GEIL (Golden Emperor International Ltd) has announced that its entire range of DDR5 RAM will now be available in CUDIMM and UDIMM flavors, with overclocking possible up to a speed of 9200MT/s.
The key element of the CUDIMM is that client clock driver (Image Credit: GEIL)
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CUDIMM is a relatively fresh, but growing, trend in the world of system memory which benefits from a clock driver being present on the RAM stick.
So, instead of relying on the system clock, there’s an onboard clock which gives better stability to the memory module – obviously that’s particularly important when overclocking, particularly to very high speeds.
GEIL notes that all its DDR5 products, from 6400MT/s to 8000MT/s, will be available to buy in CUDIMM form, with two new offerings for PC enthusiasts who are overclocking in the form of 8800MT/s and 9200MT/s sticks.
The CUDIMM DDR5 RAM will be available from mid-November, we’re told, so in theory that means next week.
This RAM is designed for Intel’s Arrow Lake processors, or Core Ultra 200S chips that were recently launched. While you can run CUDIMMs in an AMD PC – at least one with a CPU that’s newer than Ryzen 7000 – the RAM sticks will only work in a compatibility (bypass) mode, and you won’t get any benefit from the onboard clock.
So, it’s pretty much a pointless exercise for AMD owners, then, as you may as well buy standard DDR5 DIMMs. The bypass mode is just there for scenarios where people might want to repurpose RAM from an Arrow Lake system, to ensure it’ll work in an AM5 motherboard.
As mentioned, a good few RAM vendors have jumped on the CUDIMM bandwagon so far, including Kingston, Acer, Crucial and also V-color (which, like GEIL, also run up to 9200MT/s speeds).