Regardless of the superlatives Team Group (aka Teamgroup) uses to describe itself, its presentation of performance and features at reasonable prices has sent a strong value message to the enthusiast market. Today’s 16GB Vulcan Z DDR4-3200 CAS 16 dual-channel kit continues that trend with an $80 web price, which the firm achieves by eliminating the RGB LEDs found on some of its higher-priced models.


The primary timing set for this kit (part-number TLZGD416G3200HC16CDC01) is isn’t great at 16-18-18. Latency is measured in clock cycles, with lower numbers indicating quicker response, and we think of latency-optimized memory as having timings less than or equal to one cycle for every 200 MHz data rate. While the second and third primary timing (tRCD and tRP) are a bit worse than the 16-cycle maximum we’d like to see at DDR4-3200, both are less impactful on performance compared to the first number. Moreover, 16-18-18 timings are used on most DDR4-3200 kits that compete for the same market segment.

You’ll need a motherboard and processor that supports both XMP and the DDR4-3200 data rate to get this kit to perform as intended, which primarily limits the kit’s target platform to Intel Z-series boards using K-series Core i5 and Core i7 processors. There are certainly several AMD Ryzen processors and compatible motherboards that can also run DDR4-3200 at 16-18-18 timings, but the lack of universal compatibility requires that each AMD CPU/motherboard combination be independently tested and verified with every single XMP kit.

Due to the ever-changing memory landscape, the compatibility lists produced by motherboard vendors is never comprehensive. Many of our forum members are competent to make stability-aiding adjustments suggestions. But inexperienced AMD system builders who aren’t ready to settle for the kit’s DDR4-2400 C16 basic (non-XMP) mode could be in for a long conversation rather than the easy plug-and-play performance they might expect.