Home page » CPUs and Memory

Search CPUs and Memory:

Refine search for CPUs and Memory

Crucial has made a great name for itself over the years for providing reliable memory at a reasonable price. Being a division of Micron - the manufacturer of the actual memory chips used - it's no wonder Crucial is doing well, as everything is practically kept in house.

This memory is part of its Ballistix range – aimed at enthusiasts. They look very similar to the Kingston memory on test, except in an orange/gold colour. I wouldn't be surprised if the heat spreaders came out of the same factory. Colour aside, they are identical. The PCB is black, to match the logo and we certainly can't mark them down for looks.


Looking inside CPUZ, we can see the SPD ratings of 5-5-5-15 when running at 500MHz. Aside from the Corsair, these are the only modules that actually have SPD settings for their rated settings. If you're the type of person that likes to just plug modules in and get going, this can be important as your motherboard will make sure you have all the right timings. Of course, some motherboards are useless at detecting even correctly set SPD settings – so be sure to check.


Overclocking on this memory was the poorest of the bunch, at 1080MHz. That's not even a 10 per cent overclock, which you would expect pretty much any component to do. However, if you're running an 800MHz CPU, that's still plenty of headroom.

What is most surprising, is that even though every module in this group test uses the Micron D9 memory chips, Crucial has managed to produce the least overclockable memory of the lot.

At £234.99, these are the cheapest sticks on test by £35. If you're not intending on going above the rated frequency, then they offer good value.

Add your comment

© 2003-2008 TrustedReviews | About Us | Contact Us | Legal | Privacy | RSS