We wrote some time ago when we first started to test DDR4 memory that it wouldn’t be long before DDR4 speeds you have a 1:1 speed ratio with the CPU. Well, it didn’t take long at all and we have seen these speeds for the last 12 months at least. It may be a throwback to the days of the FSB, but it was always a goal to have 1:1 CPU/memory speeds, however unachievable.
It’s usually forgotten until a Memory Kit turns up for testing that’s high in MHz like the Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB DDR4 3200Mhz Kit. So, it’s not going to really make a difference, other than the fact that the memory has a high clock speed, but at least it has a little more bragging right than your average RAM.
The Crucial Ballistix Elite range is a bit special, being Crucial’s fastest DDR4 offering, it’s also equipped with a different set of two-piece heat spreaders. Crucial Ballistix Elite is also only 4Gb modules at the 3200Mhz speed, so today’s reviews is a 16Gb Kit in Quad Channel setup.
A typical Crucial DDR4 set of specifications. The timings are slightly looser than slower memory and the volts are at 1.35v to power the modules along. Not unusual for a high-end memory product though,and still within normal DDR4 parameters.
The Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB DDR4 3200Mhz Memory Kit comes in Crucial’s usual clear plastic which is functional but minimal in appearance. We’ve had a few Crucial memory kits packaged this way and we have never had any issues.
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This memory is different form the other Crucial kits we have tested due to having a substantial two piece heatsink.
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The Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB Memory Kit is finished in matt black and has a cold, almost stone feel to it. It’s also much heavier than your average modules, even the Crucial Ballistix Tactical 32GB DDR4 3000Mhz Memory Kit and the super tall Avexir Raiden Green Tesla 16GB 2666MHz DDR4 Kit.
A close up of the branding and timing information. With it’s subtle black matt finish and minimal lettering and stickers on the modules we think they look superb and would probably fit into any systems colour scheme. They do not compete with the Avexir Raiden Green Tesla 16GB 2666MHz DDR4 Kit plasma lighting effects, but if thats not your thing, this is a good alternative.
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We used the Asus Rampage V Extreme Motherboard with its extreme range of memory settings as a test bed. We used the X.M.P. settings for all memory tests in this review. Selecting the XMP 3200Mhz profile for this set of tests, this was the only option available.
We have noticed the very latest Asus Rampage V Extreme Motherboard 3402 BIOS has reduced the XMP memory profiles available. Asus engineers may have instructed the new BIOS to only view Profile 1. Turbo was enabled by default, with 3.6Ghz as the CPU’s maximum speed.
As stated in our Avexir Raiden Green Tesla 16GB 2666MHz DDR4 Memory review, we moved away from the Battlefield 4 tests to a different benchmark to get a clearer set of results. Battlefield 4 is amazing, but everything impacted the FPS, including how many players on the map, in one given location, and the risk of the C4 junkies blowing everyone up at the same time, reducing frame rate.
We moved to Batman Arkham Origins, or at least the benchmark within the tool. Not quite a timedemo, but still, using the game engine and using single player dynamics.
We have retested our previous memory samples with Batman Arkham Origins to give a better picture of the Ballistix Elite performance in a Real World Scenario.
We run the Real World tests in 1080p resolution with maximum and minimum graphical settings with vsync off, so the focus doesn’t move to the MSI GTX 970 GAMING Twin Frozr V. This should give feedback on the small physical configuration differences such as memory timings.
Right, so on with the results and if you are not familiar with our format, we use charts to describe the benchmark results. These use colours that can often be similar or even different shades of each colour. If this becomes hard to read, you can click on any of the review samples on the chart to remove it, or add it back in, we’ll mention this later too. Timings, speeds and other information is included in each of the charts.
