What just happened? Kovan Yang, a member of the MSI OC Team, has just set a new DDR4 world record using HyperX Predator memory and the new MSI MEG Z590I Unify motherboard. Using liquid nitrogen, Kovan pushed the single HyperX Predator DDR4 module to 7,156 MHz, beating the previous record of 7,110 MHz.
The record entry posted on HWBOT and verified on CPU-Z Validator shows Kovan was only using an 8GB HyperX Predator DDR4-4600 module. Other system specifications include the new MSI Z590I Unify and the just-released Intel Core i9-11900K downclocked to 1,490.85 MHz.
If you think the 3578.2 Mhz speed displayed in the entry is a bit off, that is because DDR4, as the name suggests, doubles the data rate. To obtain the correct value, you have to multiply it by 2, thus the 7,156 MHz.
Kovan had to lose timings to 58-63-63-63-2 (tCAS-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tCR) to hit such high frequency on a single module. The voltage at which the memory was set is unknown, but it should have been above the XMP profiles values set at up to 1.5V.
Compared to the DDR4 standard speed of 2400 MHz, the record is almost triple. Considering DDR5 standard speed is set at 4800 MHz, one could only imagine that the next generation of DDR memory might be pushed as far as 14000 Mhz.
On another note, the overclocker 'ROG-Fisher' has recently pushed the Core i9-11900K to 7GHz. Since then, other overclockers have had the chance to tinker with it. The current record-holder is Hicookie, reaching just over 7.3GHz using a Gigabyte Aorus Tachyon motherboard.
Image credit: Kovan Yang