Patriot Viper Venom RGB DDR5-6200MHz Review – It’s Fast But Should You Buy One?

The Viper Venom DDR5 memory is Patriot‘s latest memory series. We have a 32GB DDR5-6200MHz kit here, and I think this is the fastest one they have to date. In this review, let’s find out how the Viper Venom DDR5-6200MHz performs and if it’s worth the price. DDR5 memory kits today are still expensive compared to DDR4 kits. But some of the latest 12th gen Intel Alder Lake system requires DDR5 memory, especially AMD’s upcoming Ryzen 7000 Zen 4 processors and AM5 motherboards. Please continue reading our Patriot Viper Venom RGB DDR5 review below.

Patriot Viper Venom RGB DDR5-6200MHz 32GB Memory Kit Review

Patriot Memory released the Viper Venom DDR5 series back in April 2022. The VIPER VENOM DDR5 memory kits are available with and without the RGB illumination. These kits are also available in speeds ranging up to 6200MHz with kit capacities of 16GB-32GB. Each memory stick features a built-in thermal sensor for performance monitoring and an aluminum heat spreader for heat dissipation.

Compatibility-wise, the VENOM RGB DDR5 modules are 100% compatible (according to Patriot) with ASUS, ASROCK, GIGABYTE, and MSI’s latest motherboards and can be synced with their RGB systems.

DDR5 memory features localized voltage adjustments based on a locked/unlocked PMIC (Power Management Integrated Circuit) and SPD HUB (Serial Presence Detection). It can provide simultaneous monitoring and threshold protection, intelligent voltage control, and power management to achieve more comprehensive voltage control.

The Viper Venom DDR5 has an on-die ECC function that enables active error correction to improve data integrity and enhance performance and stability. In addition, these kits support the latest Intel XMP 3.0 profile overclocking. Each module is built using a ten-layer PCB and “strictly” sorted ICs to offer excellent signal integrity and unmatched reliability to the system performance.

Below is the specifications table of the Viper Venom DDR5 memory series. After that, let’s take a closer look at the memory kit itself.

Viper Venom DDR5 Specifications

For the latest pricing and availability, kindly follow the links below: (#ad)
Patriot Viper Venom DDR5 RGB is available on Amazon.com here
Non-RGB Viper Venom DDR5 is available on Amazon.com here
Viper Venom DDR5 Kits are also available on Newegg.com here

Packaging and Closer Look

Patriot’s Viper Venom DDR5’s packaging came with a rectangular slim box. The retail box is quite large and has striking box art. You can see a photo of the memory kit at the front and there is a window on the back side where you can see the memory sticks. A sticker can be found at the front top-right corner indicating the memory kit’s capacity and speed. You can also confirm the same information by looking at the sticker label on the memory sticks from the back.

The Viper Venom RGB DDR5 measures 2.03cm in length, 7.99cm in width, and 15.87cm in height. So it’s not that tall compared to other RGB memory sticks, but it’s not a low-profile memory stick as well. Looking at the top portion, you can see the RGB LED diffuser and there is a “Viper” logo on the middle section.

Speaking of the logo, I think there are just too many Viper logos on the memory stick. I think it would look better with fewer logos or branding or perhaps a more subtle approach. The heat spreader design already looks aggressive or gaming enough. Generally, I think the design looks fine but looks and aesthetics are still a matter of personal preference.

Under the Heat Spreader…

Removing the aluminum heat spreader was easy. My kit’s heat spreader didn’t properly make contact with the chips since the aluminum was somewhat bent or convexed. I have to bend it back a bit so that the adhesive would properly make contact with the memory chips and PMIC area.

The Viper Venom DDR5 has a single-sided design, meaning only one side of the PCB is populated. The DRAM, PMIC, SPD Hub, and other components are located on one side. Meanwhile, the RGB LEDs are located on the other side.

Above you can see a closer look at the PMIC area, alongside three inductors, the SPD hub on the top-left side, and several capacitors. Patriot uses SK Hynix’s H5CG48MEBD NAND chips. There are a total of 8 NAND chips, 2GB each, for a total of 16GB for this kit.

RGB Show…

Above you can see what the RGB lighting looks like on the Viper Venom RGB DDR5. It looks a bit washed out in the photos but they look vibrant in person. According to Patriot, the RGB Sync works with ASUS, ASRock, MSI, and Gigabyte motherboards. There is also a Viper Venom exclusive RGB app, but I wasn’t able to test the app in time. Personally, I prefer to keep things minimal, free from bloat, and not install a bunch of apps and software in the system.

Test System Used

In testing the Patriot Viper Venom RGB DDR5-6200MHz 32GB memory kit, I’m using a Z690 motherboard powered by an Intel Core i7-12700K. Below are the rest of the specifications of the system:

I included a DDR4-4000MHz memory kit on the graph for comparison. Since it is a DDR4 memory kit, I have to use a different motherboard for that one. I used MSI’s MAG Z690 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4 motherboard for the Klevv Cras XR RGB DDR4-4000MHz. The rest of the components used (CPU, graphics card, etc,) are the same.

