Ballistix Elite 3466 MHz DDR4 32Gb Memory Kit Review

Introduction

Our last Ballistix memory review was the Ballistix Sport LT 16GB Red DDR4 2666Mhz Memory Kit, which was good and represents the entry speeds for performance or enthusiast level DDR4. If you want a little more speed and capability, you can have a look at some Ballistix memory at the other end of the performance spectrum, the Ballistix Elite 3466MHz DDR4 Memory Kit. 3466 MHz memory speed is amazing, but it’s becoming common amongst high end memory. 3466Mhz is a full third faster than the Ballistix Sport LT 16GB Red DDR4 2666Mhz, which is enough to get anyone’s attention.

There are a couple of things to watch out for though, timings can be more relevant than overall speed, and the amount of power the DIMM consumes to get you to your top speeds. The Ballistix Elite 3466 MHz RAM we are reviewing today is setup with 16-18-18-36-2T timings, and requires 1.35v to power it. The volts are standard for DDR4 at this speed, and so are the timings. Overall the timings are a little better than some, and a little behind others.

The margins on timings across competitors is tight though, but they will make the difference in responsiveness and stability. We’ll review at the stock timings and speeds – 16-18-18-36-2T, but we have moved to the Intel Z270 platform for this one. Anyone who has a rev.1 X99 motherboard will know how unstable higher memory speeds can make this chipset. We also feel the Z270 is more representative of the general enthusiasts end user systems.

We believed until recently that the minimum clock speed for DDR4 in a mid-range gaming PC needed to be 2400Mhz, though these days, things have moved forward a little. So whenever asked about the lowest speed of RAM in a gaming machine, we now say 2666Mhz. The availability and cost of this module must mean that you shouldn’t go any lower if you want meaningful RAM performance.