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I Got 9000 MT/s CUDIMMs for $400

intel memory ddr5 cudimm deal

CUDIMMs are still stupid expensive in 2026. If you’ve been watching the market you already know — bleeding edge DDR5 with a clock driver built into the stick, designed to push frequencies that regular UDIMMs can’t touch. The G.Skill Trident Z5 CK kit at 9000 MT/s is about as fast as consumer memory gets right now.

I was window shopping. Watching listings, not really planning to buy anything.

Then I saw it.

The Listing

48GB G.Skill Trident Z5 CK — 9000 MT/s, CUDIMMs — listed at $650. Not a steal, but not insane for what they are. I threw them on my watchlist and moved on.

Next day I wake up to an offer notification. The seller had sent me $500. Already $150 off asking.

I countered at $400.

I genuinely expected him to say no. That’s a pretty aggressive lowball on a kit that was listed at $650 the day before. But he came back and asked what motherboard I was running. I told him — Z890 Tomahawk WiFi. He thought about it.

Then he said let’s do it.

I actually freaked out a little.

G.Skill Trident Z5 CK 9000 MT/s CUDIMM kit — sealed box, top down

What These Are

To put this in context: 9000 MT/s CUDIMMs in 2026 are some of the fastest consumer DDR5 money can buy. The CK (Clock Driver) in CUDIMM re-buffers the clock signal on the stick itself, which lets the memory controller push way higher frequencies than it could with a standard UDIMM. It’s the same principle as RDIMMs in servers but adapted for consumer platforms.

Close-up of G.Skill Trident Z5 CK sticks showing the CUDIMM label

A 32GB DDR5 kit of normal speed costs around what I paid for these. I got 48GB at 9000 MT/s.

The Shipping Thing

Here’s the part that still gets me. After we agreed on $400, the seller paid an extra $100 out of pocket to upgrade my shipping to expedited.

I didn’t ask. He just did it.

No idea why. Maybe he was just happy the kit was going to someone who’d actually use it properly. Either way — respect.

G.Skill Trident Z5 CK unboxed — full accessories and sticks on display

Running CUDIMMs on a Z890 Tomahawk

Here’s where it gets interesting. The Z890 Tomahawk WiFi is a 4-slot motherboard. It is not officially a CUDIMM-optimized board. Conventional wisdom says you want a board with proper CUDIMM trace routing and validated support to get the most out of these sticks.

I slapped them in anyway.

They run. They run well. Running them at 8800 MT/s on the Tomahawk — not the full 9000 the kit is rated for, but still absurd for a 2-stick consumer setup. Paired with a Core Ultra 9 285K and I’m seeing 132 GB/s read bandwidth at the peak — which is getting close to what I was seeing out of the 6-channel Dominus Extreme setup with the W-3175X. On two sticks. On a consumer Z890 board.

Either the 285K has a really strong IMC, the Tomahawk has better traces than people give it credit for, or both. Probably both.

The Math

  • Listed: $650
  • Seller offer: $500
  • My counter: $400
  • Final price: $400
  • Seller-paid expedited shipping: included

48GB of 9000 MT/s CUDIMMs. For four hundred dollars. In 2026.

Sometimes eBay just works out.

G.Skill Trident Z5 CK 9000 MT/s CUDIMMs, 48GB — running on Z890 Tomahawk WiFi + Core Ultra 9 285K. Peak read bandwidth: 132 GB/s.

From Marks Finds