Patriot Viper Venom RGB DDR5-6200MHz Benchmarks

AIDA64 Memory Benchmark Results

The Viper Venom RGB DDR5-6200MHz is currently the fastest DDR5 memory kit I have. And I am expecting that it would outperform the other DDR5 memory with lower speeds. Well, it did not disappoint during the AIDA64 memory benchmark. It was the fastest as expected, with the 5200MHz memory kits from ADATA and Kingston trailing behind. It was also performing well during the latency test, but DDR4 memory is still faster when it comes to latency compared to DDR5 memory.

SiSoft Sandra Memory Benchmark Results

SiSoft Sandra’s memory tests confirmed the results I got with AIDA64. The ranking of each memory kit is similar, with the Viper Venom DDR5 leading the group and the Klevv Cras XR RGB DDR4-4000MHz at the bottom. If we compare the bandwidth of the DDR4-4000MHz to a DDR5-6200MHz, we almost got around double the performance. Again, the DDR4 memory has the lowest latency with its CL19 value.

Cinebench R23 Benchmark

Cinebench R23 is primarily a CPU benchmark. The performance differences between these memory kits are very small and negligible. It means that when it comes to CPU-intensive workloads, there won’t be any significant performance difference regardless of the memory speed.

3DMark Benchmark Suite

A lot of you might be wondering if there’s any benefit of a faster DDR5 memory when it comes to gaming. Well, as you can see from the results above, there’s not much difference at all. Even the DDR4-4000 memory kit can keep up with the DDR5 memory kits.

The Viper Venom DDR5-6200MHz performed generally faster in 3DMark’s graphics benchmark tests. But the difference isn’t that significant and is generally negligible.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Benchmark

I didn’t test a bunch of games since the results would be more or less similar. I tested the memory kits using the Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s built-in benchmark since it’s very consistent. The Viper Venom RGB DDR5-6200MHz kit offered a few more frames compared to the other DDR5 memory kits. But again, the difference is unnoticeable during actual gameplay.

When comparing the DDR5-6200MHz memory kit to the DDR4-4000MHz, the numbers on the graph look like the DDR5 is offering more frames compared to the DDR4. But when we compute the difference, it’s only around 8% to 9%. Whether or not it’s significant is up for you to decide. One thing I can say though, the price difference between a DDR4 memory kit and a DDR5 memory kit is quite significant and substantial in today’s market.

PCMark 10 Benchmark

Last but not the least, I tested the memory kits using the PCMark 10 benchmark test. This test is a comprehensive set of tests that covers a wide range of activities from everyday productivity tasks to demanding work with digital media content. It’s primarily divided into three categories: content creation, productivity, and essentials.

Again, we can see in this system test that the Viper Venom DDR5-6200MHz performed generally faster compared to other DDR5 memory kits with slower speed. But the difference isn’t that significant at all.

Pricing and Availability

The VIPER VENOM DDR5 memory kits are now available in RGB and non-RGB models, and are backed by the VIPER limited lifetime warranty.

For the latest pricing and availability, kindly follow the links below: (#ad)
Patriot Viper Venom DDR5 RGB is available on Amazon.com here
Non-RGB Viper Venom DDR5 is available on Amazon.com here
Viper Venom DDR5 Kits are also available on Newegg.com here

Patriot Viper Venom RGB DDR5 Memory Review Conclusion

The Viper Venom RGB DDR5-6200MHz kit is currently the fastest memory kit that I have tested. Aesthetically speaking, it looks nice and has a gamer vibe to it. It’s not that aggressive-looking but it could use some less Viper logo on it.

The RBG lighting looks attractive and bright. But it is not as vibrant or saturated when compared to Corsair’s Capellix RGB LEDs. The Capellix LEDs are just on another level. The Viper Venom’s RGB light looks similar to most of the RGB lighting we see on memory kits.

When it comes to performance, the Viper Venom DDR5-6200MHz is a fast memory kit. However, the performance difference isn’t that significant compared to the slower DDR5 memory kits or even compared to a DDR4-4000MHz memory kit. Right now, I just don’t see any real advantage of a faster DDR5 memory kit, especially since these fast memory kits are quite expensive at the moment.

Perhaps when AMD finally releases their Zen 4 CPUs and AM5 platform, these DDR5 memory kits will have a more attractive and reasonable price. Until DDR5 memory gets mainstreamed and more commonly used, I don’t think their prices will drop significantly anytime soon. This was the scenario when DDR4 memory kits were first released on the market. After a while, DDR4 memory prices dropped and we later saw faster memory kits and tighter timings. I’m sure we’ll also get to that point with DDR5 memory kits in the following months to come.

At the end of the day, Patriot’s Viper Venom RGB DDR5-6200MHz is a fast memory kit. There’s no doubt about it. Whether or not you would benefit from its speed is up for you to decide. As for me, I would like to see DDR5 prices drop further since it is a bit hard to recommend at their current retail prices.