Patriot Viper Xtreme 5 RGB MPOWER DDR5-8000 48GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit Review

TweakTown's Rating: 100%

The Bottom Line

More affordable than their not-so-vanilla kin, the Patriot Viper Xtreme 5 RGB MPOWER not only perform better than expected, they do so with a new silver super suit that make us jealous of future MSI Z790 MPOWER owners. The pair are the best theme match we have ever seen.

Pros

• Slick RGB diffuser
• Overclockability
• Unique silver aesthetic
• M-Die ICs
• Mainstream use

Cons

• Availability
• I wish there were color-coordinated logo stickers

Should you buy it?

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Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

Our last DDR5 review was for Patriot, and in that review, we saw that Patriot is looking outside of their box to partner up with the major players and do something great for the community. While the Elite 5 RGB TUF kits are made with more of an aesthetic play while adjusting their stock timings to fit the series, Patriot delivers a kit within the sweet spot for most users while staying within the memory capabilities of the TUF Gaming Alliance product line. What we have today is a tad different.

Patriot has worked with MSI this time to make something even cooler. We saw something interesting in January while at the Patriot suite. On an APEX, working at just over 9000 MT/s, were a pair of silver sticks with tinted diffusers. At that time, we were blown away at the departure from the normal black that the Xtreme series has always worn and were told that these were part of something coming soon, but the rest of the information was kept tight to the chest.

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With the partnership with MSI and their choice to bring back an MPOWER motherboard, we get the Patriot Viper Xtreme 5 RGB MPOWER DDR5. If you have yet to see the news, the whole idea with this RAM is to bring high-speed usage to users who may not have $600 for a flagship product like an APEX Encore or the Tachyon. From what we have gathered, this MSI Z790 MPOWER motherboard has a two DIMM layout within a Micro-ATX form factor, slated to release at $199, and can run the 8000 MT/s Patriot Viper Xtreme 5 RGB MPOWER kits soon to hit shelves.

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The PVXR548G80C38KM is almost the same as the PVXR548G80C38K, but Patriot has opened things up behind the scenes to make it slightly easier for this type of collaboration to happen. The major change to the Patriot Viper Xtreme 5 RGB MOWER offerings is that Patriot not only chose to use the silver heat spreaders we saw at CES but rather than going with a tinted diffuser, it is silver to match the sticks while still allowing the transfer of RGB illumination through its light coating of paint.

Our set is non-binary with 48GB of density, built upon M-die ICs. It has a JEDEC profile of 5600 MHz with 46-46-46-89 2T timings using 1.1V. Along with that are three XMP profiles, the first of which matches the box, where we get 8000 MHz with 38-48-48-84 2T timings but needing 1.45V to function. There is a 7800 MHz option using the same timings and voltage and a 7600 MHz profile with 34-46-46-84 2T timings, again using 1.45V.

Dimensionally, the Extreme 5 RGB MPOWER are 135.9mm long, 47.1mm tall, 6.6mm wide, and each stick weighs 50.3 grams. As always, with any Patriot RAM, you will be backed with their limited lifetime warranty.

As we write this, availability is zero, nada, zilch, but that gives you time to read reviews such as this and make the call as to whether you opt for the two or three options currently used for high-speed memory usage or you can opt for the $199 MSI slated to arrive soon. We have the MSRP and are told that the Patriot Viper Xtreme 5 RGB MPOWER DDR5 8000 MHz kit we have in hand will only set you back $249.99. Combined with this RAM and the MSI MPOWER board, you are about equal to what one of the three top-tier boards would cost.

Packaging and Patriot Xtreme 5 MPOWER

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Again, as we saw with the TUF version of Elite sticks, our Extreme 5 RGB MPOWER comes with color-coordinated packaging that matches the motherboard aesthetic. At the top, we find the logo and sticker showing density and speed, with a full view of the sticks inside placed right in the middle. The bottom shows Xtreme 5 RGB DDR5, with an MPOWER and RGB notification.

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The back is less exciting visually but keeps with the silver theme. The panel's top describes the product before we find the sticker with the part number and windows to view the RAM. There is also social media information and icons for all the RGB software from motherboard makers.

