V-Color sells fake DDR5 modules to make your PC look richer

Filler modules (or "dummy modules") have become a popular accessory among PC builders in recent years. Corsair pioneered this trend with its Light Enhancement Kits (LEKs), which aesthetically filled empty motherboard slots. These visually identical replicas of real memory modules synchronize with the system's RGB lighting, but they don't add a single gigabyte of RAM or a single drop of performance. Their purpose is purely cosmetic.

What V-Color offers

Despite the growing importance of PC aesthetics, few memory manufacturers have seriously embraced the production of filler modules. V-Color is perhaps the only brand investing in this concept. The company not only sells these dummy modules separately but also includes them in kits with real memory.

The new 1+1 DDR5 kits are targeted at the AMD platform. Two series are available:

• Manta Sky - 16GB kits (16GB real memory + filler).
• Manta XFinity - 24GB kits (24GB real memory + filler).

Speed: DDR5-6400. Timings and Intel XMP 3.0 support are not specified, but since the kits are marketed for AMD, EXPO support is likely.

V-Color also announced plans to release 2+2 configurations—two real modules plus two fillers.

Who needs this?

V-Color recommends its kits primarily to owners of AMD Ryzen processors with 3D V-Cache—for example, the Ryzen 7 9850XD or Ryzen 7 9800X3D. The massive cache of these chips partially compensates for the shortcomings of single-channel memory mode or operating at reduced frequencies.

However, it's important to understand that this is only partial compensation. Performance losses compared to full dual-channel mode will still be measurable. On regular Ryzen 9000 processors without 3D V-Cache, the drop will be even more noticeable.

Why is this necessary?

The world is experiencing a global memory shortage. RAM prices have skyrocketed, making a good DDR5 kit an unaffordable luxury for many consumers. In this situation, the option to buy one stick and a second one "for show" seems like a reasonable compromise.

What is important to remember:

• Fillers don't act as memory. They're just a piece of plastic with a light.
• Single-channel mode is slower than dual-channel mode, even with 3D V-Cache.
• This is a temporary solution. V-Color positions the kits as a way to start building now and buy real memory later.

A brilliant marketing ploy in an era of scarcity. In such conditions, V-Color offers at least a visual advantage. You won't get a performance boost, but your PC will look like you spent a fortune.