Thermaltake Toughram RC DDR5 review

Our Verdict

73%

Smart looks and awesome overclocking headroom, but it looks set to be far too expensive compared with the competition.

If there’s one criticism we can aim at Intel’s new Z690 platform for its 12th-gen CPUs, it’s the price and availability of DDR5 memory. For the first few weeks after the CPUs launched, DDR5 memory was out of stock everywhere, and when it did turn up, the prices were ridiculous. Thankfully, the situation is now gradually improving, but the Thermaltake Toughram RC DDR5 isn’t exactly cheap, with a price of $429 US for a dual-channel 32GB (2 x 16GB) 4800MHz kit.

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.

This Thermaltake gamer memory kit is much more expensive than the competition too. The Toughram RC modules also lack RGB lighting, but they look extremely smart, with square-edged, black brushed aluminum heatsinks that sit tightly packed, with zero gap between them if you fill adjacent sockets.

They’re compact as well, measuring just 40mm tall, although Kingston’s Fury Beast models are a little shorter. This means they’re less likely to clash with large CPU coolers than taller modules, and the RC in the name also means the modules are compatible with Thermaltake’s Floe RC RGB-clad liquid coolers, which add the memory to an AIO liquid cooler loop that also cools the CPU.

Thermaltake’s RC Ultra coolers not only feature an integrated display on the waterblock/pump unit, but also add a second display that spans the memory modules. These coolers demand a hefty price, but if you’re happy to ditch the displays and just have RGB lighting (again spanning the memory as well as the CPU block), then a version with a 240mm radiator currently costs under $150.

Sadly, the price of the memory itself is another issue, though, because at $350, a dual-channel Toughram RC 32GB DDR5 kit costs over $100 more than other equivalent kits from the competition. Even a faster 5200MHz 32GB (2 x 16GB) Corsair Dominator kit, with RGB lighting, comes in at under $300.

The Toughram’s rated speed of 4800MHz is the lowest speed of DDR5 memory you’ll find at the moment, and it gets there with relatively relaxed timings of 40-40-40-77 too. However, our eyebrows were raised when we found we could overclock it to 5600MHz, and it kept going too.

It only fell over when we ran it at 6200MHz, at which point our system refused to enter Windows, but it was happy at 6000MHz, proving stable enough to get to the Windows desktop and run a few PC benchmark tests. That’s a seriously impressive overclock, but we did find that our Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Apex didn’t allow us to set any kind of XMP profile that matched its specification.

Thermaltake’s website states that the 4800MHz kit lacks XMP 3 compatibility, but thankfully, opting for the Asus optimized profile, and then dialling in the 40-40-40-77 latency settings worked fine, and continued to work all the way up to 6000MHz too.

Thermaltake Toughram RC DDR5 pros and cons

Pros

• Very overclockable
• Clean and smart design
• Relatively low profile

Cons

• RGB fans need to look elsewhere
• No XMP 3 compatibility
• Very expensive

Thermaltake Toughram RC DDR5 specs

The Thermaltake Toughram RC DDR5 specs list is:

Thermaltake Toughram RC DDR5 price

Price: Expect to pay $429 US / £423 GBP for 32GB (2 x 16GB), 4800MHz,

Thermaltake Toughram RC DDR5 review conclusion

With a price of $429 the Toughram RC DDR5 it at a significant disadvantage compared to its competition, especially when plenty of other 32GB kits offer speeds of 5600MHz for under $300.

If you like RGB lighting, then you’re out of luck with the Toughram RC too – again, there are cheaper kits that offer it and with higher rated speeds. While it overclocks like a trooper, the Thermaltake Toughram RC DDR5 is simply too expensive to be worth it, even if you factor in the overclocking headroom and compatibility with Thermaltake’s Flo RC liquid-cooling components.