A Closer Look

The Neo Forza Faye DIMM modules are black with a semi-gloss finish. The heatspreader carries the standard rectangular profile, but with a few twists and turns, which makes for a unique design. For those wondering, the silver accents are supposed to represent an eagle.


The Neo Forza logo in silver has been placed in the center on each side.


With the DIMMs on the side, two things stand out. First, the sliver shapes contrasting with the black are raised slightly. Second, the center is noticeably hollow. Whereas many companies choose to connect both sides with a plastic top, these are as basic as can be—two heatspreaders, one on each side.


On one side of each DIMM module is the identification sticker listing the SKU, rated XMP operating frequency, corresponding voltage of 1.5 V, and timings. These specifications are a bit harder to read without prior knowledge of what to look for. It is all there, just jumbled together in small print. That said, I would have liked to see the full primary timings instead of just the CAS value listed.


The Neo Forza Faye weighs in at 39 grams on my scale, which is on the lighter side of the spectrum. Half the weight is the heatspreaders, leaving 20 grams to the DIMMs themselves.

For Z-height, it is 42 mm rounding down with my calipers. These are on the verge of being slightly too tall, but with the center exposed, this extra height actually acts like a single large fin for passive airflow.


After taking the heatspreader off, we see dual-sided DIMMs with sixteen 1 GB ICs making these dual-rank as both sides are populated. Being dual-rank has its drawbacks due to the extra burden it places on the CPU memory controller, but the upside is two pools of memory (each rank is one) for the CPU to draw from. In certain scenarios, this allows for data to be accessed with less of a latency delay over the conventional two-DIMM single-rank configuration.

The heatspreader is held loosely in place with less than ideal thermal tape. After talking with our Neo Forza representative, he informed me that the company is aware of the problem and steps are being taken for future batches. One of the DIMMs was completely detached inside the packaging. It was easy to stick back on, and with a bit of applied heat, it stuck in place firmly throughout testing.


Getting a closer look at the ICs, nothing is written on them from what I can tell. It is possible the tape took off the silk-screen, but some of it is usually left behind, so that is not the case for these. What I can tell you is that these are in fact SK Hynix DJR since it was confirmed by Neo Forza and my own follow-up. The SPD readout states SK Hynix, and such weaker ICs as SK Hynix CJR reaching these speeds is unlikely at best. Those who may be concerned by an XMP profile voltage of 1.5 should not worry; SK Hynix DJR can take a lot of voltage if the ICs are properly cooled

Thaiphoon Burner Readout

Thaiphoon reports the SPD correctly, listing SK Hynix and an 8-layer PCB. This Neo Forza Faye kit uses an XMP profile of DDR4-4600 19-26-26-46 at an operating voltage of 1.5. It also has a JEDEC SPD of 2666 MT/s, which is not ideal if you cannot enable the XMP profile. A second XMP profile of DDR4-3600 is present, but it is a bit on the high side for latency. This profile looks to be a safe fallback and good starting point for those motherboards that have problems running the first XMP profile.