This rugged mobile workstation weighs only 4.41Kg and is both MIL-STD-810H and IP66 certified with vibration and 120cm drop resistance. It is based on an 11th generation Intel Core though, because these platforms require a bit more time for certification and testing; so no DDR5 here; only 128GB DDR4. It does come with a bewildering array of connectors (including VGA and two 2.5Gb Ethernet connectors) and two hot-swappable 74.5WHr batteries. of RAM is definitely overkill for the overwhelming majority of users; there’s simply no need for that amount of memory in a business laptop.

So, how does it perform? As is always the case with high-performance memory, the benefits are application-specific.When compared to a common DDR4-3200 kit you do get the odd bump, though any benefit is hidden when you move to higher resolutions and graphical details. You will see the benefits if you want to extract every last frame with a high refresh rate monitor.This set of Neo RAM from G.Skill runs at 3,600MHz, which puts it in the sweet spot for red team gaming PCs for low latency operation. As a result, this is definitely a more budget-friendly option for mid-range builds with some flair, especially if you can't afford to stretch to the Corsair Dominator kits. Known for superb binned memory and high-speed kits, G.Skill's Trident Z Royal blends 4,000MHz (effective) operation with a highly stylized design. These DIMMs are just asking to be put center-stage in a showpiece gaming PC build—and it would be far from a slouch either. At DDR4-4000 with 15-16-16 timings, the Trident Z Royal kit is probably the perfect combination of high frequency, low timings, and broad platform compatibility. It does require 1.5V to operate at that spec—which is at the high end for a default voltage—but fear not, it will be able to run year after year. We used MSI's MAG Z690 Tomahawk WiFi motherboard in both DDR4 and DDR5 flavors. They're essentially the same motherboard with different RAM slots, making them directly comparable to each other. It helps us eliminate or reduce the performance delta to a minimum instead of using two different motherboards from different brands or product tiers.

Whereas you may want to choose a slower 3,600MHz kit for AMD Ryzen, the Trident Z is a great option for most other high-end PC builds still run on DDR4 memory. A 5-megapixel camera is probably overkill but I'll take it; I do also appreciate the built-in Tile feature that help you locate your laptop if you misplaced it as well as the MIL-STD 810H rating. Though there is another path to consider: DDR5 memory. This next-gen memory won't be much help if you've already bought a CPU and motherboard with only DDR4 support, but consider DDR5 if you're looking to build a high-end machine from scratch. Both Intel and AMD's latest CPUs support DDR5. If you buy 12900k and RTX 3090 and other halo/premium stuff then you don't care about price at all, so of course you buy DDR5, preferably 6000 or higher, because 4800 is really bad, actually. But those people are in the minority 5%, everyone else can skip it with ease and peace of mind, because it's not worth it.Essentially you want to aim for 3,600MHz memory for Zen 2/3 (Ryzen 3000/Ryzen 5000) chips. Though for Ryzen 5000-series chips it has been suggested that 4,000MHz kits are your best bet. SO-DIMM - More compact DIMM slots typically deployed in laptops, although these can turn up on tiny machines as well. Intel's Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) extension evolves alongside DDR4, so now we have the third iteration of XMP. So, what has changed with XMP 3.0? Well, there are now up to five XMP profiles, and users can modify and save two custom XMP profiles directly onto the SPD.

If you want to eke out all your CPU has to offer and ensure your system looks fresh in the process, the Team Xtreem ARGB kit is a great option. Its DDR4-3600 speed and 14-15-15 timings offer a great blend of decent speed and low latency, without the steep price often associated with top-tier memory kits. Throw in the modules' appealing visual design and Team has a winner of a kit that deserves your consideration, particularly for older-gen AMD users. Generally, file compression sees a big benefit. Rendering doesn’t, but then some encoders, like our Handbrake test, show very decent gains. The gaming benefits when using faster RAM, however, are specific to the individual game. Some see benefits while others gain nothing. If we look at the best, DDR5-6400 C36 was 11% faster than DDR4-4000 C16. So naturally, you can minimize the difference even more if you use DDR4-4000 C14. But, unfortunately, our Ballistix memory kit was not up to the task.

Looking for consistent supply?

DDR5 is fast, but only in some workloads. On the one hand, our tests revealed that specific tasks benefitted substantially from DDR5, and you can expect double-figure performance gains. However, some workloads were indifferent to DDR5 or showed a minimal performance improvement. Therefore, you should identify the type of workloads that you use on your system and decide whether DDR5 is worth the investment.