[amcharts id=”Crucial Ballistix Elite 3200Mhz AIDA64″]
AIDA64 Engineer is first with the Cache & Memory Benchmark. The Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB DDR4 3200Mhz Kit is the fastest of the 16GB memory kits with the Crucial Ballistix Tactical 32GB Kit DDR4 3000Mhz Kit in overall first place due to its 32GB size. The Crucial Ballistix Elite shows a sizable step up over the other modules tested.
AIDA64 Engineer again and this time with the Cache & Memory Benchmark Latency results. Crucial have a page that talks about Latency and some general misunderstandings, it’s worth a read. AIDA64 Engineer Cache & Memory Benchmark gives a real world Latency output.
[amcharts id=”Crucial Ballistix Elite 3200Mhz AIDA64Latency”]
The Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB DDR4 3200Mhz Kit is showing off its true performance with the benchamrk. The 3200Mhz speed contributing to the fastest, or lowest, Latency we have tested. This is even with the slightly looser timings (16-18-18-36) than its closest rival Crucial Ballistix Tactical DDR4 3000Mhz 32GB Kit (15-16-16-35).
PCMark 08 Professional next and we put memory samples through all of the test on offer. Though we should state that the Storage test, for example, is not going to be influenced much my small memory changes, a large increase in speeds would have an overall effect on the results. We have included them for completeness.
[amcharts id=”Crucial Ballistix Elite 3200Mhz PCMark”]
The Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB DDR4 3200Mhz Kit is the generally the lowest scoring of the high end memory kits. There is no better demonstration of how memory speeds can impact some activity than in the Creative test results, however in the other tests results it can be a little unclear. The Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB Kit is up where it should be, albeit not at the top. We’ll possibly move to only showing and testing the Creative results.
Lastly, on to the Batman Arkham Origins results, we’ll start with results with minimum settings, and then move to maximum settings below. Everything is very close except for the Crucial Ballistix Tactical DDR4 3000Mhz 32GB Kit, which is generally slightly or way out front. After running these tests several times we noticed more consistency with the maximum settings results. We ran the minimum settings until we achieved consistent results, but it would appear the maximum settings test is a more stable and constantly accurate test. This happened for all memory kits tested.
[amcharts id=”Ballistix Elite 3200Mhz Arkham Origins min”]
The Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB 3200Mhz Kit is holding its own too, generally in the high end set of results. As stated before, we use charts to describe the benchmark results. These use colours that can often be similar or even different shades of each colour. If this becomes hard to read, you can click on any of the review samples on the chart to remove it, or add it back in.
For the Batman Arkham Origins maximum results it’s a bit of a different story. The Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB 3200Mhz Kitis ahead in maximum and minim FPS and is on par with the higher average FPS. We are happier with this set of results and will probably stick to only the maximum settings results in future reviews as previously started.
[amcharts id=”Ballistix Elite 3200Mhz Arkham Origins Max”]
The last memory we reviewed was the Avexir Raiden Green Tesla 16GB 2666MHz DDR4 Memory Kit. This is a very special memory kit due to its plasma tubes, they definitely steal the show for looks. We thought that most memory after that would look bland, but the Crucial Ballistix Elite kit with its more substantial heatsink, is quite eye catching in its own right. The Crucial Ballistix Elite kit held its own for speed as well, though it wasn’t always the case it would still be up there at the higher end of the results.
The main thing going for the Crucial Ballistix Elite kit is the price, it’s at the lower end of the 3200Mhz DDR4 pricing, despite being at the sharper end when it comes to performance. We have scored it the highest on price in our memory review criteria. We think this memory kit would fly if it were a 32Gb kit, and at its low pricing, it’s more achievable, though only if you have an Intel i7 LGA2011-V3 setup, or equivalent Quad Channel system. So it’s cheap, not too bad looking and fast, you need to consider this memory kit for your next build.
Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB DDR4 3200Mhz Memory Kit
Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB DDR4 3200Mhz Memory Kit Review Introduction We wrote some time ago when we first started to test DDR4 memory that it wouldn’t be long before DDR4 speeds you have a 1:1 speed ratio with the CPU.
