Introduction

Today, we have something a little different from the standard memory review article. TeamGroup approached TPU a few months ago offering up a special high-frequency dual-rank DDR4 kit with hand-picked ICs. Normally, if it’s not available to the public, these type of samples are declined for obvious reasons. However, rules are meant to be broken and exceptions can be made.

While we were teased by the DDR4-4000 memory, timings stayed a mystery until the box arrived. TeamGroup isn’t a stranger to the PC enthusiast market as the company was the first to provide DDR5-6400 for TechPowerUp to review and continues to offer various DDR4 and DDR5 high-frequency memory kits under the Xtreem and Delta T-Force lines respectively.

Some interesting questions come up when writing an article about memory that isn’t for sale, which brings us to a few immediate questions that should be address before proceeding. First is the obvious one of why it is even worth the media coverage. The answer is simple: It’s not often these type of articles are written, and those who enjoy nerding out in conversations over what is the best for a system using DDR4 may find the benchmarks helpful in reinforcing their opinions. The second question that comes to mind is how to classify this memory kit. From the prospective of a buyer, it comes with a box and has an SKU assigned to it. Even so, TeamGroup has yet to provide a firm release date even as other media sites say these are now for sale. For now, however, if in the market for 32 GB (2×16 GB) DDR4-4000, the only kit to be found for sale by TeamGroup is CAS 18. Therefore, this memory kit will be assigned the title of engineering sample.

Under the T-Force Xtreem line, TeamGroup offers a wide range of configurations, starting at 3200 MT/s all the way up to 5333 MT/s. This includes DIMM capacities of 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB. What we were sent is TeamGroup’s T-Force Xtreem ARGB DDR4-4000 2x 16 GB kit with timings of 15-15-15-35, which is in itself an impressive achievement. Considering DDR4 started at 2133 MT/s and the technology is now fully matured, we are seeing a lot of these higher binned kits for sale. With 3600 MT/s being standardized as the “sweet spot” for AMD and Intel platforms, it will be interesting to see how this memory kit benchmarks in comparison to other low latency kits.

Test System

Supporting Hardware

Comparison Memory Kits

Thaiphoon Burner Readout

Thaiphoon reports the SPD data incorrectly. Rather, it looks to be generically filled out, which is expected for something that was most likely programmed after being specially binned. A few things to point out are that TeamGroup states all Xtreem memory kits to use a 10-layer PCB on the product webpage instead of the written 8-layer PCB. ICs in the SPD data are left open to include B, C, and D Die, but these are B-Die. The timings of 15-15-15-35 operating at 1.5 V are correct, and those are the only things of real importance here.