INTRODUCTION

   Demand for RGB/ARGB illuminated PC gaming peripherals and hardware components is on the rise and so pretty much every single manufacturer out there has assigned large parts of their R&D departments in the pursuit of something everyone would like to see and own, especially gamers and enthusiasts. What no one really expected to date however was that the fiercest competition in regards to RGB/ARGB lighting wouldn't be with keyboards, mice, headsets, graphics cards or mainboards but RAM modules. G.SKILL is without doubt the leading high-end RAM manufacturer currently not only in terms of available models, capacities and frequencies (performance) but also design, RGB/ARGB included of course. Their most impressive series to date is probably the Trident Z Royal and today we'll be thoroughly testing two of their 4000MHZ CL17 kits (F4-4000C17D-16GTRS) in both Quad and Dual channel configurations.

   Established in 1989 by PC hardware enthusiasts, G.SKILL specializes in high-performance memory, SSD products, and gaming peripherals designed for PC gamers and enthusiasts around the world. Combining technical innovation and rock solid quality through our in-house testing lab and talented R&D team, G.SKILL continues to create record-breaking memory for each generation of hardware and hold the no. 1 brand title in overclocking memory.

   The Trident Z Royal line of RAM kits is currently available in numerous dual-channel (2x8/16/32GB - for our quad channel test rig we paired two of their 16GB kits) and quad-channel (4x8/16/32GB - 8x8/16/32GB) kits with frequencies all the way up to 4800MHZ (2666/3000/3200/3600/4000/4266/4400/4600/4800MHZ), timings as low as CL14 (3200/3600MHZ CL14 - 3000/3200/3600MHZ CL16 - 3600/4000MHZ CL17 - 2666/3600/4000/4400/4600/4800MHZ CL18 - 3600/4000/4266MHZ CL19) and voltages ranging from 1.35V all the way up to 1.5V (2666/3000/3200/3600/4000MHZ 1.35V - 4266/4400MHZ 1.4V - 4600MHZ 1.45V - 4800MHZ 1.5V). Leaving out the impressive number of available kits G.SKILL has equipped the Trident Z Royal RAM with RGB crystalline LED bars (8 controllable zones with 14 modes/effects - compatible with ASUS Aura Sync, GIGABYTE RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Light Sync and ASRock Polychrome Sync), CNC-cut aluminum heatspreaders (silver or gold with mirror like finish) and hand-screened 8GB B-Die memory modules by Samsung on 10-layer PCB's for optimal performance. Naturally G.SKILL covers the entire Trident Z Royal line of DDR4 memory kits with a limited lifetime warranty.