PNY XLR8 Epic-X 4000 MHz RAM Review: ‘Solid performance and fantastic RGB implementation’

PNY XLR8 EPIC-X 4000 MHZ RAM REVIEW FOR PC.

It’s been over a year since I reviewed the 3600 MHz edition of PNY’s XLR8 Epic-X RGB RAM and the pair of sticks are still going strong paired with my gaming/lounge Mini-ITX PC setup that is built around the Ryzen 7 3700X. With Ryzen being hungry for fast RAM, that 3600 MHz kit was great! However, we’re back a year later, and PNY is now pushing things to 4000 MHz and beyond! Here’s the lowdown on performance.

Setting things up

Setup for PNY XLR8 Epic-X 4000 MHz RAM was as easy as last time. After powering down and clearing the CMOS on my existing system, I swapped out the RAM with a few clicks. I then powered on and waited for the boot.

My PC booted just fine, which is unsurprisingly considering how the RAM defaults to 2133 MHz. However, in the BIOS, there’s a single XMP profile available for the 4000 MHz overclock that we’re aiming for. Sadly, my 3700X and paired motherboard couldn’t handle it, so I went next-gen.

Ryzen 5000 loves it

Armed with a 5950X editing/gaming rig, it was time to try again. Happily, this variant of the PNY XLR8 Epic-X hit 4000 MHz on the first try, booting into Windows and proving perfectly stable across a bunch of benchmarks.

High-speed RAM can be a finicky business. Depending on the CPU, motherboard, and also the type of memory being used by the RAM, instability issues are easy to run into. Taking a look at a motherboard’s Qualified Vendor List (QVL) can help avoid headaches, and PNY does appear on many of those lists, but some RAM configurations don’t appear, leaving it up to chance.

For what it’s worth, I see “SK Hynix” in the properties of the PNY XLR8 Epic-X 4000 MHz RAM that I’m testing.

Pretty lights

Throughout the testing, I was once again impressed with the diffused RGB lighting emitted through the top of the XLR8 Epic-X’s heat spreader. It looks pretty seamless, with no ugly hotspots. This RAM is definitely my favorite-looking out of all RGB kits. It’s got a subtlety to it that I like a lot, despite the full top coverage.

The color customization of the RAM was also identified by my motherboard’s software, allowing for easy personalization. This is always a nice bonus, as RGB apps that don’t play nicely with one another are often more effort than they are worth.

It’s fast, like the others

I benchmarked the PNY XLR8 Epic-X 4000 MHz RAM against my other 3600 MHz kit, but also my partner’s 3600 MHz kit. The latter set has a CAS Latency of CL16, which is tighter than the other kits’ CL18.

In testing, the PNY 3600 MHz CL18 came last, overall, with the PNY 4000 MHz CL18 narrowly beating out the 3600 MHz CL16 when it came to gaming and video rendering. It was too close to call at times, further strengthening the argument that both raw speed and CAS Latency need to be considered when purchasing RAM.

4000 MHz and above is an impressive feat, but loose timings can drag things down a little depending on the workload.

PNY XLR8 Epic-X 4000 MHz RAM Review: The final verdict

At $89.99, the PNY’s XLR8 Epic-X RGB 4000 MHz RAM is competitively priced. Most just look at the price tag before deciding on which RAM kit to pick, so it’s good to see PNY keeping the cost to the consumer reasonable.

Though DDR5 has now been introduced, the high price and low-performance gains have made it a niche purchase. DDR4 is still very much the popular choice and, for high-end systems that can handle the speed, PNY’s XLR8 Epic-X RGB line is well worth considering.

With solid performance, fantastic RGB implementation, and an inoffensive price, this RAM kit gets my seal of approval. If the price is right, I say go ahead!

XLR8 Epic-X 4000 MHz RAM review unit provided by PNY.