Crucial Ballistix Tracer Blue DDR3 PC3-12800 3x2GB Stability Testing and Review

5444 Views 9 Replies 2 Participants Last post by lsdmeasap, Nov 26, 2009

lsdmeasap

Discussion Starter · Nov 25, 2009

Crucial Ballistix Tracer Blue DDR3 PC3-12800 3x2GB Model BL3KIT25664TB1608 Stability Testing and Review

Special thanks to Kelly at Crucial Memory for providing this test sample for review.

Crucial has been a long time provider and manufacturer of Computer Dram Modules and Ram based products. Crucial is part of the Lexar Media Family of products and is owned by Micron Technology. They manufacture high-quality products in several memory based categories which include USB flash drives, all popular form factors of memory cards and card readers, and DRAM computer memory for PC and Mac systems. They also manufacture solid state drives (SSD) which are now becoming more and more popular and accessible to the general public.

Quote from Crucial.com:

Quote:

What is Ballistix memory?

The Ballistix line is specifically built for performance enthusiasts who want to push the performance envelope without worrying about data loss or corruption, mysterious intermittent errors and display problems, or worse â€" the dreaded BSOD! The Ballistix line of high-performance memory modules features advanced speed grades, low latencies, and integrated aluminum heat spreaders.

Why should Ballistixâ„¢ be your weapon of choice?

We ensure 100% of our Ballistix modules pass rigorous testing to meet or exceed specifications. Read more about our testing process.

Crucial has received many awards for various products, which you may view here and follow links to the full reviews and awards.
Crucialâ€™s Awards

This particular series of Ballistix Tracer Colored modules I am reviewing today has won the following rewards noted at Crucial's site:

Techgage Best of CES 2009 Award
Techgage - Best of CES 2009

Bjorn3d Golden Bear Award
Crucial Ballistix Tracers 6GB Kit (BL3KIT25664TB1608) - Bjorn3D.com

BCCHardware's Editors Choice Award
BCCHardware - Podcasting WeeklyTechUpdate - - Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR3-1600 6GB Kit

PureOC's Great Hardware Award
Crucial Ballistix Tracer 6GB DDR3-1600

3DGameman's Gamemanâ€™s Choice Award
http://www.3dgameman.com/content/view/14635/103/

The kit I will be covering here is one of Crucialâ€™s new Ballistix Tracer Blue kits, Model BL3KIT25664TB1608, which is rated at PC3-12800 and rated to run at 888-24 with 1.65V.

Memory Specifications

Model # BL3KIT25664TB1608

Module Size: 6GB kit (2GBx3)
Package: Ballistix Tracer 240-pin DIMM (with Blue LEDs)
Specs: DDR3 PC3-12800 • 8-8-8-24 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1600 • 1.65V • 256Meg x 64 • 128Meg x 8

Crucial's Product page
BL3KIT25664TB1608 - 6GB kit (2GBx3), Ballistix Tracer 240-pin DIMM (with LEDs) , DDR3 PC3-12800 from Crucial.com

Product Images and Packaging (Click to enlarge)

Just a few of Crucial's stock images.

I like Crucial's new packaging design, and have noticed a few similar types showing up in a variety of kits.

Crucial has started packaging memory in plastic blister packaging, while this is nicer looking, it may not be as secure and durable as their older cardboard packaging. The kit is sealed inside three individual plastic blister packages, bundled by a cardboard wrap, and the ram is well secured within the package. A few additional images below are on a black background, to show some contrast for anyone who may wish to see them against black.

Now let's have a closer look inside the packaging.

These sticks look AWESOME, there are few words other than awesome that we can use to describe them without possibly offending someone. The blue PCB and blue heat spreader look superb together, along with the silver etching and trim, combined with the new LED patterns are unmatched when it comes to looks.

A closer look at the single module.

I did manage a few images that show how colorful these modules are, however, the lighting is bad due to over-flash in order to show the colors. The color of the images is so nice though, that I will publish the images in spite of my lack of photographic expertise.

The heat spreader is a very brilliant blue, and has tiny silver metal flakes throughout. The Ballistix emblem is etched into the heat spreaders in a silver and white-lined etching. These new modules looked great online, and when I received them, I was even more impressed with their appearance.

