Hardware

Published on July 4th, 2015 | by Admin

Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB Review (BLE4K4G4D26AFEA)

RAM Details
Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB (BLE4K4G4D26AFEA)
Brand: Ballistix
Form Factor: UDIMM
Capacity: 16GB kit (4GBx4)
Warranty: Limited Lifetime
Specs: DDR4 PC4-21300 • 16-17-17 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR4-2666 • 1.2V • 512Meg x 64 •
Series: Ballistix Elite
Reviewer: Tony Wright

Crucial have just released some powerful DDR4 RAM with their Ballistix Elite 16GB which boasts some impressive specifications on paper that include a speed of DDR4-2666, a latency of 16-17-17 at 1.2 volts and a bandwidth of PC4-21300 which really pushes the performance of memory that is ideal for PC enthusiasts and gamers. The memory is also available in a variety of different modules and configuration with Impulse Gamer given the opportunity to test the 16GB Kit (4x4GB). The modules even come with three XMP 2.0 profiles but overclocking is possible and straight out of the box, we were impressed.

Features

• Introductory speeds start at up to 2666 MT/s and faster speeds will be available as DDR4 technology matures
• Radically increase bandwidth starting at 21.3 GB/s
• Menacing black heat spreader and PCB
• Faster speeds and responsiveness than standard DDR4 memory
• Exclusive M.O.D. utility and thermal sensor for real-time temperature monitoring
• Intel® XMP 2.0 profiles for easy set up and configuration
• Optimized for the latest Intel X99 platforms
• Limited lifetime warranty*

Furthermore, the Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB is also the next evolutionary step of DDR3 RAM with mega transfers per second (MT/s) commencing at 2666 with a 21.3GB/s bandwidth thanks to its improved burst access speeds and overall architecture. The Memory is also plug and play with no fiddling of the BIOS to make installing easier. It even has an improved and lower voltage of 1.2 volts opposed to 1.5. The Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB even supports a utility for real-time temperature monitoring called MOD (Memory Overview Display) and supports the latest Intel X99 boards. In terms of overclocking, the MOD software is a great little tool to monitor your RAM in terms of the settings and more importantly the temperature.

When we were first given the memory, we noticed that the RAM comes well packed from Crucial in its sturdy blister pack and the first thing you notice about the memory is the “menacing” black heat spreader on the RAM which definitely assists with overclocking and heat dissipation. Given that, the DDR4 is quite heavy and a little bulky but considering what’s under the heat spreader in terms of specifications, it’s definitely understandable. Each module also measures 7 x 0.4 x 5 inches with a weight of 2.8 ounces.

As soon as the RAM was installed in our test machine, I already noticed some improvements that included a slightly faster boot-up and some increased frame rates during gaming, especially with Tomb Raider. Given that, this RAM definitely improves everyday windows use or even productivity such as CS6, especially with manipulating those larger images or crunching mega spread sheets. So the Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB is definitely not just for gaming but adds power to all facets of your software and operating system. For those curious, we tested this RAM on the powerful Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition CPU 5960X which boasts a speed of 3Ghz with eight-cores that had the latest updates for Windows 7.

Although the stock timings of the memory was quite decent, the Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB does allow the user to overclock the RAM which did require some trial and error on our behalf. By Increasing the voltage of the RAM and thanks to the heat spreader, we were able to push the memory from 2400Mhz to 3000Mhz which was quite stable. Some further tweaking would have allowed us to have a very stable system.

AIDA64 Cache & Memory Benchmark (Stock Settings)

• Memory Read – 541822MB/s
• Memory Write – 59463MB/s
•  Memory Copy – 62579MB/s
• Latency – 62.9ns

AIDA64 Cache & Memory Benchmark (Overclocked to 3000Mhz)

• Memory Read – 61932MB/s
• Memory Write – 63749MB/s
• Memory Copy – 69470MB/s
• Latency – 55.1ns

SiSoftware Sandra (Stock Settings)

• Aggregate Memory Performance 53.13GB/s
• Integer Memory Bandwidth 53.21/GB/s
• Float Memory Bandwidth 53.54/GB/s

SiSoftware Sandra (Overclocked to 3000Mhz)

• Aggregate Memory Performance 56.85GB/s
• Integer Memory Bandwidth 56.52/GB/s
• Float Memory Bandwidth 56.73/GB/s

Cinemark (Stock Settings)

• Multithread – 15.21
• Single thread – 1.57

Cinemark (Overclocked to 3000Mhz)

• Multithread – 15.50
•  Single thread – 1.56

Futuremark 3DMark11 Benchmark (Stock Settings)

• Full rests – 14145

Futuremark 3DMark11 Benchmark (Overclocked to 3000Mhz)

• Full results – 14341

Witcher 3 (High Quality – Stock Settings)

• Frames Per Second – 98

Witcher 3 (High Quality – Overclocked to 300Mhz)

• Frames Per Second – 103

Tomb Raider (High Quality – Stock Settings)

• Frames Per Second – 91

Tomb Raider (High Quality – Overclocked to 300Mhz)

• Frames Per Second – 99

Final Thoughts?

In the end, the Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB (BLE4K4G4D26AFEA) is a great product from this company which not only supports some great stock setting but allows for some impressive overclocking options. There’s definitely some great results from overclocking as well so if you’re a gamer or PC enthusiast than the Crucial Ballistix Elite are not only quite affordably priced but really give you some bang for your dollar which comes in a variety of settings.

Recommended!

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