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Still, inside their protective plastic, we can see why some reported this kit to be white due to the reflectivity of the silver paint. However, the form-fitting, static-blocking, clear plastic we are worried about here has not let us down and has allowed our MPOWER kit to arrive in perfect condition.

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The heat spreaders do not change stylistically, except for going from black to silver. The design is the same. On top of the silver paint, we see the black log and Xtreme 5 name, where MPOWER is set into a dark gray stripe. Along with that, we also get the blocky slashes that are also found on the MSI MPOWER motherboard.

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While we are here to look at the sticker, it is also an excellent shot to gauge the true coloration of the MPOWER Patriot sticks. Back to the sticker, we see it offers the part number, type, density, speed, CAS latency, and voltage needed to run these.

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The silver-on-silver look is attractive, and much like when we saw the TUF kit, it can say MPOWER all it wants. We would run this kit on any capable motherboard; we like the appeal that much.

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At first, with all the talk of RGB with this set of RAM, you would not immediately think of a silver diffuser but rather the milky white or red diffusers. However, for MSI, Patriot chose this route. Not only do we get the Viper name on the left, but also the MPOWER moniker on the right.

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As with all the Xtreme 5 kits, these MPOWER offerings still include thermal tape for the ICs and a thermal pad for the PMIC. The PCB also includes eight RGB LEDs, an unlocked Richtek 0P=AL voltage controller, and a set of eight Samsung H5CGD8MGBDX021 memory ICs.

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Just because the diffusers are silver means that the lighting coming from the MPOWER Patriot RAM isn't awesome. Rather than a super bright display of RGB, this time, it is much more subdued but no less appealing as the color makes its way through.

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Thaiphoon burner verifies everything you would want to know about this set of Xtreme 5 RGB MPOWER DDR5. On the left is the JEDEC profile, its February manufacture date, unfinished IC naming, XMP profile settings, and the SPD hub is named on the right.

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Mem TweakIt shows most timings in their currently set state. Using XMP, we find that the timings shown here are identical to those in the standard Extreme 5 RGB, but you cannot see where the fine-tuning comes into play.

Test System Details

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To obtain the Intel CPU-Z screenshots, you will see directly following this image; this is the system we used to do it, as well as to get the results seen in the following pages. Thanks to ASUS, Intel, be quiet!, MSI, EKWB, and Sabrent for supporting us with this venture. Detailed specifications of the system can be found below.

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Our Viper Xtreme 5 RGB MPOWER kit fired up the XMP profile on our APEX without issue. In the CPU-Z windows, you can see the speed and timings match the specifications, and the SPD tab shows your secondary and tertiary options for profile selection.

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In our testing, many of the Patriot M-die, non-binary, 8000 MHz kits stop at CAS 36, but the MPOWER is a bit more flexible than the standard offering when paired with a board like this. We got the Viper Xtreme 5 RGB MPOWER kit down to 34-46-46-84 2T with full stability. To do so, we needed 1.55 VDD, VDDq, and Tx, while the SA sat at 1.233V, and the MC used 1.385V.

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Maximum speed is a mixed bag at CAS 38. We fall in the range of 8200 to 8400 MHz, and with this set, we are in the middle at 8266 MHz while using the XMP timings, to a point. We did have to relax the tRFC and tREFi to make this happen, but the voltages are the same as the run above.

Chad's Intel DDR5 Dual-Channel Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS Maximus Z790 APEX Encore - Buy from Amazon
• CPU: Intel Core i9 14900K - Buy from Amazon
• Cooler: EK Nucleus AIO CR360 Lux D-RGB - Buy from Amazon
• Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Gaming Trio 24G - Buy from Amazon
• Storage: Sabrent Rocket 4 PLUS-G 4TB - Buy from Amazon
• Case: Custom Thermaltake Core P3 TG
• Power Supply: be quiet! DARK POWER PRO 12 1500W - Buy from Amazon
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Home - Buy from Amazon

Intel Performance

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While we expected good read results, you can see where a newer BIOS has its advantages. The Patriot MPOWER RAM scores well, falling behind only the Patriot 8200 MHz set at 121,892 MB/s. Reducing timings nets us a measly 430 MB/s over XMP, but with a little more speed, the advantage is 3241 MB/s over XMP.

