Introduction
We have a nice kit of DDR4 memory for review today, and it’s a 32Gb kit to boot, but first, the introduction! When Hardwareslave design and build systems there’s only one mantra, bandwidth. There is literally no point in having an Intel i3 CPU, an old HDD and an SLi set up, it’ll only bottleneck and cause frustration. Likewise, there’s no point in an Intel i7 CPU if you only give it 8Gb of DDR3 for example. These are all extremes, but the point is basically there, you need to provide each component the means to support the IO traffic throughout the entire system. That includes cooling, airflow, IRQ’s, Power Supply Units and even your monitor. It needs to be a balance and have an equal or greater amount of bandwidth than required.
It can be hard though, you can have most components specified but when it comes to the GPU for example, you need a little more budget then expected to maintain a good balance, so it’s a constant battle unless you have a lot of money. There are a couple of components that help more than others, Solid State Drives and Memory. SSD’s are a no brainer, the amount of speed they provide over their HDD cousins is incredible, and Memory, or system RAM. If you want to bottleneck the CPU, OS and applications, then go light on Memory. It’s not always an obvious choice, especially if you are a first time builder, but there is an underworld of memory timings, overclocking and extra bandwidth and speed to be enjoyed if you become a Memory expert.
| Specification | |
|---|---|
| Series | Ballistix |
| Capacity | 32Gb |
| Number of DIMMs | (4 x 8GB) |
| DIMM Type | 1024Meg x 64 Unbuffered NON-ECC |
| DIMM Colour | Black PCB |
| Speed | PC4-24000 3000Mhz |
| Timings | 15-16-16-35 |
| Voltage | 1.35V |
| XMP | 2.0 |
| Heatsink | Gun metal gray heat spreader |
| Warranty | Lifetime limited warranty |
We are going to be using the XMP settings for this review and it’s important to note that settings such as the BCLK value increase to achieve the 3000Mhz XMP speeds. We will detail this later in the review and include all the timings used as well.
Also, you will notice the voltages are up on the DDR4 standard, from 1.2v to 1.35v. We will allow the XMP profile to manage this. You can try this manually but the XMP profile will allow others to test their memory or this kit as a comparison without the fear of different settings masking issues or performance differences.
Overall this looks like a tasty boost to any system, let’s see how we get on with Crucial Ballistix Tactical 32GB 3000Mhz memory kit.
Crucial Ballistix Tactical 32GB Kit DDR4 3000Mhz Memory Review
Package - 8
Performance - 9
Price - 8.5
Consumer Experience - 9
8.6
Crucial Ballistix Tactical 32GB DDR4 3000Mhz Memory is a decent 32Gb kit. With the 3000Mhz speeds and the relatively tight timings compared to the others in the test, it offers good speed, capacity and response times for your system. Paired with a balanced system, this will only serve you well, however if you want to upgrade your system, the Crucial Ballistix Tactical 32GB 3000Mhz Kit is enough of a performance jump over a 2400Mhz kit to not notice the difference.