CONCLUSION

   The fact that the ARES OC is Lexar’s very first entry in the DDR5 market coupled with its less than impressive frequency and timings were enough for me to not expect any miracles in terms of performance. Needless to say, I was right but unlike DDR4 there’s something else that matters with DDR5, temperatures. This is actually a serious issue with kits surpassing 6000MHz (even more so for kits that get close to 7000MHz) so buying a slower kit is a good way for you to avoid this possible issue. Of course, If I was Lexar, I’d move closer to 6000MHz and not 5200MHz (safe up to that) but my guess is it shouldn’t be long before we see such kits from them (ARGB lighting would also be nice). The fact that the ARES OC line is limited to just one kit right now (strangely enough I do see an 32GB 4800MHz CL40 kit in stores, still not listed on the Lexar website) is also an issue but again, it shouldn’t be long before we see more kits from them.

   At the time of this review the Lexar ARES OC 32GB DDR5 5200MHz CL38 Dual-Channel Kit retails for USD199.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) a price tag which is actually more or less ok for such a kit (EU pricing is a mess right now so not even worth mentioning). Overall, the ARES OC may not bring anything new to the table and it doesn’t impress with its performance but due to its good looking aluminum heatspreaders and low temperatures it could be exactly what you’ve been looking for.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Relatively Good Performance (5200MHz CL38)
- Thin Heatspreaders
- Low Temperatures
- Limited Lifetime Warranty

CONS

- Current Availability
- EU Price (For some)
- Available Kits