Hardware Review
Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC-6400
The quality of memory is one of the determining factors on how stable a computer is. Many times crashes and instability are often caused by memory failures. So selecting a good memory is very critical when thinking of upgrading. There are plenty of manufacturers in the market today that offer high-end quality memory. If you’re a PC enthusiast, you've probably heard of Crucial by now. Crucial offers memory to a variety of users, and especially PC enthusiasts. Tonight we'll be taking a look at Crucial's Tracer Ballistix PC2-6400. We would like to thank the Crucial team for making this review possible.
We have reviewed a sample of Crucial's Ballistix Tracer DDR line before, and we we're very impressed how well it overclocked. This time we're taking a look at their DDR2 offering. Out of the box, we are greeted to a very nice looking memory heat spreaders. I kind of liked the heat spreaders on the first DDR Tracers, which were in a gunmetal colour. But then again, the custom-designed aluminum heat spreaders on the DDR2 line looks to be solid and can handle its own. We really like the activity LEDs the Tracer line comes with. They do add to the wow factor when the PC is running. Here are some detailed specs for the Ballistix Tracers PC2-6400:
| Module Size: | 2GB kit (1GBx2) |
| Package: | Ballistix Tracer 240-pin DIMM (with LEDs) |
| Feature: | DDR2 PC2-6400 |
| Specs: | DDR2 PC2-6400 • 4-4-4-12 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR2-800 • 2.2V • SLI-Ready • 128Meg x 64 |
| SLI Ready: | Yes |
Click the images to see the enlarge version
On paper, the modules appear to be very solid with its timings as well as its maximum rated frequency. Let's get on with the testing. For testing, we will try to find the most stable frequency we can use and record its performance with a series of benchmark applications. We run a series of benchmarks applications while the system was at stock speed and at overclocked speed and made sure that it was stable with no crashes. Here was our test setup:
| EVGA 680i SLI |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6750(2.6GHz) |
| 2GB Crucial Ballistix DC Kit PC2-6400 |
| XFX GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB |
| 2 x WD 80GB SATA RAID 0 Configuration |
| 2 x WD 250GB SATA HD |
| LG 16x DVD-RW |
| SilverStone DA750 750w PSU |
We used the following benchmark softwares:
| 3DMark2001 |
| PCMark05 |
| SiSoft Sandra |
| Everest |
We compared the performance between the stock speed of our E6750 and when it’s overclocked. With a few changes on the FSB, Bus Speed and timings, we were able to attain an overclocked speed of 3.6GHz for the E6750. We used 1800MHz for the FSB and 450MHz for the memory together with a 4-4-4-12 memory timings. With an overclock speed of almost 1GHz more, we were very impressed on how well it easily overclocked as well as how stable it was. To ensure that the system was stable, we let the PC run for about thirty minutes without any crashes. We also run 3DMark 2001 as a CPU load just to make sure it was stable enough to run the benchmark applications. After all the testing was completes here are the results:
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As you guys can see on the charts, the performance increase is incredible. Not only it enabled us to reach a blistering 3.6GHz from our stock 2.66GHz E6750, it run through the benchmark applications without any crashes. We felt that we could've pushed the overclock one more step, up to 2000MHz on the FSB and 500 on the memory bus. However we we're just a bit concerned with the heat sink and fan we installed in our Intel E6750. At 3.6GHz, the temperature was already at about 52 degrees. We will try to push for 4GHz when we get a better cooler to replace the modified SpireCooler Verticool II we used.
Overall, the Ballsitix Tracers' performance didn't disappoint, but exceeded our expectations. The stability and error free benchmarks really proved how well these modules were designed and made. Pricing wise, the 2GB Kit PC2-6400 Tracers are very well priced. I've seen the memory for as low as $154 CDN. We really can't help ourselves not to give the Ballistix Tracers a perfect score and our Editor’s Choice. If you want to find out more info on the Crucial Ballistix Tracers or other models that Crucial offers, please visit their website at www.crucial.com.
Pros:
Activity LED Lights
Stable Timings
Fantastic Overclocking Performance
SLI Ready
Priced very well
Cons:
None
