Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR3 PC3-12800 6GB kit

Conclusion

Crucial have once again put in a solid performance being the only kit managing an amazing 6-6-6 latencies. With timings like those, one might think these modules were the spawn of the devil and when my Vista install corrupted I certainly thought so but the angelic overclocking experience put paid to that. Not only can the kit manage much lower latencies than stock but they can also obtain a very respectable overclock in bandwidth.

The packaging of the product is very good with all the key info provided on both the anti-static sleeves and on the modules themselves. The overall packaging is enough to ensure the modules reach you in perfect condition but I would perhaps have liked to have a little more thought to the packages exterior rather than a plain cardboard box. A minor point but a point nonetheless.

The overall performance against the other kits on test today was very good. Coming second to the Mushkin kit was no real hardship considering the Mushkins were running at lower latencies than the Ballistix and despite this the Ballistix still managed to beat the Mushkins on occasion.

The light show the Ballistix put on for the end user is a great little feature and certainly makes the memory kit come alive in that sense but I do worry about one thing, the price. At £250, this kit is over £100 more than some of the other kits on test which may be enough to sway your loyalty to another brand, especially if all you intend to do with the sticks is run them at stock. If however, you intend to overclock the memory (and let's face it, who would buy Ballistix if they didn't?), then this kit is for you. Sure the price is high and if that price was just for the flashing lights then I would give this product a miss. However, the Ballistix Tracer can back up the pretty light show with extreme performance, low latencies and matching colour scheme. In that sense Crucial have achieved exactly what they set out to do. Provide an overclocking set of memory that not only performs well but looks damn good doing it too.

The Good
- Overclocking
- Colour co-ordination
- LED lights

The Mediocre
- Bland packaging

The Poor
- The Price



Thanks to Crucial for providing the Ballistix for todays review. Discuss in our forums.