Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR3-1600 6GB Kit

Product: Crucial Ballistix Tracer 240-pin DIMM PC3-12800 6GB Kit
Provided By: Crucial
Price: Find Lowest Price Online

Introduction:

After a few rough years of ridiculously high prices, I think it's safe to say that DDR3 has finally arrived for the masses.  While the 6GB kit we have on the bench from Crucial today is more for the elitist gamer, mainstream DDR3 is finally affordable.  This makes the 6GB Triple-Channel kit of DDR3-1600 CL8 (CL7 capable through XMP) kit a decent performer for the $300 price tag online.  When it comes to overclocking, this kit is no slouch and we manage to squeeze every drop of performance from this kit possible and that makes it one sweet ride for your shiny new Core i7 system.

We've looked at PC3-12800 before - but this kit features 3x 2GB sticks that have 8-8-8-24 timings at 1.65v and this is what separates it from earlier memory we looked at that was CL9 memory.

6GB Kit Package

Package Side

First Impressions:

Crucial has completely pimped out their DDR3 with colored heatspreaders and matching LEDs.  The Ballistix Tracer DDR3 6GB kits come in Blue, Red, Green and the original Black flavors and all have timings of 8-8-8-24 at 1.65v.  All of this memory is XMP ready as well and this can make the memory run faster, tighter, and adjust voltages as need - if you use a supporting motherboard.  It's pretty impressive how this memory will scale with the right XMP profile.

Packages Laid Out

While Crucial has foregone the simple static bags and brown box, they still use regular sticks of memory - that haven't necessarily been matched into triple-channel kits like other manufacturers claim.  I questioned Crucial about this and they stated that all memory in these bundles is from the same batch and therefore matches up just fine.  We used a couple of different kits throughout testing and never had any issues.  I guess they are matched good enough.

Specifications & Info:

As is typical of Crucial memory, the specifications are a bit lean, but there is more information below on their Ballistix Tracer memory.

BL3KIT25664TG1608

• Module Size: 6GB kit (2GBx3)
• Package: Ballistix Tracer 240-pin DIMM (with LEDs)
• Feature: DDR3 PC3-12800
• Specs: DDR3 PC3-12800 • 8-8-8-24 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1600 • 1.65V • 256Meg x 64
  

 
RAM Lights

What is Ballistix Tracer memory? Ballistix Tracer memory is specifically built for performance enthusiasts and case modders who want to push the performance envelope while adding flash appeal to their boxes. The Ballistix line of high-performance memory modules features advanced speed grades, low latencies, and integrated aluminum heat spreaders. Ballistix Tracer memory features a black PCB, black integrated heat spreaders, and one or two rows of eight "chasing" red and green LEDs atop the module, circulating in a random pattern based on memory utilization. A custom-designed circuit relays bus activity to the LEDs, allowing them to accurately reflect usage of each memory module. In addition, eight blue ground effects LEDs emit a constant glow near the pins. 

On the next page we'll look at the test setup before we dive into the performance numbers.