Colorful sent us a kit of its iGame Shadow II DDR5 memory for testing. The memory kit officially launched back in July this year, and comes in a variety of capacities and frequencies, both binary and non-binary.
What Am I Looking At?
The iGame Shadow II DDR5 memory kit Colorful sent over to me specifically is a dual-channel memory kit comprising two 16GB sticks. Speed-wise, this kit is rated to run at 6,000MT/s with an operating voltage between 1.4V and 1.45V. As mentioned, Colorful also has the lineup available in non-binary format – 24GB, 48GB, 96GB – as well.
The memory kit is rated for both Intel’s XMP 3.0 and AMD’s EXPO standards, but it should be noted that with the latter, it’s primarily designed to run optimally with the latest Zen5 silicon, or Ryzen 9000 Series.
What’s Good About It?
In spite of it being the first time I’ve reviewed a memory kit from Colorful, I can tell you that the CL timings on this iGame Shadow II DDR5 are tight. In my case, setting it to EXPO I in the BIOS yielded read and write speeds of 78GB/s and 84GB/s, respectively, with a latency of 80.4ns.
Aesthetically, this is perhaps one of the best looking memory kits I’ve seen. The RGB LEDs are diffused in a…tasteful manner. By that, I mean that the lights aren’t so bright that they’d wake you up in the middle of the night when you leave your PC on.
That aside, the heatsinks, which are proper metal-on-modules heat dissipators, sports a simple calligraphic character written on the side, along with a polished surface that feels nice to hold. Not that you would, beyond the initial installation of it into your system, but I thought it prudent to mention.
What’s the Catch?
There’s really little for me to suggest that this is a bad bill of goods, but if there’s one caveat to point out, it’s that one memory stick tends to run hotter than the other when put to use, rather than run with uniform heat. Specifically, around 8°C to 9°C hotter, but never beyond 60°C, even on the most intensive activity.
Should I Buy It?
I most certainly would recommend that you keep Colorful’s iGame Shadow II DDR5 memory kit as an option, especially if you’re looking for a kit that looks tasteful, without overdoing it on the RGB. But, as of this publication, the brand hasn’t provided us with an official SRP and local pricing.
Photography by John Law.
