Crucial's DDR5-5200 and 5600 memory doesn't come with a heatsink so overclocking is probably not something that you'll want to do with it. In fact, your warranty will be voided if you overclock them beyond their rated speeds and timings. Not one to be deterred by such things, I wanted to see how much performance I could gain without increasing the operating voltage (1.1V).
To begin, I first increased the data rate by 200 MT/s. In both cases, the DDR5-5200 and 5600 memory was rock solid. I was able to run various benchmarks without any problems. After that, I started tweaking the timings (CAS Latency, tRCD, tRP, and tRAS). Starting with the EXPO profile, I reduced the timings by a couple of clock cycles.
While not a huge overclock by any means, I was pleasantly surprised by these results. I saw a 2-4% improvement in read and write speeds by simply increasing the data rate. Tweaking the timings didn't get me much more in regards to speed but, as you can see, the memory's latency dropped by a few milliseconds.
Final Thoughts:
Crucial's DDR5-5200 and 5600 memory is a great choice for the consumer looking for fast, yet affordable, memory for their desktop or laptop computer. While lacking the eye catching heatsinks and RGB lights found on many gamer-oriented sticks, the memory will look right at home in most PCs thanks to its black PCB. Also, with its built-in power management integrated circuit (PMIC) and support for both Intel XMP 3.0 and AMD EXPO, consumers can take this memory, pop it in their computer and know that it will perform well without sacrificing stability. The downside here is that with their fairly conservative timings, Crucial's DDR5-5200 and 5600 memory isn't the fastest on the market. Nevertheless, they both offer a lot of bang for your buck and, at the end of the day, will more than satisfy the needs of the average consumer.
Price-wise, Crucial's DDR5-5200 and 5600 memory are nearly the same. A 16GB stick of each currently goes for $58 on Crucial.com. Otherwise, a 32GB kit (16GB x 2) will set you back about $115.
