moment while waiting to see what will become the new standard. Don’t hesitate to ask us your questions if you have any problems with the settings either in comments or on our social networks. You can also join our community on the discord. [nextpage title=”Packaging description: “]

Packaging Description:

The Kingston kit is delivered in a cardboard box with a white color code and the name of the series in red. We are on a very compact format which includes on the front the main characteristics of the kit and a visual of the memory strip. Kingston seems to have already taken the lead since we find a compatibility displayed with AMD on the front of the box. We know that the next generation of AMD motherboards on the X670 and B650 chipsets will be compatible with DDR5.

Once the box is opened, we find our two modules perfectly protected in a transparent plastic shell. In addition to the two memory sticks, Kingston adds a Fury sticker.

Features and cooling:

Our kit is clocked at 6400 MT/s with timings of 32-39-39-80 requiring a voltage of 1.40 volt to operate. It is composed of two 16 GB strips for a total of 32 GB. We are on a black and silver aluminum heatsink here, which is more aggressive than the Fury series. They are responsible for dissipating the heat generated by the PCB and the memory chips. You should know that this is the only color available but maybe we will see in the coming weeks a Fury Renegade RGB version as it was already the case for the DDR4.

In terms of dimensions, we are on modules of low height. The dimensions announced by the manufacturer are 133.35 x 39.2 x 7.65 mm. The idea of this series is always to keep a compatibility with the imposing CPU fans.

On the first side, there are several inscriptions, the name of the series, the brand and DDR5. On the edge and therefore visible when the bars are inserted, we find the word Fury. Regarding the price, it is 384 euros. This seems very correct for DDR5 with these characteristics. To finish this presentation, you should know that the kit is XMP 3.0 (Extreme Memory Profile) compatible. So do not forget to activate the profile directly via the bios of our motherboards. We will come back to this in the following pages. [nextpage title=”What’s new in DDR5: “]

The arrival of the Z690 chipset coincides with the arrival of new DDR5 memory modules. The main change is an increase in frequency and a higher capacity. Attention, let’s make things clear straight away, it is not possible to use DDR5 modules on a DDR4 motherboard and vice versa. Even though DDR5 also has 288 pins, the notches do not match and this is voluntary in order not to have disasters.

The arrival of the PMIC module:

The great novelty of DDR5 is the presence of a PMIC (Power Management Integrated Circuit) module. Its role is to regulate the power supply of the memory stick. There is therefore one per strip. This one will use the 5 volts of your motherboard and convert it to provide the necessary voltage to your kit. For example, if your kit needs 1.1 volts, each chip will receive 1.1 volts. Previously, it was the motherboard that was in charge of doing this. In reality, this has an advantage but also a disadvantage. The advantage is that manufacturers no longer have to provide this control on the motherboard PCB. So, a financial gain. But unfortunately, there are two types of PMIC. One is locked and will only accept the default values of your kit, this is called secure mode. The other type of PMIC is modifiable and will therefore allow you to increase the voltage beyond 2 volts. Fortunately, Asus on its Z690 APEX, has already begun to circumvent the restriction of the secure mode to reach 1.435 volts.

The other issue is the heat release of this chip as well as the additional cost for a DDR5 kit. Personally, we did not notice any additional heat release during our testing. As far as pricing is concerned, it will be higher and it will also depend on availability.

Higher frequencies and lower voltage:

So what’s changing? First of all, manufacturers seem to favor 16 GB strips and therefore dual channel kits in 2 x 16 or 2 x 32 GB whereas we are used to 2 x 8 GB for DDR4. The frequencies are also on the rise with kits that start at 4800 MT/s while the standard seems to be at 3200 MHz in DDR4 and which can currently reach 6600 MT/s. Finally, who says high frequencies says (much) more relaxed timings.

The voltage is also improved since it will be able to decrease to 1.1 volt for DDR5 against 1.2 volt for DDR4. We are talking about a voltage of 1.1 volt for DDR5 kits at 4800 MT/s. The voltage will be higher if the frequency increases as you will see below.

ECC (Error Correcting Code) compatible with DDR5

The DDR5 boards will be able to integrate the ECC (Error Correcting Code). Uh, yes? The idea of this module is to detect possible errors and analyze them before sending them to the CPU. Now, this module won’t be available on all boards since it will increase the price of the kit. As long as we are talking about the price, it should be unfortunately (much) higher.

