V-Color Manta xSky RGB 32GB DDR5-5600 CL26 Kit Review

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Nauman Siddique

At HI Digital I test and write about different hardware configurations to show other PC users what they can expect from their build. My end goal is to educate the masses to make the right decision when they are looking for new PC parts to buy

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The DDR5 RAM kits operate at high speed, providing better performance than the DDR4 kits, but they do so with loose timings, which is understandable to safeguard the integrity of the data. V-Color has come up with an idea where they have released DDR5 kits which operate at 5600MHz speed but at CL26, which is quite low compared to CL30 to CL38 timings on the kits, depending on the configuration. We are testing the V-Color Manta xSky 32GB DDR5 kit.

Key Takeaways

• The V-Color Manta xSky 32GB DDR5 RAM kit offers an impressive 5600MHz speed with tight timings (CL26) and RGB lighting.
• You should get the V-Color Manta xSky RGB 32GB DDR5-5600 CL26 kit if you want the lowest possible timings, subtle RGB, good overclocking potential, and low-profile RAM.
• You should not get the V-Color Manta xSky RGB 32GB DDR5-5600 CL26 kit if you want the high speeds out of the box.

Here are the specifications:

This kit has a tested speed of 5600MT/s with tested timings of 26-36-36-76 at 1.40V. This kit has a single XMP 3.0 profile. There is no AMD EXPO profile. The height of this kit is 38mm which is a low-profile design.

Packing Box

The kit comes in an orange and black color packing box made of paper board. We have got a white color kit. These kits are available in White, Black, and Silver colors. The kit has RGB lighting effects. V-Color has provided 2x sticks in the box and there is nothing else. This is a standard packaging.

Design

Let’s start by stating the salient features of the kit:

• Intel XMP 3.0 Pre-programmed
• On-Die ECC Correction
• Stylish Heat Spreader in White Color
• RGB Lighting
• Limited Lifetime Warranty
• Low Timing Compared to other kits

V-Color carries multiple lines or brands for their products, like xSky, and xPrism, within their Gaming series of DDR5 kits. They also carry server and workstation-grade RAM products. I have tested their Manta xPrism 32GB 7200MHz CL34 kit earlier. This time I am taking a look at a mainstream DDR5 kit named xSky.

The heat spreader is made of aluminum alloy material and finished white. We can see a V-shaped design marking in the middle which symbolizes V-Color branding. The part number of this kit is TMXSL1656826WWK. DDR5-5600 is printed, showing the tested speed. A single stick has a 16GB capacity operating at 1.40V.

The backside has a similar layout to the front. There is a sticker label here showing a serial number and a scan label. Each module has 1Rx8 meaning a single rank design using 8 modules. This kit is an unbuffered DIMM with a 288-pin layout. These kits seem to be made in Taiwan.

I am showing a top view of this kit. You can see a single diffuser line running on the complete length of each module. It has RGB LEDs underneath. The nice thing is there is no branding or obstruction over the top. This would better show the RGB diffusion.

I think this is a 10-layer PCB design. The PCB is black in color, which is standard on these DDR5 modules. V-Color has used one side of the PCB with PMIC and ICs. The opposite side is not used, and it has a padding of the same thickness to make the PCB sit evenly between the heat spreader.

There are 4x memory chips on the left of the integrated PMIC chip and 4x memory chips on the right side of this controller. This gives a 16GB capacity overall in 1Rx8 using a 2G x 64-bit design.

Thaiphoon burner run shows V-Color Technology as a manufacturer of this kit. The series of this kit is not mentioned or read by the software. Memory chips are from Hynix, having a part number H5CG48?GBDX014. These are the same chips that I saw on the T-Force Xtreem 32GB 8000MHz kit. This seems to be an A-die kit.

The PMIC controller is from Richtek and has a part number of RTQ5132GQWF. This is the same controller we saw on the T-Force Xtreem kit. This kit will be manufactured in the 50th Week of 2023. This kit has a single Intel XMP Revision 3.0 profile programmed.

