The latest in our series of DDR5 memory reviews is here, and unlike our reviews of the G.Skill Trident Z5 DDR5-6000 and Teamgroup Delta DDR5-6400 kits, the Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR5-5200 has more modest specifications and is not priced to be daunting at first glance. Like all DDR5s, however, it is much more than a reasonable price.

Problems with DDR5 supply are well documented; DDR5 is a good example of how supply chain problems can reduce the availability of a product. Just as a car without a steering wheel is useless, DDR5 memory is useless without critical power management components, and while we have heard that PMIC supply is improving, it will likely be some time before DDR5 becomes more affordable, and even longer before it reaches DDR4 levels

We have heard that the supply of PMICs is improving.

We are not going to say this or that about it. If prices come down significantly in the next few months and we can enjoy life after the pandemic, these kits will look like an absolute bargain compared to now.

Corsair's Dominator kits have always had an upscale look to them, and I still think their DDR5 kits look great. The black aluminum heatspreader feels very solid and heavy. Even the font on the side adds class, even if you never see it built into the rig; if DDR5 requires significant cooling, this heat spreader will do a great job. This module is very tall, so the cooler needs to stay out of the way.

The top of the heatsink features a Tetris-like RGB block-like appearance. These can be controlled with Corsair's popular and easy-to-use iCue software. If you have other components from Corsair that light up your PC, you'll feel right at home; Corsair's case, memory, cooler, and keyboard/mouse combo can look great when its all in sync. I personally am not a fan of RGB, but playing with a full set of synchronized RGB components is a bit of a guilty pleasure.

The kit we are testing runs at 5200 MHz, 38-38-38-84 timing, and 1.25V voltage. This is what we consider to be the sweet spot kit, at least for the first generation of DDR5, based on speed and timing. However, faster speeds and lower timings in the future will require a reconsideration of this statement. The kit contains a Micron IC, which is the weakest of the three tested to date; Samsung and Hynix seem to be the preferred ICs for the faster kits, with Hynix being more widely compatible and Micron more suited for the more affordable mainstream kits

Corson is the preferred IC for the more affordable mainstream kits.

One wonders why Corsair chose to combine a flagship design with memory components that would otherwise be mid-range specs.

Corsair's kits perform at appropriate levels across our entire benchmark suite. The jump from the entry-level 4800MHz kit to 5200MHz is enough to make a difference in applications requiring higher bandwidth. Of course, as one might expect, it lags behind the faster kits.

It is also worth noting that the DDR4-3600 kit trails the DDR4-3600 kit in games by a (minor) margin, as games tend to favor low latency over high bandwidth. This is not worth much concern, but in general, DDR5 begins to pull away from DDR4 at 5600 MHz and above, which is lower than C40. This is worth considering when deciding whether to make the jump to DDR5 in the first place.

Remember that once you load the GPU, memory makes little difference. This can be seen in the Metro Enhanced Edition test, which includes ray tracing: even at 1080p, the entire field is covered at 4 fps. At higher resolutions, it is less than that.

However, the overclocking of the Corsair kit was a bit on the disappointing side. However, this is not unexpected, as current Micron-based kits struggle to achieve high speeds consistently; at 5600 MHz my test rig was bootable, but not stable at 1.34V. Moving to higher voltages beyond the default 1.25V will not have a significant effect. As motherboard BIOSes mature, we may see what we have seen with Samsung-based memory in the short time since DDR5 was released.

We think 5200MHz is a good sweet spot DDR5 kit for mainstream 12th generation systems; 4800MHz is not a sufficient addition compared to 3200MHz or 3600MHz DDR4 kits. And as with all DDR5 today, Corsair's kit is too expensive to make some sort of value case. But compared to other 5200 MHz kits, it's not so bad at $360 (£350, A$599). We know that this pricing won't stay that high in the long run as supplies stabilize. In other words, we are not talking about GPUs here.

If you are a fan of Corsair products and the iCue RGB system, you won't be persuaded to buy this kit. It looks amazing, and while it won't set speed records, this kit should last for years. If you want to get every last drop of performance out of your high-end rig, you'll want something faster, but if you're a mainstream DDR5 buyer, Corsair will not disappoint.

To me, it is (almost) worth the extra money over the 4800MHz kit, but you have to measure that value against other brands and how available the speed is at the time of purchase. Corsair DDR5 in particular comes at a premium that varies widely from market to market; Corsair's Dominator Platinum RGB kit does the job if you don't mind paying a little extra over a bland kit, but requires that you show off in a windowed case .