XMP 2.0 (DDR4) and XMP 3.0 (DDR5), the changes:

We go from XMP 2.0 for DDR4 to XMP 3.0 for DDR5. What changes at first is the possibility for a manufacturer to offer three different XMP for its memory kit. These must be enabled in the BIOS.

The other big evolution is the possibility to register your own XMP. To put it simply, you can optimize timings and tensions and then write your own XMP. Once “burned” on your memory stick, you will have the possibility to choose this XMP within the BIOS. This is of course a function that we will come back to in detail in a dedicated article since it is something that is possible with iCUE. [nextpage title=”How to identify your memory kit: “]

The 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 dig or even remove the heat sinks to find out the others. On one side of the heatsink, we find the inscription “Kingston Fury Renegade DDR5” and on the other, a label with the technical specifications of our copy. This is what we will look at in detail. For example, in the case of our copy of the day, here is the information we know.

• The brand: Kingston
• Model: Fury Renegade
• Capacity: 2 x 16 GB
• Frequency: 6400 MT/s
• Timings: 32-39-39-80
• Voltage: 1 .40 volt
• Review: ETMH0862286

In order to get an idea of the overclocking potential of your kit, this information is insufficient and we 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 always present:

Fortunately, our trusty CPU-Z software is still at work and allows us to check this information, especially on the type of chips that equip our kit. Currently, there are three types of chips: Samsung, Hynix and Micron.

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 overclocking potential.

The PCB of our memory kit:

We will dismantle the heatsinks in order to observe the PCB and identify the chips. Be careful not to accidentally detach the chips from the PCB! The best technique is to heat the heatsink with a hair dryer before gently prying it off and be 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 chips, of which there are 8. We are on a kit known as “SR” for single rank, meaning that all the chips are on one side only. 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” and are 2 GB versions. [nextpage title=”The importance of the XMP profile: “]

Setup within the BIOS:

We can’t say it enough, but the settings of your memory kit are not automatically set after you install it. If it is the case for your processor, it is not the case for your memory kit and a passage through the BIOS will be mandatory! You will be able to configure it manually, by choosing the right frequency, timings and voltage for your kit. For more convenience, we advise you to activate the XMP (Intel) or DOCP (AMD) mode in “AI Overclock Tuner” in order to set it up automatically. Without this, your performance will be impacted in all areas and you will end up with a kit that does not exceed 4800 MHz in CL40. We will therefore activate our XMP profile directly in the BIOS.

The Asus BIOS, both on the APEX and on the Crosshair models, benefit from memory profiles. They are good bases to overclock your memory kit. We will first use them in our overclocking tests. Our kit is now set up in the BIOS and will work with the manufacturer’s specifications.

As you have seen in the above captures, once the XMP profile is activated, the settings are automatically detected. The frequency goes up to 6400 MT/s, the timings are activated and the voltage goes up to 1.40 volt. [nextpage title=”Intel configuration test: “]

Of course, this kit will only be tested on an Intel platform since AMD does not yet have motherboards supporting DDR5.

• Motherboard: ROG Maximus Z690 APEX edition 2022
• Processor: Intel i9-12900K Alder Lake
• Memory : 32 GB Kingston Fury Renegade 6400 MT/s CL32
• Graphics Card: MSI GT 710
• Cooling system : Optimus Foundation + 480 mm EK radiator
• SSD : Western Digital SN850 NVMe SSD M.2
• Power supply : be quiet! Dark Power PRO 12 1500w
• Operating system : Windows 10 64 bits

Aida 64 :

It is a software capable of providing you with a lot of information about your configuration, but it has the particularity of having a memory benchmark. Aida 64 will calculate the speed of reading, writing, copying and the latency of your memory kit. It is very often used to compare memory kits between them. Aida 64 is an excellent tool if you want to compare the performance of your memory kit with those we have already had the opportunity to test.

The version used for the tests is 6.50.2812 beta and we have taken the performance of the previously tested kits.

The performance of this first test seems totally logical to us, with a second place obtained. The throughput is unquestionable with an average of 102218 MB/s. This is quite logical since this Kingston Fury Renegade kit combines high frequency and tight timings. As a reminder, our best score in DDR4 was 61325 MB/s with the Corsair Dominator Platinum at 4800 MT/s CL19. So, as usual on an Intel platform, you will have to focus on frequency and tight timings.

