VIK-on reached out to us to give an update on his self-built DDR5 memory. According to the modder, the donor chips came from two 16GB SO-DIMM modules that cost 8,000 rubles each. A new PCB costs 50 yuan, which VIK-on estimates at about 600 rubles. A basic heatsink from AliExpress added another 415 rubles.
That puts the total build cost at 17,015 rubles, roughly $218, for a single 32GB stick. In comparison to DDR5 memory currently on the market in Russia, that’s at least 1/3 of the cost. The DDR4-4800 32GB memory costs 423 USD while 6400 CL32 memory costs 588 USD. A quick check in the US or EU, shows that such memory can easily cost much more than that.
Memtest86+ has the reputation of not being very thorough or stressing the memory and IMC (internal memory controller of the CPU) enough. It can detect physical defects, but often struggles with detecting bad memory timings. When you want to not only find out that a stick of RAM is generally functional but also at what speed it can safely perform at, you need more sophisticated tools.