DDR5 is not hanging around. This memory standard may still seem new to the majority of us, but it is rapidly gaining speed since its introduction to the PC market last year. This means literally: the latest memory kits and specifications from G.Skill (opens in new tab) show DDR5-7800, DDR-7600, and DDR5-7400 kits are now available.

The performance memory maker also released screenshots of its Trident Z5 RAM, which is rated at DDR5-8000 and clocked at an impressive 4,000 MHz. This photo shows this memory running on an Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Apex motherboard with an Intel Core i9 13900K (open in new tab) The timings for the 2x 16GB kit are 38-48-48-125, which is remarkably fast. The actual latency is 9.5ns, which is astounding for this frequency.

This is incredible considering that this memory standard was just launched last year with DDR-4800 speeds, and while some of these new kits from G.Skill may take longer to get to market, there are plenty of DDR5 sticks are plentiful. And the drive for higher speeds, albeit at a premium over slower kits, is clearly a driving force.

One reason for this renewed push toward DDR5 is that Intel's new Raptor Lake and AMD's Zen 4 processors (open in new tab) support the standard. It is worth noting that Alder Lake (opens in new tab) and Raptor Lake support DDR5 as well as the more affordable DDR4, while AMD's Ryzen 7000 chips only support DDR5. [The good news for those looking to buy one of these new platforms is that DDR5 prices have been dropping since launch and have continued to drop since the initial shortage during last year's holiday period. While DDR5 is still more expensive than DDR4, this Newegg Kingston Fury Beast kit is $93 (opens in new tab).

Certainly, we can't expect the same speeds that G.Skill has announced at this price, but as the market becomes more competitive, we can expect prices to drop further and speeds to continue to improve.