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Write performance is also quite good. Snuggled near the top of the chart, slightly behind the regular version of these sticks, we see the 100,371 MB/s result. Opting to run them at CAS 34 netted us a boost of 1007 MB/s, while added speed delivered 4260 MB/s more than XMP had to give.

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The copy performance is slightly lower than the previous results regarding chart placement but is still a strong showing. Starting at 105,564 MB/s is good, but we made real headway with overclocking. We get an additional 1560 MB/s at CAS 34, but at 8266 MHz, we get 3808 Mb/s more.

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Latency is much better than we expected to see. At the top of the chart is where the MPOWER kit fell into this chart, and while we made a difference with overclocking, you are making the best kit listed even better.

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The four-minute and forty-second run of the MPOWER Xtreme 5 is quite good, right up there with the other Patriot 8000 kits. More speed did not do much for time reduction at exactly one second faster, but we got nearly three seconds using CAS 34 at 8000 MHz.

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The efficiency test PCMark 10 shows the Patriot Viper Xtreme 5 RGB MPOWER RAM second behind another set of Patriots as you can tell, overclocking reduced efficiency, which is why both scores are much lower than what we got out of the box with XMP enabled.

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File compression with 7-Zip has this MPOWER set in second place in the two-minute and thirty-four-second run. We made headway either way we clocked the RAM, but speed wins out over a timing reduction in this instance.

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Handbrake transcoding, using the MPOWER kit from Patriot, which is in line with their other similar kits. Adding speed allowed us to complete the test three points seven seconds faster than XMP. Using CAS 34 got us to the end five and a half seconds faster than XMP.

Final Thoughts

Today, we saw that Patriot can still take on our charts with a slightly down-tuned kit from the original kits we saw a while back. Along with that came BIOS updates and advancements, and this is the one thing about our test system that we update with new releases. It helps to see why the Patriot Viper Xtreme 5 RGB MPOWER could run head-to-head with the originals. However, we are on an APEX Encore, a $500+ solution to clock DDR5 with, but this goes against the grain of why this kit exists.

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It is not hard to see how well Patriot matches the new Z790 MPOWER motherboard from MSI with these Viper Xtreme 4 RGB MPOWER sticks. Honestly, we have never seen a better match. Many companies do such things, but it typically comes down to a badge that signifies their use or some name painted on it, but here, everything from the word go was thought through. Even if the silver is not your thing, you must give it to Patriot to devise another way to "hide" the RGB. Of course, the MPOWER is nowhere near as bright as the standard X5 RGB, but we like that and thoroughly enjoy the aesthetic play Patriot takes to deliver such an outstanding product.

Again, just like with the TUF Gaming Alliance offerings, the MPOWER kit from Patriot is one we would stick in any motherboard, matching or not. We could care less that it says MPOWER, too; with results like this, and at a lower price than we can currently find the OG X5 RGB kits with the same speed and density, it is almost a no-brainer to opt for something like these to tinker around with. Even though the main drive and intent for the Xtreme 5 RGB MPOWER is to pair them with the 1DPC layout of the Micro-ATX MSI Z790 MPOWER motherboard at $199, it puts high-speed solutions in the hands of the average user, and no longer do you have to wait for batches or buy from a scalper when stock is low, you can get something mainstream, grab this amazing kit of DDR5 and go to town.

When it is all said and done, and for some, the best part about this kit comes down to the cost. Currently, G.Skill and TEAM offer similar sets in the range of $240 to $260, and we can almost guarantee that they are designed with the APEX, APEX Encore, and Tachyon in mind, not a mainstream solution. Considering that the MSRP is set at $249.99 for these beautiful Viper Xtreme 5 RGB MPOWER sticks are the only ones currently on offer to boast this range of speed on a mainstream board, they should sell themselves for anyone with a one-DIMM-per-channel motherboard. Of course, if you get the MSI Z790 MPOWER to go with them, you will have one of the best-themed motherboard RAM combos we have ever seen.