Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 RGB memory review

Our Verdict

87%

Well priced for a speedy DDR5 memory kit with fantastic lighting.

This Kingston Fury Beast RGB DDR5 shows that at least one manufacturer has rapidly stepped up its DDR5 frequencies while offering reasonable prices and plenty of stock. This 32GB 6000MHz RGB-enabled gamer memory kit comprises a pair of 16GB modules, and is available for around $230 (£224). Thankfully, in a rather rare move, Kingston also offers a more affordable way to jump onto the DDR5 bandwagon, with a 16GB kit available too for just $150 (£141).

At Custom PC, we’ve been reviewing the latest memory since 2003, and we’ve tested and overclocked hundreds of kits, going right back to the original DDR era. We run both synthetic and application benchmarks to assess performance, and also see how far we can overclock each kit. In addition, we look at any RGB lighting features and assess how good it looks, as well as how well the control software works. For more information, check out our How we test page.

Those prices are still more expensive than those of DDR4 memory kits, but the 6000MHz modules doing the rounds now might soon be pretty popular, as this frequency is rumored to be the new sweet spot for AMD’s forthcoming Socket AM5 systems.

If the rumors are to be believed, these modules would then sit at a 1:1 ratio with Infinity Fabric, just like the 3733MHz upper limit for DDR4 memory. So if you’re planning on upgrading to a Ryzen 7000-series CPU, this kit could well end up on your shortlist.

The modules themselves are low-profile, despite being RGB-enabled, and stand just 42mm tall according to our digital vernier calipers at the tallest point. As such, they won’t interfere with many CPU coolers, even if you’re using a low-profile one. The heatsinks look much the same as those on the DDR4 version of the memory.

The extra surface area on the latter offers slightly better cooling too, shaving 2°C off the temperature of the Fury Beast, although this was still only 62°C under load and didn’t cause any issues. The 6000MHz frequency (or 6,000MT/sec as Kingston now refers to it), is backed up by 40-40-40-40 timings, which were the same as the ADATA XPG Lancer RGB, with a similar frequency and the same SK Hynix memory chips too.

The RGB lighting was quite understated, with no large retina-burning LED strips, but instead a diffusing section of plastic on top of the module that offered vibrant colors and an even lighting array. The lighting was much brighter than that of the ADATA XPG Lancer RGB kit too.

To control the lighting, you can either use the software included with your ASRock, Asus, Gigabyte or MSI motherboard, or you can use Kingston’s own Fury CTRL software. This proved to be just as good, if not better, than any motherboard software we’ve used, and provided ample tweaking and lighting effect presets with which to play.

Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 RGB overclocking

When it came to overclocking, we were able to add another 200MHz to the Fury Beast RGB’s clock speed, but the ADATA kit went up another 200MHz to 6400MHz.

Unrestrained by an AMD Infinity Fabric in our Intel Z690 system, this saw some performance boosts too, raising the read speed from 89GB/sec to 94GB/sec, although the latency increased slightly from 68ns to 69ns. Still, there were gains in our RealBench score, which rose from 346,648 to 352,026, but it still couldn’t match the mighty 6400MHz Kingston Fury Renegade DDR5 RGB memory kit.

Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 RGB pros and cons

Pros

• Fantastic lighting
• Universal motherboard software compatibility
• Reasonable price for DDR5 memory

Cons

• No significant benefit on Intel systems
• Heatsinks lack flair
• Loose memory timings

Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 RGB specs

The Kingston Fury Beast RGB DDR5 specs list is:

Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 RGB price

Price: Expect to pay $230 / £224.

Kingston Fury Beast RGB review conclusion

Our benchmarks showed marginal gains in real-world tests when shifting up to 6000MHz from the more run-of-the-mill 5200MHz speed of older DDR5 memory kits, but there were clear advantages in synthetic read, write and latency tests.

Perhaps more importantly, the Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 RGB 6000MHz kit sits at the AMD Socket AM5 platform’s rumored sweet spot. We’d wait for concrete evidence of that before purchasing, but with better lighting than the ADATA XPG Lancer RGB, and a substantially cheaper price than Kingston’s faster Renegade RGB kit, as well as many other DDR5 packages, this is the DDR5 memory to buy.