In writing, same observation with speeds that explode to reach 88461 MB/s. The Corsair Dominator Platinum 4800 MT/s CL19 in DDR4 obtained 67251 MB/s. Once again, we note a logical progression between the different frequencies. The score is better than the Corsair kit since the frequency is identical but the timings are more relaxed.

The findings are identical in copy with again a third place for our copy of the day. The Corsair Dominator Platinum 4800 MT/s CL19 in DDR4 had a copy speed of 57330 MB/s. As you can see, it is in reading and copying that DDR5 takes a very large lead over DDR4.

Finally, the latency. This is the value that all eyes are on because DDR5 is a bit behind. Our best DDR4 kit at this little game was the G.SKill Trident Z Royal Elite 4000 MT/S CL14 which obtained 41.4 ns. You’ll notice that the higher the DDR5 frequency, the narrower this gap becomes. Note that a DDR4 kit in 3200 MT/S CL16 has a latency of 50.3 ns. Here it will be 59.8 ns for our Fury Renegade 6400 MT/s CL32.

Geekbench 3.4.4 :

It is a benchmark available in several revisions, version 5 having just been released a few weeks ago. It allows you to obtain two scores: one in single and the other in multi. Using this benchmark, we will focus on the performance obtained on the ” Memory Multi-Core ” score which allows to differentiate the memory performance.

The version used for the tests is 3.4.4.

For the Geekbench 3 benchmark, despite the fact that in single core the frequency of our i9-12900K is 5.2 GHz, we notice a difference in score between the different memory kits. Once again, it’s a third place for this Fury Renegade, behind the 6600 MT/s kits. For information, in DDR4, our best kit was the G.SKill Trident Z Royal 4400 MT/S CL16 with 5617 points.

In multi core, the gap between our kits is less important. For your information, in DDR4, our best score was 48800. Of course, we have to take into account the DDR5 but also the performance brought by the Alder Lake CPU.

As soon as we isolate the memory score, real differences are visible between the kits. Our kit of the day gets a score of 11125 points! In DDR4, our best kit obtained only a score of 7748 points. Once again, the huge advantage of DDR5 in combination with the Alder Lake processor can be seen.

Geekbench 5.2.5 :

We decided to add this extra benchmark but why? The CPU benchmark uses new tests that more closely simulate the tasks that processors face in recent applications. Geekbench 5 also increases the memory used in the benchmark to better reflect the impact of this parameter in the CPU results.

For now, we will keep both since version 3 is still widely used.

While in Geekbench 3 we had a difference in single core, here in version 5 the performance is pretty much the same and it is our kit of the day that takes third place with a total of 2016 points.

Finally, the last score of our benchmark series with a total of 19453 points for our Kingston Fury Renegade 6400 MT/S CL32 kit. Still to give you a benchmark score in DDR4, our best score was 11179 points. [nextpage title=”Overclocking on our Z690 APEX: “]

Choosing your DDR5 kit based on memory chips :

As it was already the case for DDR4, if you want to clock your memory, some brands will have a better potential. Currently, the kits announced by the various brands have either Micron, Hynix or Samsung chips. These last two brands will be the most interesting. Our Kingston Fury Renegade 6400 MT/s CL32 kit is equipped with Hynix chips as you can see. A small note that is important, our ROG Z690 APEX is a “new version” of 2022 which erases the problems encountered for memory overclocking above 6600/6800 MHz.

DDR5 “key” voltages:

For memory overclocking, there are 5 key voltages. These are the voltages that will have an impact on the overclocking and therefore on the frequency rise or the tightening of the timings. These are the CPU System Agent Voltage (SA), the DRAM VVD Voltage, the DRAM VVDQ Voltage, the Memory Controller Voltage and the IVR Transmitter VVDQ Voltage. Here is where these voltages are located in the BIOS of our ROG Maximus Z690 APEX.

Beware, depending on the type of memory chips (Micron, Hynix and Samsung), the balance between these different voltages is different. Don’t panic, we will come back to this in our guide on overclocking Alder Lake and DDR5. If your PMIC module is not locked, by activating ” High DRAM Voltage Mode “, you will have access to voltages up to 2 volts. Let’s go for the overclocking of this DDR5 from Corsair.

