Crucial BL12864BA1608 DDR3

DDR3 Memory offers such a high front side bus to overclocker's that CPU speeds can reach well beyond extreme. Crucial has produced the Ballistix PC3-12800 CL8 BL2KIT12864BA1608 DDR3 1600MHz 2x1GB RAM kit for hardware enthusiasts to take advantage of. Benchmark Reviews has discovered more overclocking headroom in these modules than any other, and put them to the test in this review.

System memory (RAM) manufacturers are in a tough position these days. Everybody wants the latest technology, which runs faster and operates more efficiently, but nobody wants the price tag that comes with it. Because DDR2 fabrication assembly plants are nearing obsolescence, the equipment depreciation has caused DDR2 prices to drop below the actual cost of production. This is bad news for the manufacturer, while conversely it means great savings to the consumer. So while manufacturers try to squeeze the last drops of revenue out of DDR2, along comes DDR3.

Since JEDEC is about to finalize 1600MHz as a standard DDR3 speed, many kits which were once considered High-Speed will now be relegated to standard speed parts. This means that high-grade components such as Crucial's Ballistix will lose the "High-Speed" designation and be relegated to standard SPD assigned profiles. But until the new standard is made official, manufacturers can still enjoy the premium designation for at least a little while longer.

Many of the readers will probably not consider DDR3 an important part of the hardware market just yet, and in a very few ways I can agree with them. It's expensive, and it's not going to change their system from a 2 to a 10. Nevertheless, I think that this argument only exists if you have missed the point: DDR3 is a more efficient replacement over DDR2 in many different ways, and high-speed DDR3 (presently anything over 1333MHz) is intended for overclocker's and enthusiasts almost exclusively. In a year from now, expect to have DDR3 pressed into your new motherboard. However for today, the demand behind DDR3 and its high-speed variants is best met by the growing number of hardware enthusiasts which push their equipment well past the stock settings.

Benchmark Reviews continues on with our High-Speed DDR3 Overclocking and Review Series, and this article focuses on everyone from the OEM system builder to the hardware enthusiast. Many of the kits we have tested so far have helped achieve extremely uncommon overclock speeds right out of the box, and even though some of the kits aren't trying to set new speed records they still manage to impress us with their combination of performance and value. In this review of the Crucial Ballistix PC3-12800 CL8 BL2KIT12864BA1608 DDR3 1600MHz 2x1GB RAM kit we offer a product that is both affordable and performance orientated.

All of this is great news for the overclocker, the hardcore gamer, and the hardware enthusiast; which has been the case every time high-end system memory parts arrive to the market. It wasn't all that long ago we all had SDRAM with 1 and 1.5CL timings, and then DDR arrived with CL3. Nobody complained then, so I'm not sure why they are starting now. It was the exact same story when DDR2 arrived to replace DDR; which nearly doubled the timings. So from a technical standpoint we should appreciate that the timings have only gradually increased with the clock speed, because history has proven this to be difficult.

The Patriot DDR3 1866MHz kit we reviewed not long ago presently holds the record for fastest DDR3 module produced, and the Corsair DDR3 1800MHz kit overclocked to 1900MHz which is simply incredible. But to no surprise the price for this product alone is nearly enough to build a nice computer system. It is for this very reason that system builders have been slow to build off of the DDR3 platform: everything looks expensive. Thanks to phenomenal overclocking headroom the Crucial Ballistix BL2KIT12864BA1608 DDR3 kit will deliver the best of both worlds.

EDITORS NOTE: Benchmark Reviews has also published the article DDR3 RAM: System Memory Technology Explained

About the company: Crucial Technology

The Crucial story starts with Micron Technology, Inc., one of the largest dynamic random access memory (DRAM) manufacturers in the world and the only one based in the U.S. Headquartered in Boise, Idaho. Micron manufactures DRAM chips and assembles them into high-quality memory modules for sale to original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs") worldwide. For nearly three decades, Micron has learned that when you make some of the very best memory in the world, lots of companies want it, from computer makers to wireless device manufacturers to printer producers.

But then Micron asked, well, what about the end user? What about the everyday folks who want to upgrade their existing systems with OEM-quality memory - the home desktop user, the IT network guy, the student notebook user? Why don't we offer our memory to the public, at factory-direct pricing?

So in 1996, Micron responded to a growing demand for high-quality memory upgrades among end users who wanted the best possible performance from their systems. Micron launched Crucial Technology in September of that year, and for the first time end users had the opportunity to buy directly from the manufacturer the same memory modules bought by the world's major OEMs for original installation in their systems.

Having a direct sales division focused on selling Micron's DRAM to the public was apparently an idea whose time had come, and 10 successful years later, we have expanded our product line to include graphics cards, flash cards and readers, and USB flash drives.

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