Arrow Lake non-K CPUs may suffer from lower RAM speed limits — ASRock QVL shows RAM up to DDR5-7200 as opposed to DDR5-9066 for K-series chips

Uniko’s Hardware brought a peculiar detail of the ASRock Z890 Taichi motherboard’s RAM support to the attention of the wider tech sphere and how it rather uncharacteristically changes between Intel Core Ultra 200S (codenamed Arrow Lake) processors.

To be specific, it seems that only Arrow Lake K-series Lake CPUs can support overclocked RAM speeds up to DDR5-9066, while Arrow Lake non-K parts will instead top out at DDR5-7200—quite a downside on such a premium board and for a DDR5 platform in general.

DDR5-6000 was typically the sweet spot for AMD and Intel processors; however, it remains to be seen if the latest Red and Blue Team chips can take advantage of faster RAM. Of course, DDR5-7200 and DDR5-9066 kits exist, but the value proposition is a little more challenging to argue at that price range.

So, while this is a disappointing turn of events, to say the least, it ultimately seems unlikely to impact most users or gamers. After all, most of the performance improvements gained from increased RAM speed are tiny and relate to harder-to-track metrics like minimum or 1% low average FPS rather than general desktop or video rendering performance, which generally benefit more from higher RAM capacity or SSD speed.

Faster RAM helps with iGPU performance. Theoretically, those who wish to leverage Arrow Lake’s iGPU will be better off doing so with a high-speed memory kit. Then again, Arrow Lake reviews aren’t out yet, so we don’t know exactly how good the iGPU inside Arrow Lake is for gaming.

While this compromise with different RAM speeds is already drawing some ire, it ultimately seems like it won’t be a dealbreaker for most of the market. We don’t imagine many users shell out for a Z890 motherboard and pair it with an Arrow Lake non-K CPU since high-end boards, specifically the Z series chipsets, are usually purchased explicitly for overclocking capabilities.