TeamGroup T-Force XTREEM DDR5 32GB 8000MHz CL38 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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Teamgroup needs no introduction when it comes to the PC Memory, Storage, and accessories. In our last take, I took a spin on the T-Create 24x2GB DDR5 kit operating at 7200MHz CAS34. This time, I am looking at the flagship memory product from Teamgroup under the T-Force branding. It is an Xtreem DDR5 kit with a capacity of 32GB (16GBx2) operating at a whopping 8000MHz CAS38. This is our first 8000MHz DDR5 kit, so I am excited and a bit worried as well. This kit would be a blast on a 2 DIMM board, but the story is different on the 4 DIMM board as it might need more tweaking to operate with the XMP profile.

Key Takeaways

• The Teamgroup T-Force XTREEM DDR5 32GB (16GBx2) 8000MHz RAM kit excels with its top-tier speed and efficient cooling design, ideal for enthusiasts and overclockers seeking high performance and reliability in their gaming PCs.
• You should get the T-Force XTREEM 32GB 8000MHz if you want excellent performance with solid overclocking potential and all-black looks.
• You should not get the T-Force XTREEM 32GB 8000MHz if RAM clearance is an issue in your build or if you have a 4-DIMM motherboard.

I am showing the specifications of the kit above. This kit has a tested speed of 8000MT/s with tested timings of 38-48-48-84 at 1.45V. This kit has two XMP 3.0 profiles on this content. There is no AMD EXPO profile. The height of this kit is 48.8mm, which is the second-tallest kit in our testing. This is a U-DIMM design. Given the Xtreem series kit, it is meant for good overclocking, provided you have a good motherboard, supportive IMC, BIOS, etc.

Packing Box

The kit comes in a black color packing box made of paper board. XTREEM DDR5 is prominently mentioned over the box. There is a transparent shell inside with both modules nicely tucked in between. This is a non-RGB kit, which is understandable since we are dealing with some serious hardware here where the focus is on pure performance.

Design

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

• Intel XMP 3.0 Pre-programmed
• On-Die ECC Correction
• Meticulously layered high-quality aluminum sandblasted fin
• 2mm Aluminum Alloy Heat Spreader
• Limited Lifetime Warranty
• Power management chip for stable and effective power usage

Teamgroup carries multiple lines or brands for their products, like T-Force, T-Create, etc. The XTREEM is their high-end flagship memory product aimed at enthusiasts, professionals, and overclockers. The gamers can use these kits but would be better off with a more mainstream T-Force Delta series. The XTREEM comes in 7600MHz, 8000MHz and 8200MHz capacity. These kits are available in 2x16GB and 2x48GB sizes.

The above picture shows the front and back sides of the modules. The heat spreader is made of sandblasted aluminum alloy material. The salient highlight of this heat spreader is that it has a 2mm layered design with multiple fins to efficiently transfer the heat.

There is a futuristic T-Force brand logo in silver over the top right side. Narvik Black is printed over the base showing the color of the kit. This kit is from T-Force Lab which I am sure is marketing at its best since all of their kits are rigorously tested in their lab.

We can see a layered fin design on the backside. There is a label removal which would void your warranty. The part number of this kit is FFXD516G8000HC38DBK. A serial number along with the speed, timing, and voltage ratings are also printed. This kit is an unbuffered DIMM with a 288-pin layout. Each module has 1Rx8 meaning a single rank design using 8 modules. These kits are made in Taiwan. These kits have on-die ECC which comes in handy for real-time data correction.

Looking at the top view of this kit, you can see an industrial finish. This is a slope-down design which is not visible in the picture. I wish Teamgroup had used XTREEM branding over the top instead of T-FORCE. There is no diffuser over the top since this kit does not have RGB lighting.

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

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 Teamgroup 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. This seems to be an A-die kit. The PMIC controller is from Richtek, having a part number of RTQ5132GQWF. This is the same controller we saw on the CORSAIR DOMINATOR TITANIUM First Edition white, XPG Lancer RGB, and T-Create Expert Desktop Memory kits. This kit will be manufactured in the 38th week of 2023.

This kit has two Intel XMP Revision 3.0 profiles programmed. Profiles are:

• 4000MHz 38-48-48-84 1.45V
• 3000MHz 38-38-38-78 1.25V

The SPD device is from Montage. It has a model of M88SPD5118. 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]
• Corsair iCUE Link H150i LCD White
• 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

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 two Intel XMP 3.0 profiles and no AMD EXPO profile. We tested the kit using XMP1, which is 8000 38-48-48-84 at 1.450V. This is not only a high-speed kit but also has some tight timings under XMP1. This kit conforms to JEDEC 5600MHz SPD operating at 46-46-46-90 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 both XMP profiles and their programmed variables.

