Kingston FURY Beast 16GB DDR5-5600 CL40 Black

The Kingston FURY Beast KF556C40BB-16 is a budget DDR5 stick that nails price-to-performance. Speed is solid at 78th percentile, but CL40 latency is a real weak spot. Buy it if you want cheap, reliable DDR5. Skip it if you're chasing gaming performance.

5600 MT/s with CL40 timings at 1.25V is a decent starting point for DDR5. The speed lands in the top quarter of our database, which is respectable for a budget stick. But those CL40 timings are the trade-off. Latency sits at 32nd percentile, which means it's slower to respond than most DDR5 kits out there. For gaming, that translates to a 66.7/100 score. Fine, but not going to set records. The on-die ECC helps with stability when you push things, and XMP 3.0 support means one-click overclocking if your board plays nice.

Against the Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO and G.Skill TridentZ RGB, both DDR4 kits, this Kingston stick is a different animal entirely. Those are DDR4, so they won't even fit a DDR5 board. The real competition is the Team Group Xtreem and Patriot Viper Venom, both DDR5. The Patriot Viper Venom PVV516G60C30 runs at 6000 MT/s with CL30 timings, which is meaningfully faster and tighter. The Team Group Xtreem hits 7200 MT/s, but you'll pay for it. The Kingston wins on price and availability. It loses on raw speed and latency to both.

Pricing is all over the map. In the US, we're seeing USD 94 to USD 378 across three listings. That's a wild USD 284 spread for the same stick. Amazon has the best deal at the low end, so shop around before you click buy. In Europe, prices range from EUR 253 to EUR 351 across four listings, a EUR 98 gap. For a budget DDR5 kit, the low end of that US range is genuinely good value. At the high end? You're getting fleeced. Buy smart.

The Kingston FURY Beast KF556C40BB-16 is a single 16GB stick of DDR5 running at 5600 MT/s. It's a budget-friendly way to get onto the DDR5 platform without selling a kidney. The low-profile heat spreader means it'll fit under chunky air coolers, which is a nice touch.

Our database puts this stick at 78th percentile for speed and 84/100 for budget builds. That's a solid showing for a module that won't break the bank. The catch? CL40 timings are loose, and you'll need to flip on XMP in BIOS to actually hit the advertised 5600 MT/s.

Skip this if you're building a gaming PC and care about frame rates. The CL40 latency is a bottleneck, and you'll get noticeably better performance from a CL30 or CL32 kit for not much more money. Also skip it if you already have a DDR4 system, since this won't fit. And if you're the type who never touches BIOS settings, be warned: you'll be leaving speed on the table until you enable XMP.

This is a solid budget pick for someone building a new DDR5 system who wants to keep costs down. It's reliable, easy to install, and the low-profile design is a practical win. Just know that you're leaving performance on the table with those CL40 timings. If you're building a gaming rig and care about frame rates, spend a bit more on a CL30 or CL32 kit. If you need a cheap, stable stick to get your system running, this does the job.