G.Skill on Monday announced a high-performance, high-capacity 256GB Trident Z Neo DDR4-3600 memory kit intended to complement AMD's recently announced 64-core/128-thread Ryzen Threadripper 3990X CPU. And for those with the requisite disposable income, this combination would be just perfect.
In case you missed it, the 3990X hit retail shelves last week for $3989.99 (i.e., $3990); G.Skill is not in the habit of putting MSRPs on memory kits, and this is no exception. For reference, however, this late 256GB Trident Z Neo DDR4-3200 memory kit sells for $1,349.99 at Newegg.
G.Skill's faster DDR4-3600 kit is expected to be much more expensive. In other words, the 3990X and this excessive RAM kit together would cost about $5,500 for the CPU and memory alone.
Is it worth it? Not for a gaming PC, not for bragging rights. If you want to stand out from the crowd, put that amount toward a down payment on a sports car instead, which is what I would do if I didn't have $5,500 in my pocket (and I'd be accused of having a mid-life crisis). The best RAM for gaming right now is still a 16GB or 32GB kit.
However, that's not to say you'll never need 256GB. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is said to have once said that 640K would be enough for everyone (a statement he denies), but he turned out to be dead wrong. And RAM speed and capacity are critical for gaming. But we don't need nearly 256GB right now. [Like the 3990X, 256GB of RAM is useful in other select scenarios, such as 3D rendering and heavy-duty content creation, and the beauty of G.Skill's latest 256GB kit is that it is relatively fast, at 3,600MHz. Timings are 16-20-20 and the kit runs at 1.35 V. G.Skill tested these specs on an Asus ROG Zenith II Extreme Alpha motherboard.
If you're interested in this product, you'll have to wait a bit; according to G.Skill, it will be available in the second quarter of this year.
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