Benchmarking 6000MT/S CL26

DDR5 6000 CL26 Benchmark

DDR5 6000 CL26 is the focus of this benchmark. V-Color has released their own low-latency CL26 6000 MT/s kits to the market, and we had the pleasure of purchasing some ICs to conduct our own benchmarking and testing for CS2 and synthetic applications.

DDR5 6000 CL26 RAM Specs

• Speed: 6000MT/S CL26
• Primary Timings : 26-36-36-36-96 1.45V
• Die : Hynix A-DIE
• Ranks : 2

This DDR5 6000 CL26 kit is based on Hynix A-DIE and runs 26-36-36-36-96 at 1.45V.

PC Specs

• Windows 11 23H2, Debloated (Windows apps removed during install). Everything else on stock settings.
• Power Plan: FPSHEAVEN2026
• NVIDIA Driver: 581.57 – NVCLEANSTALL
• CPU: 9800X3D, +200 MHz, -20 on 7 cores, -25 on 1 core, LLC 5, FCLK: 2200 MHz
• GPU: 5070 Ti
• Motherboard: X670E-F Gaming WiFi, BIOS version 3304
• RAM: 6000 CL26, 26-36-36-36-96
• VDD: 1.45V
• VDDQ: 1.4V
• SOC: 1.15V
• MISC: 1.1V
• MEM VPP: 1.85V
• VDDG CCD/IOD: 0.95–1.05V
• Storage: 4 NVMe drives
• Network: PCIe Marvell NIC

All security features are enabled on both the OS and BIOS. SVM, IOMMU, and other security mitigations are at their default values.

The following benchmarks were validated by running prolonged and overnight stress tests such as TM5, OCCT, Y-Cruncher, and Linpack.

Note: The motherboard sets VDDQ to 1.45V by default, but we used 1.4V since 1.45V was unnecessary and did not affect our results.

Power-saving features such as DF C-States, PCI power savings, and Global C-State Control have been disabled. Other onboard devices, such as Wi-Fi and additional network adapters, have also been disabled.

Gear Down Mode was disabled for all tests.

ZenTimings

EXPO Synthetic Benchmarks

PyPrime 2B,8B,32B

CinebenchR23

Tuned Synthetic Benchmarks

PyPrime 2B,8B,32B

CinebenchR23

Synthetics roundup

The less time, the better.

CS2 RAM Benchmark on 9800X3D

1280×960, Reflex ON.

Because this is a CS2 RAM benchmark, we focused on average FPS, 1% lows, P1, frametimes, and actual gameplay feel.

The results.

4 Captures run on the our FPS BENCHMARK map will give us around 850AVG FPS, 288 in 1% LOW AVERAGE and around 310 in P1. These are EXPO and ASUS trained memory results.

Memory tuning and memory performance in general does not seem to have a big impact on a 9800X3D due to its architecture.

Performance and frametimes are great regardless of your memory specs, especially in CS2.

DDR5 6000 CL26 Tuned Results

4 captures on our FPS Benchmark map will deliver similar results.

In our 9800X3D RAM tuning test, the benchmark gains were small, but tuned timings made gameplay feel smoother and more responsive.

There is an increase in P1 and 1% low averages, but it’s not really a game changer.

This goes to show that for CS2, the 9800X3D doesn’t really care about RAM.

Although this is only a printed benchmark, actually feeling your input and playing the game with tuned RAM is really nice.

Taking fights with confidence and feeling your mouse movement 1:1 is really important.

Even though there isn’t much improvement in the benchmark, the real feel of the system and the gameplay is extremely smooth and responsive.

This is why you should always prioritize gameplay experience over printed benchmarks and statistics.

The game feels just too good with tuned timings.

C30 VS C26 : A short test

We ran a short test on the CS2 FPS benchmark by changing only the CL value in the BIOS.

The difference between CL30 and CL26 is not impressive.

During our testing, we found that with this BIOS version and this memory kit, there is an increase in average FPS, but the 1% lows are ever so slightly lower, a difference that is not significant at all.

The conclusion.

We were impressed by the quality of V-COLOR’s low-latency ICs, both physically and performance-wise.

A 9800X3D might not be the best CPU to showcase the difference between tuned and stock values, but it is a processor that a large portion of gamers use.

If you can afford a CL26 kit, buy it and tune it.

Low-latency kits like this one can be quite pricey, and they’re mostly advertised toward professional gamers and overclockers.

If you’re a normal gamer who just wants to have fun, get a 6000 CL30 kit, flip EXPO on, and play your games.

Overall, DDR5 6000 CL26 is worth considering if you want a low-latency kit and you are comfortable tuning memory, but DDR5 6000 CL30 still makes more sense for most normal gamers.

This brings us to the end of our first short review.

Our next article will compare 6400 MT/s CL30 against V-COLOR’s 6000 MT/s CL26.

Stay tuned for that.