DDR5 just smashed through a new milestone, with overclocker SaltyCroissant pushing memory speeds past the 13,000 MT/s barrier on Gigabyte’s Z890 AORUS Tachyon ICE. It’s the kind of number that makes even seasoned enthusiasts do a double take—and it’s officially the fastest validated DDR5 frequency to date.
The Canadian overclocker teamed up with well-known figures in the extreme OC scene, including Gigabyte’s HiCookie, Corsair’s Sofos, and Splave, to pull off the feat. The record-setting setup combined the Z890 AORUS Tachyon ICE motherboard, Corsair Vengeance DDR5, and an Intel Core Ultra 7 265K, with both the CPU and memory slots chilled by dedicated liquid nitrogen pots to keep thermals in check under brutal conditions.
Here’s what was achieved:
– Official validated peak: 12,920.2 MT/s, surpassing the previous 12,872.2 MT/s high watermark set on an ROG Maximus Z890 APEX
– Unofficial peak shown: 13,020 MT/s (6510 MHz), breaking through the 13,000 MT/s psychological ceiling
– Relative to standard DDR5 (JEDEC 4800 MT/s), that’s roughly a 2.69x to 2.71x uplift in raw frequency
As with all frequency-focused records, the timings were loosened significantly to reach these speeds. CPU‑Z captures show CL68 with 128-128-256-1500-2T—settings that trade latency for absolute MHz. While that’s not ideal for real-world applications or gaming, it’s precisely the kind of tuning needed to climb the frequency leaderboard.
The Z890 AORUS Tachyon ICE is purpose-built for this arena. It’s a flagship overclocking board with two DDR5 DIMM slots designed to reduce trace length and improve signal integrity, a layout that consistently proves its worth at the bleeding edge. Earlier this year, the same platform hit 12,726 MT/s; breaking through 13,000 MT/s took months of refinement and collaboration.
Looking ahead, Gigabyte has also showcased a CAMM2-enabled variant of the Tachyon ICE at Computex. While CAMM2 isn’t mainstream yet, its design could unlock even cleaner signaling and higher achievable frequencies on specialized, overclocking-centric boards. If adopted for competitive benchmarking, it may push DDR5 records even further.
Why this matters:
– It demonstrates the headroom DDR5 still has in the hands of expert tuners
– It highlights how platform design, memory binning, and extreme cooling converge to move the bar
– It hints at what future standards like CAMM2 could bring to high-frequency memory performance
Bottom line: DDR5 frequency records continue to climb, and with the right hardware, teamwork, and a lot of LN2, the 13,000 MT/s mark is no longer theoretical—it’s here.
