What just happened? Toppc, MSI's resident overclocker, has managed to set a new world record for memory frequency using hand-selected hardware, loads of liquid nitrogen and what was likely plenty of patience. It amounts to little more than bragging rights for those involved but is cool nevertheless.
Memory from Kingston's gaming division, HyperX, was recently used to set a new overclocking world record.
Professional overclocker "Toppc" was able to push a single HyperX Predator DDR4 8G module to a frequency of 5,608MHz using an Intel Core i9-9900K CPU (labeled as an engineering sample in CPU-Z) on an MSI MPG Z390I Gaming Edge AC motherboard.
Kingston said a sample Predator DDR4 module was used to achieve the world record, adding that new 8G modules in kits of two at speeds of 4,266MHz and 4,600MHz are set to launch in the second quarter. At present, Predator DDR4 modules are available in frequencies up to 4,133MHz with latencies of CL12 - CL19.
While impressive, the average user shouldn't put much stock into results like this as they are achieved under highly atypical scenarios - a single stick of unreleased RAM, an engineering sample CPU and extreme cooling (plus loads of skill). Also notice that the RAM's timings were heavily relaxed to achieve this speed.
Still, a record is a record and the achievement is worthy of recognition.
Lead image courtesy pedrosek via Shutterstock