Introduction

Founded in 1985, PNY Technologies has a wide portfolio of products. Manufacturing computer peripherals and components is the company's main revenue stream consisting of products like NVIDIA GeForce and Quadro Graphics Cards, USB Flash Storage, all the way to System Memory. PNY continues to refresh existing product lines as new technologies come to market each year.

PNY is no stranger to making system memory, with products reaching far back to beyond even SDRAM. The company didn't push into the "performance" and "gaming" memory market until DDR2 debuted, with its signature XLR8 series. While DDR2 is no longer in production, XLR8 has lived on in each generation since.


In this review, we will be taking a closer look at the PNY XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X RGB 32 GB (2x 16 GB) DDR5-6400 memory kit, marketed towards gamers and PC enthusiasts. The XLR8 series has many variations of both capacities and primary timings for the included XMP / EXPO memory profiles, making it harder to distinguish between all the different SKUs for sale. This particular sample is geared towards gamers, with dual 6400 MT/s CL32 profiles optimized for both Intel and AMD systems. Now, with the introduction out of the way, let us see how this memory kit stacks up against the competition, beginning with a look at the specifications.

Specifications

Packaging

For those who are looking to gather information about this product just from the box will be pleased to see PNY offers a lot of detail. However, it is soured by a mix of slightly incorrect information pertaining to DDR5. For example, Instead of DDR5-6400 or 6400 MT/s, it is labeled as 6400 MHz, which is incorrect, as the kit does not run at 6400 MHz, because DDR (Double Data Rate) has data on the rise and fall of each clock cycle, the effective clock is 6400 MHz, but the actual frequency is only half that at 3200 MHz.

Next up is the "Compatible With" part (written in the corner), which has a list going from 6400 MHz to 4800 MHz. Ignoring the MHz part, this memory kit only comes with a 6400 MT/s and 5600 MT/s profile. Listing the other speed options is just marketing and is a bit misleading. 6200 MT/s and 6000 MT/s would need to be manually set in the motherboard BIOS if to be used. Those are not XMP / EXPO memory profiles included.

A bit more confusion comes from the product name. The part number brings up PNY XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X RGB, but the MAKO title is printed on the memory itself and the packaging. Besides that, the box front gives a clear indication that this is indeed DDR5, of the XLR8 series and in a configuration of 2x16 GB. At the bottom are all the badges for this RGB illuminated kit. It supports multiple motherboard vendors' RGB software, including ASUS Aura Sync, GIGABYTE RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Light Sync and ASRock Polychrome Sync.

Flip the box around, and we get some of the same information as the front, but another mishap is calling DDR5 "Quad Channel." This packaging is full of technical errors and should be addressed in further revisions.


The box has some tape to prevent anything from falling out during shipping. Once cut and removed from the outer packaging, the memory sticks are secured and protected from minor damage with a clamshell inside the outer box.

A Closer Look

A quick look at the PNY XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X RGB memory after removing it from the packaging, and it looks quite different from the DDR4 predecessor. Besides the XLR8 logo, everything else is different. This XLR8 DDR5 series is also sold in either Black or White color options.


PNY has placed the XLR8 logo the left of one side and using different heatspreaders for each side. This doesn't include the "MAKO" text, which can be found of either side in the same place.


On one side of each DIMM module is the identification sticker listing the SKU, rated XMP operating frequency at its corresponding voltage of 1.40, and XMP/EXPO related timings. PNY keeps the information in an easy-to-read format and uses the correct technical (PC5-51200) DDR5 terms as well, which is great for those who aren't that tech-savvy and will have a hard time deciphering a block of text into something useful.


Laying the DIMMs on the side, you can see the "XLR8" branding centered and written in black text. The entire plastic strip in the middle will be illuminated when the system is powered on and lighting can be controlled with supported motherboard software.


The PNY XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X RGB DDR5-6400 Z-Height is 40 mm after rounding up with calipers and weighs in at 47 g on the scale.


After taking the heat spreader off, we see that these are single-sided DIMMs with eight 2 GB ICs. This is as expected for a DDR5 32 GB kit, since densities increased with DDR5. The thermal pad covers all the memory ICs. This particular kit does have coverage for the PMIC and surrounding components.


A closer look at the ICs shows that these are branded as PNY, but they are in fact SK Hynix. Currently, Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix are the three big suppliers of DDR5 ICs. When it comes to overclocking, the SK Hynix ICs do provide the highest frequencies and scales better with higher voltage. The kit we have here today is most likely using A-Die (2 GB) based on the overclocking results (7600 MT/s). This SK Hynix A-Die is the successor to M-Die (2 GB) and is known for its high overclocking capabilities.

However, it should be pointed out that this does not guarantee that the SK Hynix A-Die will be used for future batches. You are ultimately taking a chance of getting the preferred memory brands and revisions when buying for overclocking purposes. It is recommended to buy pre-binned to the desired specifications, not what you hope to achieve from overclocking instead.


With DDR5, one of the major changes is how the motherboard directly provides 5 V to the memory module's PMIC, which is then stepped down and split accordingly. No longer is the motherboard responsible for regulating the voltages, as with DDR4. The PMIC has the part number "OP=AH F62," software reports Richtek being the manufacturer.