INTRODUCTION

   DDR5 may not have taken over the market yet (understandable since high-speed DDR4 kits are still more than enough for most) but with recent modules going all the way up to 8000MHz and a theoretical maximum speed of 8400MHz (although pretty certain we'll see even faster kits eventually) it should be quite a while before we transition to DDR6 (not that DDR4 will be replaced entirely, at least not anytime soon). Still, due to high cost and/or extremely limited availability most people are not looking for DDR5 kits with speeds surpassing 6000MHz and this is where low-latency 5200-5800MHz dual-channel kits come in. Dual-channel kits like the just released Redline ST 32GB 5600MHz CL28 low-profile one by Mushkin which ended up on my desk a couple of weeks back.

   For over 28 years, Mushkin has been dedicated to helping gamers, digital artists, IT managers and professionals alike enhance their computing experience by providing reliable, high-performance products. Mushkin’s products include a complete selection of USB, SSD, and memory module upgrades for both the consumer and enterprise industries. Since the company’s founding in 1994, Mushkin has received numerous awards and commendations for quality, reliability, and technical excellence.

   The Redline ST series of DDR5 RAM by Mushkin uses their low-profile stiletto heatspreaders (31mm height) and currently includes both single (16GB) and dual (4x16GB) channel kits with frequencies going all the way up to 6000MHz (4800/5200/5600/6000MHz), timings as low as CL28 (5600 CL28 - 4800/5200/5600/6000MHz CL36 - 5200MHZ CL40) and voltages ranging from 1.2V and up to 1.35V (5600/6000MHz 1.2V - 4800/5200MHz 1.25V - 5600MHz 1.35V). The 32GB 5600MHz CL28 dual-channel kit that i have here today features single rank Hynix DRAM (unfortunately i don't know the exact die) together with temperature sensors by Montage. Finally, as with most other RAM lines by Mushkin the Redline ST DDR5 line is covered by a limited lifetime warranty. So, let's see how the latest member of the Mushkin Redline family performs.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

THE REDLINE ST 32GB 5600MHZ CL28

Instead of a kit Mushkin send over 2 modules which worked fine with my Z690 DARK motherboard.

Just the modules were in the package and as you can see the stiletto heatspreaders look very nice (aside tiny).

As usual at the rear we find a small sticker with the speed, timings, voltages and other information on the module.

The lack of RGB lighting is something you’ll either like or hate (personally I think each model has its appeal).

To see just how low-profile the Stiletto ST modules are (31mm tall top to bottom) I placed them right next to the TRINITY JetBlack by Neo Forza and the Zenith RGB by Silicon Power (review soon).

The lack or RGB lighting along with the low profile heatspreaders means the Redline ST kit doesn’t really stand out.

Unfortunately Thaiphoon burner is still lacking proper DDR5 support.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   Thanks to XMP (2.0/3.0) 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/1.45V/1.5V will be tested up to 1.45V/1.5V/1.55V respectively) 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 using 0.5-1V over stock) but the end results are pretty much identical.

   As for the how I'll be testing each DDR4/DDR5 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, Passmark Performance Test (v9 for DDR4 and v10 for DDR5 tests), 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).
**** For DDR5 tests I’m using the Intel Core I9-12900K (E-Cores Off / RING 4.9GHz) and in order to showcase potential gains between stock and overclocked clocks/frequencies I’ll also be using Forza Horizon 5 (1080p/Extreme Graphics).

TEST RESULTS - XMP PROFILE / DUAL CHANNEL

TEST RESULTS - OVERCLOCK / DUAL CHANNEL

TEST RESULTS – FORZA HORIZON 5

CONCLUSION

   When the two Redline ST, modules arrived in the lab in separate boxes I was a bit worried cause it’s not rare to see some kind of incompatibility in such cases. Fortunately, Mushkin tests all their modules so everything worked out in the end with this kit going as high as 5800MHz CL28 with 1.38V (even with 1.41V however I couldn’t go higher, not with these timings). Yes, this may not seem as a great result but with such a low CAS latency this is quite a fast kit that doesn’t require one of the top DDR5 compatible motherboards with support for speeds of over 6400MHz. On top of that the low-profile Stiletto ST heatspreaders are a great choice for mATX/mITX cases where even a few millimetres could make a difference. That being said due to their size the Stiletto ST heatspreaders are far from the highest efficiency ones in the market so this is also probably why I wasn’t able to climb to 6GHz (again, not at CL28).

   The 32GB DDR5 5600MHz CL28 Dual-Channel kit (MRF5U5609CCM16GX2) was released by Mushkin earlier today so aside the zero availability currently I also don't even have its recommended retail price in my hands (will update the review once i do). Price and availability aside however there's no doubt that Mushkin has once again released a very good RAM kit not only in terms of performance and quality but in this case also size and since it ticks most boxes I take into consideration when testing a kit it gets the Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Very Good Performance (5600MHz CL28 - Up To 5800MHz CL28)
- Low Profile & Thin Heatspreaders
- Limited Lifetime Warranty

CONS

- Current Availability (Just Launched)