Intel's new 200K Plus chips support ultra-fast DRAM out of the box but as my tests show, there's little benefit for most PC gamers in using warp-speed stuff

Intel’s new 200K Plus chips support ultra-fast DRAM out of the box but as my tests show, there’s little benefit for most PC gamers in using warp-speed stuff | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these Memory RAMpocalypse be damned, I’ve tested a range of games to see if slow DDR5 will ruin my gaming experience Memory My testing shows that 16 GB of system memory is still absolutely fine for today’s PC games but there are some caveats to it all Memory Best RAM for gaming in 2026: I’ve tested the best DDR4 and DDR5 RAM to find the right kits for you Memory Seeing the absolute state of memory pricing, Chinese DIY community opts for DDR3 motherboards instead Memory Yes, Chinese DRAM is fine for gaming but don’t think for one moment that any of it is a bargain Processors Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus review Processors Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus review Memory With memory in short supply, Gigabyte unveils high-capacity set-up that can support up to 256 GB of DDR5-7200 and is bound to cost the prettiest of pennies Processors AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D CPU review Processors Intel announces Arrow Lake ‘Plus’ desktop chips with more cores and clocks for less cash—and IPC-boosting ‘BOT’ tool Processors Best CPU for gaming in 2026: These are the chips I recommend for gaming, productivity, and peace of mind Hardware Even in the depths of the RAMpocalypse, you can still get a nice system upgrade for your old gaming PC, thanks to this $500 Newegg bundle Graphics Cards Fast, feisty, fabulous: I’ve benchmarked Intel’s new Panther Lake processor and it’s dragging gaming laptop performance out of integrated graphics Hardware This Ryzen CPU, DDR5 kit, and cooler bundle is your sensible way to navigate the stormy waters of the DRAMageddon Processors I’ve tested Intel’s new Binary Optimization Tool to see what all the fuss is about and while it’s almost everything the chip giant claims it to be, few PC gamers will ever see the benefits Popular PC Gamer ClipsCrimson DesertMarathonBest PC gearGDCQuizzes Hardware Memory Intel Core Ultra 9 285K Intel’s new 200K Plus chips support ultra-fast DRAM out of the box but as my tests show, there’s little benefit for most PC gamers in using warp-speed stuff Features By Nick Evanson published 24 March 2026 Unless you’ve got a very specific setup that involves an Intel CPU, an RTX 5090, a 1080p monitor, and potato-quality graphics settings. 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Signup + Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo’s new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play. Signup + Every Saturday The Watchlist Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we’ve got you covered. Signup + Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter If you’ve been keeping up with Intel’s latest processors, you’ll know that with its Core Ultra 200S chips, it set a new standard for speedy DRAM support. Starting at 4,800 MT/s with the 12th Gen Core range, each new series of processors has steadily increased the speed of the memory controller, reaching 6,400 MT/s with Arrow Lake. Now it’s gone a step further with the Core Ultra 200S Plus CPUs: a frankly ridiculous 7,200 MT/s.These are all ‘default’ data transfer rates, i.e. without overclocking the memory controller, but as any PC gamer knows, most chips these days happily support DRAM modules that have XMP or EXPO profiles. These are charts of settings for the memory chip and integrated controller that let you push things even further.However, as I’ve shown earlier this year, the clock speed of DDR5 doesn’t make a huge difference in games, and when the Core Ultra 200S chips first appeared, ultra-fast DRAM barely made any difference at all. Even DDR5-8400.Article continues below You may like RAMpocalypse be damned, I’ve tested a range of games to see if slow DDR5 will ruin my gaming experience My testing shows that 16 GB of system memory is still absolutely fine for today’s PC games but there are some caveats to it all Best RAM for gaming in 2026: I’ve tested the best DDR4 and DDR5 RAM to find the right kits for you So, is that still the case with the new Core Ultra 200S Plus processors? To find out, while collecting data for my review of the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, I used two different memory kits: a 32 GB set of Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5-6000 CL30 and a set of G.Skill Trident Z5 DDR5-7200 CL34, also 32 GB in capacity.As for the rest of the test hardware that matters, the motherboard was an MSI MEG Z890 Ace, and the graphics card was a Zotac GeForce RTX 4070.