INTRODUCTION

   Largely thanks to the release of the Intel Z490/590 and the AMD X570/s motherboards RAM modules have finally taken off in terms of speeds/frequencies. Yes, even previous motherboard models could easily hit 4000MHz (some could even go over that) but these can reach and even surpass 5400MHz and since this is almost as high as things will probably get for DDR4 (DDR5 is already a thing) it stands to reason that more and more gamers, enthusiasts and professionals are spending money on faster kits. Neo Forza may be a rather new player in the retail market but their RAM modules have gained quite a bit of popularity lately so i decided to take a look at one of their fastest kits currently available, the FAYE 32GB DDR4 4600MHz CL19 Dual-Channel Kit.

   We are a professional team, studying in computer memory and storage devices industry for more than 10 years. In order to meet the rising demand on speed and capacity of the high-end gaming market players, we created Neo Forza, a new generation of ultra-standard overclocking module, SSD and other related storage device designing brand. Neo represents from virtual to reality, showing our core value for product innovation. Forza shows our strength and determination to meet gamers every need. Neo Forza possess strong resources, focus on core technology. From research & design, specific production to exceed the testing benchmark; Neo Forza keep pushing over technical boundary, providing top-notch performance and quality, providing gamers / game players extraordinary using experience.

   Neo Forza has used 10-layer PCB’s for their FAYE line of DDR4 RAM modules (currently available in black and red colors) which at the time of this review it includes single (8/16/32GB), dual (2x8/16/32GB) and quad (4x16GB) channel kits at 3000/3200/3600/4000/4400/4600/5000MHz frequencies, timings as low as CL15 (3000MHz CL15, 3200MHz CL16, 3600MHz CL18 and 4000/4400/4600/5000MHz CL19) and voltages set at 1.35V (3000/3200/3600MHz), 1.4V (4000MHz), 1.45V (4400MHz), 1.5V (4600MHz) and 1.6V (5000MHz). According to the popular Thaiphoon burner software the 4600MHz 1.5V 32GB kit which I’ll be testing today features dual-rank modules based on single die 8GB modules by SK-Hynix and is XMP certified with timings set at 19-26-26-46-74. Finally, just like with past models the FAYE line of DDR4 RAM modules/kits is also covered with a rather generous lifetime warranty.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

THE FAYE 32GB 4600MHZ

Once again, the FAYE RAM kit arrived inside a plastic blister package which allows the consumer to actually see the front of both modules.

A few words about the FAYE series of DDR4 RAM kits can be seen at the rear.

Just the two modules are placed inside the package.

At the rear of each module, we find the usual sticker which contains information such as frequency, timings, voltage and of course the serial number and barcode.

The modules are open at the top for improved cooling for the heatspreaders.

To have a better idea about their size (42.1mm top to bottom) I placed the FAYE module right next to the Kingston FURY Renegade, Acer PREDATOR Apollo and Teamgroup T-Create Expert modules (review soon).

Once more this is not an RGB kit so looks is not its strongest selling point.

Information about the kit can be seen in the above screenshot of Thaiphoon Burner.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   Thanks to XMP (2.0) profiles the only thing one needs to do in order to run this RAM kit at its advertised frequency, timings and voltages is to choose/enable it from within the Bios and reboot. That being said if you're into overclocking you may not wish to use the main XMP profile but instead to choose your very own frequency, timings and voltages to achieve even higher performance numbers and that's exactly what we'll also be doing during our DDR4 tests. To be more specific aside testing each kit with its XMP profile we will also be upping the voltages (up to 1.4V max – even though most kits can function at higher voltages I don’t recommend doing so / RAM modules that use 1.4V-145V will be tested up to 1.5V and kits that run with 1.5V up to 1.55V) and frequencies (200MHZ increments) until i find the maximum achievable stable frequency. I also thought about upping voltages and reducing timings instead of increasing the frequency of the modules as high as it can go (always stable and without going over 1.4V) but the end results are pretty much identical.

   As for the how I'll be testing each DDR4 Quad/Dual-Kit to arrive in the lab well there aren't that many benchmark programs that only test RAM (or at least RAM and CPU without anything else coming into play) but I’ve got most of them and so you will be seeing results from following benchmarking programs, AIDA64 Engineer Edition, Cinebench Release 20, MaxMemm2 (because we are getting low performance numbers this doesn't seem to play well with our test rig - probably because of the X299 architecture - but we decided to include it regardless), Passmark Performance Test 9, Sisoftware Sandra Titanium and WPrime v1.55. All tests are performed on a fresh Windows 10 Pro installation (complete with all updates until the day of this review) and are repeated a total of 6 times after which the average numbers get recorded into the charts.

* In addition to Quad-Channel tests since March 2020 I’ll also be using the brand new I9-9900K+Z390 DARK test rig (check above) for Dual-Channel RAM tests.
** Since May 2020 three game benchmarks (Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, GEARS 5 and Metro Exodus tested on the X299 system at 1080p resolution and with the ASUS ROG RTX2060 OC set at Gaming Mode) have also been added in the charts.
*** In September 2021 i replaced the Intel I9-9900K+Z390 DARK test rig for a brand new Intel I9-11900K+Z590 DARK one (you can access all the Z390 DARK based tests here).

TEST RESULTS - XMP PROFILE / DUAL CHANNEL

TEST RESULTS - OVERCLOCK / DUAL CHANNEL

Going up to 4800MHz was possible with 1.44V, after that however even with 1.5V I was unable to hit 5000MHz (not with these timings).

CONCLUSION

   One word comes to mind about the FAYE 32GB DDR4 4600MHz CL19 kit by Neo Forza, fast. Still even though it’s clear from the charts that the FAYE 32GB 4600MHz CL19 is the fastest DDR4 kit to arrive in the lab to date according to Neo Forza this isn’t quite compatible with every motherboard out there, not at 4600MHz (which is why some of my colleagues have been testing it at lower frequencies and timings). Luckily the Z590 DARK by EVGA had no problems with it (even at 4800MHz) so i can’t really comment on why this is happening (could be something as simple as a BIOS update – prior to purchasing these i suggest contacting the support team over at Neo Forza). That being said since the kit did run on my test rig with impressive results (i was however expecting slightly better numbers when overclocked) the only thing that’s left is for me to check and see how their 5000MHz modules perform in comparison (review soon).

   As i type these lines the FAYE 32GB DDR4 4600MHZ CL19 kit by Neo Forza retails for USD209.99 inside the USA (Newegg.com) and is thus very reasonably priced, for a 32GB 4600MHz kit that is. I was still unable to track it inside the EU but that aside this is clearly the fastest kit to arrive here to date and since it's also priced very well it once again deserves the Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (10 Layer PCB)
- Thin Heatspreaders
- Top Of The Charts Performance (4600MHz CL19 / Up To 5000MHz CL19)
- Limited Lifetime Warranty
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Current Availability
- Incompatibility With Some Motherboards