Corsair RAM lawsuit settlement could impact the whole industry

Back in 2022, a class action lawsuit was filed against Corsair, alleging that its overclocked DDR4 and DDR5 memory kits were sold to customers under false pretenses. Rather than allowing the case to go to trial, Corsair has now settled the case, paying out $5.5 million in fees. The case may not just impact Corsair though and could have far reaching consequences for many PC hardware companies. 

While many seasoned PC builders will be aware of the intricacies of RAM overclocking, many newcomers to the scene may buy RAM advertised at a certain overclocked speed and then not know how to make full use of their product. This is the issue that the lawsuit was arguing. By advertising Vengeance and Dominator series memory at overclocked speeds, without clearly stating that BIOS settings need to be tweaked to access those speeds and even then, the speed isn't ‘guaranteed', the lawsuit claimed that customers throughout the US were misled.

As spotted by Guru3D, the settlement will mean that eligible customers in the US who purchased affected DDR4 and DDR5 memory kits between 2018 and 2025 will be entitled to a piece of the $5.5M payout. If you are one of those people, you can make your claim through the dedicated website to handle settlement claims.

The settlement allowed Corsair to deny wrongdoing, but the company will also have to update its packaging and online product listings moving forward. Corsair will now market its products with a warning that listed speeds are “up to” and that your results may vary depending on your combination of CPU and motherboard. In some rare instances, silicon quality could hamper your overclocking ability too.

It is no secret that overclocked memory kits are often sold without clear warnings in place. As a result of this settlement, we anticipate that many other memory sellers across the industry will be changing up their marketing to avoid falling on the wrong side of a lawsuit.

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KitGuru Says: Corsair may have been the only company targeted in this particular lawsuit, but it will likely have an impact across the whole industry, particularly when it comes to marketing overclocked products. 

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