Results

This is our first kit in the graph operating at 8000MHz. Let’s start taking the results one by one, starting with AIDA64 Engineer.

AIDA64 Engineer

Holy smoke! The T-Force XTREEM 16GBx2 DDR5 kit operating at 8000MHz at 1.450V has smashed all other kits in the graph with a good all-round performance. This was expected from this kit. In all three memory bandwidth operations, this kit has a clear upper hand over all the other 13 kits. This kit has even managed to take a top slot in the Latency benchmark showing its supremacy. This is an excellent performance from the Teamgroup’s flagship DDR5 kit.

Other Benchmark Software Results

Now, I will discuss the result from the other 4 benchmarks, starting with the SiSoft Sandra Software. The T-Force XTREEM kit has delivered a solid performance punch in this benchmark and comes in the first place. The same goes for the Performance Test benchmark though the margin is not that high, but it is there that only the 8000MHz or the above kit can fill. This kit is sitting on top 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?

I admit it is hard to make this high-speed kit work on a 4-DIMM motherboard. After loading XMP, the system booted into the Windows environment, but it crashed with BSOD under some software runs or game loading time, which clearly indicates that running this kit would take more voltage. I had to up the System Agent Voltage as well as VDDQ CPU and VDD2 CPU voltages in addition to increasing the XMp voltage from 1.450 to 1.50V. This enabled me to complete the testing, though I am sure it was still not stable. This kit would work fine on a 2-DIMM board like ASUS ROG Apex or Encore, for example. Teamgroup has mentioned that this kit would work on the MSI MAX series of Z790 motherboards, and I will test it on the MSI MEG Z790 ACE MAX soon. This kit is supported on the ASRock Z790 NOVA WiFi motherboard as well.

This is the reason I could not overclock the kit on the GIGABYTE Z790 AORUS Elite AX motherboard.

Should You Buy It

After testing the T-Force XTREEM DDR5, who should get it?

Buy It If

✅You want the best-performing DDR5 kit: The T-Force XTREEM DDR5 kit operating at 8000MHz, CAS38 is the best-performing kit among others on the market.

✅Stealth is your need: This kit does not have RGB bling. It has an all-black outlook that looks good in person and can easily blend in any neutral or stealth build.

✅Overclocking is your thing: The XTREEM series of DDR5 kits have a good headroom for overclocking and can be handy for enthusiasts and overclockers. This kit has a 2mm heat spreader with fins styling for effective heat dissipation.

Don’t Buy It If

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

❌RAM Clearance is an issue: This kit has a height of 48.8mm, which could cause trouble to some air coolers, particularly those with dual-fan beefy heatsinks.

❌You have a 4-DIMM motherboard: This kit operates at 8000MHz, making it among a few options that we have so far in DDR5. However, this speed could be problematic for some motherboards that have 4-DIMM slots.

Final Words

The T-Force XTREEM is a high-performance, elite-class DDR5 kit from Teamgroup, where the manufacturer has focused solely on raw performance. These kits are not ordinary memory kits and that is why I am seeing their target market to be enthusiasts, overclockers, and professionals. The gamers can also take advantage, but they would be better with the Delta series of DDR5 kits from Teamgroup. Value is one such consideration as to why I may be holding off these kits for the gamers.

I have tested the 8000MHz rated 32GB kit under the XTREEM branding from Teamgroup. The highest offer is 8200MHz at the same CAS timings. The 8000MHz kit has tested timing of 38-48-48-84 at 1.450V. This kit has somewhat tight timings out of the box with an XMP1 profile. Speaking of XMP, this kit has two XMP profiles. The second profile is 6000MHz 38-38-38-78 at 1.250V. There is an AMD EXPO profile.

This kit has performed quite well and sitting on the top slot in our graphs. There is no other 8000MHz kit in the graph; hence, there is no competition. This kit has a dimension of 134.5×48.4×8.2mm (LxHxW). The height of 48.8mm makes this kit high-profile, and it may hinder some beefy air coolers. This kit has a 2mm heat spreader made of aluminum alloy with a fin layout for effective heat dissipation.

Teamgroup seems to have used A-die from Hynix. This kit comes with a limited lifetime warranty, and it retails at SUD 239.99. I checked on NewEgg and found that this is a competitive pricing.

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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