ADATA XPG CASTER (DDR5-6000 CL30) Review – Huge Overclocking Headroom

Unboxing & Walkaround

ADATA recently sent us the XPG CASTER DDR5 memory for testing, which is a model originally launched in 2021; however, the packaging certainly got an update with the inclusion of the gaming sub-brand’s anime personality called Mera, which was introduced a year after the RAM’s launch. What we have here is the non-RGB version of the 2x16GB kit, and features a clean design in Tungsten Grey colors.

Like the Kingston FURY Renegade kit we reviewed earlier, the user instructions are printed inside the packaging, meaning you’ll have to tear it open to read the instructions properly. Not as convenient if you intend to keep this box to sell this kit in the future in case you need to upgrade down the line.

With no RGB lighting strips present, the kit only features gray-colored heatsinks that extends slightly beyond the dimensions of the PCB itself. At 37.5mm, its height is decently low-profile for SFF installations while still maintaining a decent amount of surface area for cooling.

Specifications

ADATA XPG CASTER (DDR5-6000 CL30)

Full specifications available in product webpage and datasheet.

Model Number	AX5U6000C3016G-CCAGY
Frequency	6000 MT/s (UDIMM)
Primary Timings	CL30-40-40-76
Voltage	1.35V
Overclocking Profiles	XMP #1 / EXPO #1: DDR5-6000 CL30-40-40 @ 1.35V
Capacity	16GB x2
Color	Tungsten Grey
Dimensions	133.35 x 37.5 x 8.4 mm

Test System

CPU	Intel Core i9-13900K
Cooling	Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 Flux 30th Anniversary Edition Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Apex
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Memory	> ADATA XPG CASTER DDR5-6000 CL30 (2x16GB)
Storage	ADATA LEGEND 960 MAX 1TB
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 1250 V2 Full Modular (ATX12V 2.52) 1250W
Case	VECTOR Bench Case (Open-air chassis)
Operating System	Windows 11 Home 24H2

Overclocking

Starting off with the sole XMP/EXPO profile of DDR5-6000 CL30-40-40-76 @ 1.35V, the modules completed the stress test with no errors present – although the temperatures with no active cooling present does look very toasty, peaking at 75°C for the first slot (which gets obstructed by the second slot and gets less air for cooling). The memory latency measures 71.8 nanoseconds, any successful overclocks from this point on will shave some time off.

First step in pushing the modules is a quick overclock to DDR5-6400 CL32-40-40-80 @ 1.4V, and we added active cooling for good measure since the first run already sees thermals running hotter than we’d like. Surprisingly, this overclock passed the stress test with zero issues, so that’s a sign for us to keep going.

We crank the modules further on the dial with this DDR5-6800 CL34-42-42-84 @ 1.42V overclock, and to our surprise – it passed once again with no issues whatsoever. It’s already looking pretty impressive for this rather unassuming set of memory modules, and here we also see a huge reduction in memory latency, down to just 63 nanoseconds (a 12% reduction).

The third overclocking attempt pushes the modules up to 7200MT/s with the timings of CL36-44-44-88 @ 1.435V (max voltage allowed by our ROG Maximus Z790 Apex motherboard before enabling safety override) – somehow, these XPG modules are still pushing through our 30-minute memory stress test, and we’ve already achieved a 15% in latency reduction by this point.

This is the best overclock we’ve achieved out of this module at the same 1.435V VDD/VDDQ voltage, with the modules now running at a staggering 7600MT/s with primary timings of CL38-46-46-92. That nets us a huge 26% improvement in memory bandwidth, while latency is reduced by 15.6%. Honestly, very impressive there’s so much overclocking headroom available with this kit.

Moving towards 8000MT/s is too unstable as Windows simply crashes upon booting, although lifting the voltage safety net could give us chances at achieving a stable overclock at that point, but there’s a reason that limit exists – so we chose to settle at this overclock.

For AMD systems, we look at how far we can tighten the timings, since the platform generally works best at the 6000MT/s speed. We only managed to get this overclock of 6000MT/s in CL28-36-36-80 @ 1.4V, which shaves 2.2 nanoseconds off the latency based on the testing (that’s 3% reduction). Given that we have to loosen the tRAS by 4 cycles from stock to achieve this timings, it’s likely that we’re hitting the limits on what this module can do, so that’s where we eventually settled on.

Verdict

At the time of this writing, there is no pricing information available on this particular kit since there are no listings available on local marketplaces, but we did found an RGB version of this kit that indicates the pricing of somewhere north of RM500 mark. Regardless of its price, the ADATA XPG CASTER DDR5-6000 CL30 offers impressive overclocking capabilities, and it’s worth the purchase if you’re willing to take your chances at overclocking it while saving some of that PC building budget.

Special thanks to ADATA for providing the XPG CASTER DDR5-6000 CL30 (2x16GB) memory kit for this review.