• 2800MHz 26-36-36-76 1.40V

The SPD device is from Fermont Micro Devices. It has a model of SPD5118-Y1B000NCG. Temperature sensors are integrated and have ±0.50ᵒC accuracy.

I am showing the HWInfo64 run above. You can see that this software is reading the temperature from both modules.

Testing

We are using the mentioned configuration for RAM testing:

• Intel i7 13700k [Stock, Auto]
• Noctua NH-D15
• GIGABYTE Z790 AORUS ELITE AX
• Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD [For OS]
• GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3060 VISION OC Rev.2 [For Display]
• Antec P1300 Platinum PSU
• Open-air bench

Other kits are:

• G.Skill Ripjaws S5 DDR5 32GB 6000MHz CAS30
• XPG Lancer RGB DDR5 32GB 6000MHz CAS40
• Sabrent Rocket DDR5 32GB 4800MHz CAS40
• Kingston FURY RENEGADE DDR5 32GB 6400MHz CAS32
• CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 32GB 6000MHz CAS36
• Kingston FURY RENEGADE RGB DDR5 32GB 7200MHz CAS38
• T-Force Delta RGB DDR5 32GB 6000MHz CAS30
• V-Color xPrism RGB DDR5 32GB 7200MHz CAS34
• Lexar ARES RGB DDR5 32GB 6400MHz CAS34
• ASGARD BRAGI RGB DDR5 32GB 6800MHz CAS34
• CORSAIR DOMINATOR TITANIUM First Edition DDR5 32GB 7200MHz CAS34
• Teamgroup T-Create Expert DDR5 48GB 7200MHz CAS34
• XPG Lancer RGB DDR5 32GB 7200MHz CAS34
• Teamgroup T-Force XTREEM DDR5 32GB 8000MHz CAS38

We are thankful to our sponsors for this test bench. The following software has been used for the testing:

• AIDA64 Engineer
• SiSoftware Sandra Suite
• Performance Test
• 3DMark Time Spy
• Super Pi

BIOS Run

This kit has a single Intel XMP 3.0 profile and no AMD EXPO profile. I have tested the kit using XMP1, which is 5600 26-36-36-76 at 1.40V. This kit has a low timing which is unlike other DDR5 kits on the market. This kit conforms to JEDEC 5600MHz SPD operating at 46-45-45-90 timings and 1.100V voltage.

CPU-Z And AIDA64 SPD Readouts

The above is a CPU-Z screenshot. Looking closely, you will notice that the software is reporting the kit to be in quad-channel configuration. The reason for that is that with DDR5 kits, we have two channels per module, each 32-bit wide.

The above is the SPD readout as taken from the AIDA64 Engineer edition. It shows the XMP profile and its programmed variables.

Results

This is our first kit in the graph operating at 5600MHz. As shown in the graph, I would expect the result to sit in between the Sabrent 32GB kit operating at 4800MHz and our tested 6000MHz kits. Let’s start taking the results one by one, starting with AIDA64 Engineer.

AIDA64 Engineer

The V-Color Manta xSky 16GBx2 DDR5 kit operating at 5600MHz at 1.40V has a relatively good performance compared to the Sabrent kit operating at 4800MHz. Regarding memory bandwidth benchmarks, this kit sits closer to the kits operating at 6000MHz speed. This kit attais the latency result of 65.6ns. It manages to surpass multiple kits due to its lower timings.

Other Benchmark Software Results

Now, I will discuss the result from the other 4 benchmarks starting with the SiSoft Sandra Software. The V-Color Manta XSky DDR5 kit operating at 5600MHz sits between the kits operating at 6000MHz and a kit operating at 4800MHz. This kit has performed quite well in the Performance Test benchmark and has managed to beat a few 6000MHz operated kits, thanks to its low timings.

