Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC3-10600

Testing

Test Rig

The following was the test setup used for this review.

Installation

Installation isn’t an issue thanks to the very low profile heatpsreaders. However, when powered up, these modules light up like a Christmas tree with blue lighting at their base, and red and yellow lights placed sporadically at the top.

Click to enlarge

Methodology

For testing memory modules, we run them through a series of synthetic and gaming benchmarks to determine their performance at stock, rated and overclocked speeds. This helps show the benefits of using overclocking kits and of overclocking them further if possible.

The tests performed are as follows:

• PCMark 05 system and memory
• Sisoft Sandra Memory Bandwidth
• Everest Read/Write
• Crysis
• Unreal Tournament

All tests were repeated 3 times and the average of all scores taken.

For comparison, the stock results (1333MHZ memory and 2.66GHZ CPU) of our Crucial Ballistix 1600MHZ kit, the stock (1333MHZ memory and 2.66GHZ CPU) results of our previously reviewed CSX Diablo kit and the stock results (1333MHZ memory and 2.66GHZ CPU) of the AeneonXtune 12800 kit.

Tested Settings

These modules were tested at the following settings:

Stock/Rated: Memory: 1333MHZ CPU: 2.66GHZ
Overclocked: Memory: 1600MHZ CPU: 2.66GHZ

I was also able to overclock this kit to 1800MHZ but there was artifacting and the improvements were not drastic enough to warrant extra result taking.

Memory