Fastest RAM in the world – G.Skill sets new record with DDR5 memory overclocked in excess of a staggering 12,000MT/s

GSkill Trident Z5 RGB RAM in an Asus motherboard
(Image credit: GSkill)

G.Skill has set a new DDR5 RAM overclocking record with some of its memory in an Asus ROG motherboard, hitting a jaw-loosening speed of 12,112MT/s.

The feat was achieved by professional overclocker Safedisk, using G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB DDR5 memory in an Asus ROG Maximus Z890 Apex motherboard (with a new Intel Core Ultra 9 285K flagship desktop CPU).

To blaze the RAM over that 12,000MT/s mark, you won’t be surprised to learn that exotic cooling was necessary – in this case liquid nitrogen.

This is a new world record overclock for memory frequency as recorded by HWBOT, and it’s another in a fresh set of overclocking achievements which have been ushered in by Intel’s new Arrow Lake, Core Ultra 200S, family of processors.


Analysis: Overclocking potential

Far from everything about the launch of Intel’s Arrow Lake chips has been rosy, but there are certainly performance highlights with the new desktop family – gaming aside – and indeed plenty of overclocking potential with the new Z890 motherboards and Core Ultra 200 CPUs (the initial releases of which are unlocked ‘K’ models).

We’ve seen a record overclock of 7.5GHz for the Core Ultra 9 285K processor, the work of another expert overclocker, Elmor (backed by a team, again at Asus, achieved using the same ROG Maximus Z890 Apex motherboard that we see here).

As for the previous DDR5 record, that was set four days back by Kovan Yang (with Kingston RAM, in an Arrow Lake PC with an MSI MEG Z890 Unify-X motherboard), and this new record pipped it by a couple of Megahertz. There’ll doubtless be an ongoing tussle for a bit mileage as more professional overclockers try their hands with Intel’s Core Ultra 200S platform.

Naturally, you won’t ever see speeds like 12,000MT/s in the real world – they can only be reached in short bursts with exotic cooling systems as noted – but DDR5 RAM is very fast in terms of real-world overclocking too.

A recent innovation in the memory world is CUDIMMs, which are memory modules which have their own clock driver, as opposed to relying on the system clock like traditional DIMMS – and this leads to better stability and overclocks. We’ve seen this system with V-color RAM sticks which were pushed to hit 9200MT/s, no liquid nitrogen required. Impressive.

You may also like...

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

Read more
G.Skilll Trident Z5 DDR5 RAM sticks on a black background
G.Skill DDR5 RAM is overclocked to a blazing 12,054MT/s with no liquid nitrogen needed – just air cooling
An RTX 5090 graphics card resting against its retail box with a closeup of the RTX 5090 branding
Nvidia's RTX 5090 has already been pushed beyond its limit - ROG Astral model overclock reaches 3.45GHz and 35 Gbps VRAM
CAMM2 modules
CAMM2 memory modules promise significant advancements in memory technology with impressive read and write speeds
Micron 6550 ION solid-state drive (SSD) pictured against a black background
Everything you need to know about Micron’s “game-changer” 6550 ION SSD
Micron 4600 SSD pictured against a black backdrop.
Like the Crucial T705 but more affordable? Micron 4600 PCIe Gen5 SSD comes painfully close to its award-winning sibling
Nvidia Orin Nano and Solidigm D5-P5336
World's first 122.88TB SSD gets 'reviewed' with two very odd bedfellows: the controversial DeepSeek and Nvidia's Jetson Orin AI SBC
Latest in Computing Components
Nvidia RTX 5070 Founders Edition GPU shown against a green and black backdrop
Nvidia RTX 5070 early pricing hints at plenty of GPUs at the MSRP – but I’ll believe it when I see it
PCI Express bus interface connector, x16, x8, x4, x1, on the computer motherboard
AMD warns its RX 9070 GPUs are strictly ‘UEFI-only’ – and if that sounds worrying, don’t panic, it probably doesn’t affect you
An Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070
Worried your Nvidia RTX 5080, 5090 or 5070 Ti isn't performing as well as it should? CPU-Z can now check your GPU for missing ROPs
AMD RX 9070 GPU models
If the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT comes with a sub-$400 price tag, it might be the best-value graphics card PC gamers have ever seen
Matt Hanson holding up the RTX 5070
I haven't been this excited about PC gaming in decades – and it's all thanks to my early time with Nvidia's RTX 5070
Image of Radeon RX 9000 series GPUs
Finally, we have some GPU competition - AMD announces the Radeon RX 9070 XT March 6 launch date, starting at $599 alongside the RX 9070 at $549
Latest in News
Google Gemini iPhone Lock Screen
You can now access Gemini from your iPhone's lock screen
Michelle, Keats, and Doctor Amherst looking unimpressed and worried in The Electric State
Netflix drops trailer for The Electric State, and I'm getting serious District 9 vibes
YouTube TV
YouTube TV might be planning a big Netflix update that puts the best streaming services first
Google Pixel 9 Pro
Here are the 7 best Pixel 9 and Pixel Watch 3 features landing in March’s Pixel Feature Drop
Bang & Olufsen Beogram 4000C Saint Laurent Rive Droite Edition
Bang & Olufsen's latest reworked turntable is a masterpiece of retro revival, in a breathtaking wooden presentation box
Apple Watch Series 10
Apple unveils new Apple Watch bands – here's what's in the Spring 2025 collection