This kit is sitting in the third slot in the Super PI benchmark thanks to its tight timing out of the box. The Time Spy CPU score tells the same story. This is an impressive performance from this kit.

Overclocking or Tweaking?

The V-Color 32GB DDR5 kit 5600MHz, CL26 provides a better platform for the user to overclock the kit per the requirement. You can effectively take two routes with this kit; overclock the memory speed while maintaining the same timing. This would give you a good performance boost. The second is to loosen the timings and push the memory frequency higher.

All this would come down to the IMC, motherboard design topology, quality of the memory chip’s silicone, etc. When it comes to overclocking RAM, system agent voltage, VDDQ, and VDD2 voltages play a significant role in the IMC of the CPU. I was able to push this kit to 6200MHz at CL26 using 1.47V on memory, 1.250V on system agent voltage, and 1.350V on VDDQ/VDD2. I did not try to lose the timings and push the memory frequency any higher.

Above is a CPU-Z confirming that the kit is operating on 6200MHz.

Here are the results:

RGB Lighting

I have used the GIGABYTE Z790 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard and found that the kit was responding well to the changes made in the RGB Fusion 2.0 app for RGB lighting control.

Should You Buy It?

Now that I have tested the V-Color Manta xSky DDR5 kit, who do I recommend it to?

Buy It If

✅You want a better DDR5 kit on the market: The V-Color Manta xSky DDR5 kit operating at 5600MHz, CAS26 provides the lowest possible timing during this writing.

✅Subtle RGB on RAM is your need: This kit has subtle RGB lighting with good diffusion. It will suit the users who want a best-performing kit and RGB bling.

✅Overclocking is your thing: This kit uses the same Hynix IC DRAM chips as I saw on the T-Force Xtreem 8000MHz kit. This kit has a good overclocking potential and will suit these users.

✅RAM Clearance is an issue: This kit has a height of 38mm, making it a low-profile design. It would be handy if you use a beefy air cooler.

Don’t Buy It If

❌You already own a DDR5 kit: Skip this kit if you already have a DDR5 kit.

❌You want a high-speed DDR5 kit out of the box: This kit operates at 5600MHz. We are seeing DDR5 kits exceeding the 8000MHz memory speed. If you are looking for high-speed kits and don’t want to overclock, this kit may not be for you.

Final Words

V-Color is known to produce good quality, binned DDR5 kits. I tested their high-end DDR5 Manta xPrism 7200MHz CAS34 kit that can overclock to 8000MHz easily, depending on good IMC. This time, I looked at the Manta xSky DDR5 32GB kit. V-Color has taken a different approach with this kit. This is a low-timing kit out-of-the-box.

This kit operates at 5600MHz with CL26 using 1.40V. V-Color uses Hynix A Dies, giving these kits a better chance at overclocking. This makes this kit the best of both worlds, in my opinion. You can either maintain the tested timing and push the memory frequency high (in my case, it goes up to 6200MHz on air), or you can lose this time to, say, CL28 and related other timings and then push the kit further for higher memory frequency, like trying for 6800MHz at CL28. This would be a killer combo.

This kit has a tested speed of 5600MHz with a tested timing of 26-36-36-76 at 1.40V. It has a single XMP 3.0 profile and no AMD EXPO profile. This kit has performed quite well, and most of the time, it is sitting between the Sabrent kit operating at 4800MHz and other DDR5 kits operating at 6000MHz. This kit has a dimension of 138x38x9mm (LxHxW). The height of 38mm makes this kit a low profile and provides a better clearance for air coolers.

V-Color seems to have used A-die from Hynix. It is available in white, black, and silver colors. This kit has a limited lifetime warranty, retailing at USD 139.99.

Nauman Siddique

[How-To Guides Expert]

Laiba, our tech guru at HI Digital, simplifies and crafts How-To Guides with a Google IT Support Certificate. Beyond tech, she captures the city’s aesthetics through her lens. Join her journey where tech meets creativity!

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