Corsair teases DDR5-10000 CUDIMMs ahead of early November release

Hot on the heels of G-Skill’s DDR5-9600 CUDIMMs announcement, Corsair has teased its own clock unbuffered memory modules for Intel’s latest Core Ultra 200S platforms that will be capable of DDR5-10000 mode, albeit with a major catch. The company said that its CUDIMMs will be available in early November. 

Corsair’s upcoming Vengeance DDR5 CUDIMMs will be based on SK hynix’s 24Gb memory ICs and therefore will be available in 24 GB and 48 GB dual-channel kits. The range-topping modules with a clock driver (CKD) will come equipped with an XMP-10000 profile that will enable a 10,000 MT/s data transfer rate with CL48 60-60-157 timings at 1.5 volts.  

There are two major catches with DDR5-10000 CUDIMMs. Firstly, this level requires Gear 4 mode. While Gear 4 can support extreme data transfer rates, it operates the memory controller at ¼ of the memory’s transfer rate (in this case 2500 MHz), which will not be ideal for the vast majority of workloads. Secondly, such memory modules will require a 1.5V voltage, which is 36% higher than the default voltage for DDR5 memory. While modern ICs can handle higher voltages than the standard defines, a 36% increase could severely decrease their lifespan. 

It should be noted that in addition to the XMP-10000 profile, Corsair’s range-topping Vengeance CUDIMM module will also include an XMP-8400 profile that will enable a 8,400 MT/s data transfer rate with CL40 52-52-135 latency settings at 1.45 volts and probably in Gear 2 mode (memory controller operates at ½ the memory data transfer speed). Although in this mode a peak memory bandwidth will decrease from 80 GB/s per module to 67.2 GB/s per module, actual real-world performance of XMP-8400 Gear 2 may be higher than that of XMP-10000 Gear 4. In fact, even real-world latency of DDR5-8400 CL40 (9.52ns) is slightly lower than that of DDR5-10000 CL48 (9.6ns). 

Corsair plans to equip its Vengeance CUDIMMs with polished heatsinks with triangular patterns that will blend with the vast majority of builds. In the future, expect the company to come up with modules better suited for modders, but for now the focus is on ultimate performance. 

Corsair’s Vengeance CUDIMMs will be optimized for Intel’s Core Ultra 200S ‘Arrow Lake-S’ processors and Intel Z890 motherboards. In addition to DDR5-10000 SKU, Corsair’s new range will include lower-speed CUDIMMs to enable various price points and cater to demands of various enthusiasts.