Memory by stefan @ 2024-04-03
By installing the Silicon Power 2x16GB DDR5 4800MHz CL40 SODIMM memory kit, the bottleneck regarding capacity has disappeared and because of this we have also noted a small bump in performance in most benchmarks. Since the disk swapping when running games disappeared due to enough memory quantity, we have also observed a small improvement on the thermals as well.
We would like to thank at first Silicon Power for supplying their 2x16GB DDR5 4800MHz CL40 SODIMM Memory Kit for testing and reviewing.
"Founded in 2003 by a group of enthusiastic data storage industry experts, Silicon Power is committed to delivering outstanding product and service quality. Headquartered and with our own state-of-the-art production site in Taipei, we have become a leading manufacturer of flash memory cards, USB flash drives, portable hard drives, solid state drives, DRAM modules and industrial-grade products. As an international player with four branch offices around the globe, we continuously strive to offer the perfect data storage solution for all requirements of modern digitalized life. With a strong focus on combining innovative technology and award-winning design, we live up to our brand promise to reliably preserve and protect your most valuable data.
Because memory is personal."
Harness The Power Of DDR5
Taking speed, capacity, and reliability even further, the cutting-edge technology of this DDR5 SODIMM module gives that next-level edge for your laptop's performance. With an aggressive 5600MT/s frequency, it's 75% higher than a standard 3200MT/s DDR4 to provide multi-core CPUs with extreme responsiveness and the power to multi-task seamlessly.
Greater Power Efficiency
Even with all of its extra power, this DDR5 SODIMM module improves upon its predecessor with on-module voltage regulation. A power management integrated circuit (PMIC) reduces the burden on the motherboard control and results in a lower voltage of 1.1V versus 1.2V for DDR4 for even less power consumption.
No Need To Keep Tabs On Your Tabs
Compared to DDR4's 16GB chip unit capacity, this DDR5 SODIMM module doubles that number to 32GB by packing in more banks and bank groups. This allows for more pages to be open at a time so you can increase your productivity without worrying about your system slowing down from having too many tabs open at once.
Higher Computing Performance
That's not all that's doubled – the minimum burst length on this DDR5 SODIMM module is up to 16, up from 8 for DDR4. This improves data bus efficiency, providing twice the data on the bus, and consequently reduces the number of reads/writes to access the same cache data line.
Less Room For Error
This DDR5 SODIMM module introduces On-Die ECC (Error Correction Code), a new feature that was designed to correct bit errors in real-time within the DRAM chip. By doing so, this advanced technology keeps your system reliably stable while automatically correcting data errors.
2 Channels Are Better Than 1
For even greater performance, this DDR5 SODIMM module features two independent 32-bit channels per module. Compared to DDR4's single channel, splitting it into two increases efficiency and lowers the latencies of data accesses for the memory controller to promote optimized efficiency.
Capacity
Dual Channel Kit: 32GB(16GB*2)
Dimensions: 30.0mm x 69.6mm
Voltage : 1.1V
Form Factor: SODIMM
Tested Speed: 4800MT/s
CAS Latency: CL40
Certification: CE, UKCA, Green dot (Germany & Spain Only), WEEE, Triman, RoHS
Warranty: Limited Lifetime Warranty
We have noted that even still today there are lots of powerful productivity/gaming laptops which ship with only 16GB of RAM, which is quite insufficient if you do have multiple tools loaded in the background, even without running any games. On our test system, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 16IRX8, with a WQXGA IPS 240Hz screen, an Intel Core i5-13500HX CPU, 512GB SSD and GeForce RTX 4060 8GB dedicated video card, we have noted many times that the memory usage was around 85% while on desktop, which is quite a lot if we need to also run some games or operate some virtual machines, perform video encoding and so on.
Fortunately, there are memory upgrade kits available from many manufacturers and the upgrade process is quite easy to do since it does not requite fiddling inside the UEFI interface as we need to with desktops, the laptop performing memory training automatically and settling on the best values right after the first boot.
Silicon Power has sent us a nice Dual Channel 2x16GB DDR5-4800 kit for review, with a CL of 40; the company does also have available DDR5-5200 and DDR5-5600, but if installed on our Lenovo laptop these would run at 4800MHz as well due to limitations of the Intel Core i5-13500HX CPU.
The product is shipped inside a simple, sealed plastic enclosure, which allows the potential customer to see how the modules do actually look like even before deciding on the purchase:
The leaflet found underneath does inform the user that we are dealing with a dual-channel kit with a total capacity of 32GB, while the running frequency is 4800MHz:
On the back side, we will get a QR code in order to activate the product warranty, the product name but also its serial number:
Installation instructions are available inside:
The kit consists of two separate modules:
Each module does come with 8 ICs and a small sticker attached to the frontal area of the PCB; on the sticker we will note the product code name, the serial number, the CAS latency but also the capacity:
The modules are single-sided since there are no components on the opposite side:
The ICs are made by Micron, with the D8BNH code name, but feature Silicon Power stamps on top as well:
The first step would be to remove the old 2x8GB kit and install the new one:
Surprisingly, even if the CPU does only support RAM up to 4800MHz, Lenovo has installed two SK Hynix DDR5-5600MHz modules, mostly available for purchase on OEM channels:
Our test system is composed of the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 16IRX8 in stock configuration, with a WQXGA IPS 240Hz screen, an Intel Core i5-13500HX CPU, 512GB SSD and GeForce RTX 4060 8GB dedicated video card. During the time of testing, the system was running the latest version of Windows 11 23H2, with all updates applied.
The stock kit employed the following timings:
The Silicon Power DDR5-4800 Dual Channel 2x16GB C40 kit did not have the memory specs readable via AIDA64, but only from CPU-Z:
By installing the Silicon Power 2x16GB DDR5 4800MHz CL40 SODIMM memory kit, the bottleneck regarding capacity has disappeared and because of this we have also noted a small bump in performance in most benchmarks. Since the disk swapping when running games disappeared due to enough memory quantity, we have also observed a small improvement on the thermals as well.
Silicon Power does employ JEDEC pre-programmed timings and speeds on the modules in order to have it compatible with many laptops or miniPCs and using a heatsink is not necessary due to the low operating voltages.
If you own a machine with support for higher-spec RAM from the 13th series such as the i7-13850HX or upwards, or a 14th-generation SoC starting with the i5-14450HX, the system will also take SODIMM RAM sticks up to 5600MHz. Silicon Power has you covered, with single sticks of up to 48GB capacity per stick, but also dual-channel kits with a total capacity of 96GB at 5600MT/s.
The tested model, SP032GBSVU480F22 can be found online for about 105 Euros.
We would like to thank again to Silicon Power for making this review possible!