Step 1: Push the XMP to 7000 MT/s without touching the voltage

First of all, it is possible to activate the profiles available in the BIOS of our APEX. Be careful to select the ones that correspond to your type of memory chips. These profiles act on timings, sub-timings and voltages. Now that the kits have higher frequencies and tighter timings than at launch, these are becoming a bit obsolete. But, for once, we chose to optimize the XMP profile without touching the voltage. First, we just increased the frequency. We were thus able to reach 7000 MHz in 32-39-39-80 always at 1.40 volts. All our benchmarks were executed without any difficulty. We were pleasantly surprised by this potential. You can see the performance gain in the graphics below. We are certainly not totally stable but we can say that all benchmarks pass!

Here are our updated test charts so you can see the gains with these two profiles in the different benchmarks we use. Let’s start with AIDA64 to see the impact of the overclocking of our kit on throughput.

The performance explodes in all benchmarks. The idea is to show you the potential while keeping the voltage at 1.40 volts. So it will be interesting to spend some time in order to get a profile that suits you perfectly! We will soon put online a tutorial to allow you to test the stability of your memory overclocking.

Now, let’s go to the part that interests us the most, trying to get the best out of this Fury Renegade kit by trying to get up to 7400 MT/s by tightening up the timings.

Step 2: benchmark profiles at 7000, 7200 and 7400 MT/s

We have been testing DDR5 kits for several months now and we are starting to master overclocking better. Important point, we received a new ROG Z690 APEX dating from 2022. The 2022 versions have the advantage of not having to worry about overclocking the memory. The 2021 versions can be very limited in terms of frequency on the A slot. We were able to validate three profiles, the first one at 7000 MT/s, the second one at 7200 Mt/s and finally at 7400 MT/s. Regarding the voltages, they were 1.57 volt (VDD), 1.54 volt (VDDQ), 1.55 volt (IVR) and 1.35 v (Memory Controller). Our i9-12900K is overclocked for the results below. The P-cores are at 5300 MHz, the E-cores at 4100 MHz and the cache at 4500 MHz, all for a CPU voltage of 1.35 volts. The SA voltage is also 1.35 volts.

7000 MT/s 30-40-40-28-2T :

This profile is very interesting and performs well. For overclocking in air or water cooling, it can be further optimized to gain some points. Each kit is different and will require time to test to find the best balance in terms of timings.

7200 MT/s 32-40-40-28-2T:

This new profile is quite similar to the one at 7000 MT/s but with some relaxed timings. We are on a fairly similar performance. Let’s not forget that the more we increase the frequency, the less we have to be greedy on the timings. For benchmarking, the idea is to find the best compromise and the one that will perform the best. For example, it’s better to stay at 7000 MT/s and tighten up the timings. It’s up to you to judge according to the results obtained.

7400 MT/s 32-42-42-28-2T:

Hot, hot in the lab. During the tests, the temperature flirted with 27.5 ° C, so it is not easy to overclock by this temperature. Nevertheless, by keeping the same voltages and leaving all the other timings in AUTO, it’s ok.

[nextpage title=”The last word: “]

Kingston continues to do a great job with its memory kits. Here we are on a kit that combines high frequency and tight timings. As you can see from our results, it pays off right away. The performance is excellent and this is the best 6400 MT/s kit we have had in our hands so far. Hynix chips and sorted chips mean good overclocking potential. And this was the case, since associated with our ROG Z690 APEX (2022), we were able to reach 7400 MT/s.

This “Renegade” series is adorned with a black and silver aluminum heatsink, which is a nice touch. The height is also contained to make it compatible with most cooling solutions. The price is already available at 384 euros, which puts it at a slightly higher price than the competition.

Kingston Fury Renegade 6400 MT/s CL32

We liked:

• The look of the heatsinks aesthetically very successful
• The quality of finish of the memory modules
• A DDR5 kit that offers excellent performance
• The excellent overclocking potential of the Hynix chips and the BIOS of our APEX
• The XMP profile which goes to 7000 MT/s without any difficulty at 1.40 volts
• Lifetime warranty
• A price of 384 euros that finally becomes reasonable for 32 GB of DDR5

We would have liked :

• Nothing to report at the moment!

Well, we can finally say that DDR5 kits with Hynix chips are finally coming of age. The performance is there thanks to high frequencies and tight timings. But that’s not all, because in overclocking, these sorted Hynix chips still offer a very interesting margin. In short, this is a memory kit that will offer you excellent performance out of the box, but will still hold some excellent surprises if you decide to overclock it! Thank you Kingston for making this Fury Renegade kit available.