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lsdmeasap

Discussion Starter · #2 · Nov 25, 2009

Test Setup:
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P (Thanks to Gigabyte)
Intel i7 965 EX ES CPU (Due to ES Regulations, anonymous...Thanks!)
Intel i7 Xeon W3250 CPU (On loan from a friend for Max Blck testing, Thanks Kevin)
Crucial Ballistix Blue Tracer DDR3 1600Mhz (8-8-8-24) (Thanks to Crucial)
2 x Sapphire HD 3870 Toxic Edition 512MB
3 x Seagate ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM HDD RAID 0
Ultra X3 850W 40312 PSU

Benchmarks results & programs used

Memtest86+ 2.11

HCI Design Memtest 3.6

Winrar Benchmark 3.8 (Alt + B to start for those who may be unaware)

Super PI / mod1.5 XS

RightMark Memory Analyzer 3.8

Benchmark results are provided at several speed ranges: 1600Mhz CAS 7, 1600Mhz CAS8, 1850Mhz, 1870Mhz and 1900Mhz.

Tests were performed for each of the following settings in a Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P motherboard. Each passed 8 hours or more of Memtest86+ 2.11, and each passed several hours of HCI Design's Memtest running triple tests of 1024MB within windows while the system was in use. Along with that, each setting range was thoroughly put through various benchmark programs and tests, which are graphed below.

I am providing several sets of timings and voltages at various speeds for Gigabyte EX58 based boards at the end of this article. Each of the tables of settings that are provided below should be fully stable for you on the memory side of things, provided you have found the proper QPI/Vtt voltage settings for your CPU at the intended speed. If you have any issues, they would likely be due to other various settings, such as Uncore values, a incorrect QPI/Vtt voltage and/or QPI/Vtt / memory voltage relationship, or possibly IOH value not set properly per the speed or timings you are running. The settings provided are for starting stability, and are not fully tweaked.

Crucial has included an enthusiast certified XMP Profile at 8-8-8-24, as well as an extreme XMP Profile at 7-7-7-24. While I personally do not agree with the XMP programming design process as a whole, these profiles can be easily selected and used via your BIOS XMP Profile selection setting, should you decide to use them yourself.

QPI/Vtt voltage should not be a part of this programming design process, in my opinion. The i7 CPU's vary so widely that trying to use any given XMP setting could lead the end user to have major stability or booting issues, and even possibly end up thinking that the memory is faulty, and want to return it. All users should find their CPU's own specific QPI/Vtt voltage setting per the speed they are running, and based on what they have found their CPU to like in regards to the balance between the QPI/Vtt voltage and Dram voltage ratio.

For simplicity in helping others, these benchmarks and settings provided are using the 2:8 and 2:10 Memory multipliers. For the benchmark scores, I tried to keep the CPU Freq in the same area, but that's not always possible, as we all know. These results are solely based on the stable settings provided by the use of Auto for advanced timings, and are not tweaked at all.

Benchmark Results:

Everest Ultimate Bandwidth

Everest Ultimate & RightMark Latency

RightMark Memory Bandwidth (Real Ram Maximal)

RightMark Read & Write Bandwidth

Super PI

Winrar

eXtreme Overclocking

Highest memory speeds obtained within acceptable voltage and timing ranges.

Click images to view CPU-z validation pages

CAS 7-7-7-20 1673.8Mhz @ 2:8

CAS 8-8-8-24 1931Mhz @ 2:10 (Stock Specified Timings)

CAS 9-9-9-24 1980.08Mhz @ 2:10

Cas 9-9-9-24 2119.2Mhz @ 2:12

I was unfortunately unable to get in any maximum memory speed runs using this method, due to limited time and DICE. The max memory validations posted below were obtained on a water setup. Although, I do plan to have another DICE run shortly, so I may update this post with some results then, or just add them to the thread.

With this set of Crucial memory, I was able to reach one of my two highest CPU Blck frequencies, and was able to obtain one of my very first 5Ghz CPU-z validations.

Again, click to view validations.

237.05 Bclk with a ram speed of 1894.4Mhz at 888-20 timings

238.24 Bclk with a ram speed of 1906Mhz at 999-24 timings

5004.45 MHz with a ram speed of 1853.6Mhz at 999-24 timings

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lsdmeasap

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 25, 2009

Settings per above benchmark results

1600Mhz CAS 7

Code:

[B]Advanced CPU Features:[/B]
CPU Clock Ratio ................................ [21x]
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech .................. [Enabled]
CPU Cores Enabled ............................ [All]
CPU Multi Threading .......................... [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) ................... [Disabled]
C3/C6/C7 State Support .................... [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor ......................... [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function ............................ [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology ................... [Enabled] 
Bi-Directional PROCHOT ..................... [Enabled]

[B]Uncore & QPI Features:[/B]
QPI Link Speed .............................. x36
Uncore Frequency .......................... x17
Isonchronous Frequency ..................[Enabled]

[B]Standard Clock Control:[/B]
Base Clock (BCLK) Control ................ [Enabled]
BCLK Frequency (MHz) ..................... 200
PCI Express Frequency (MHz) ........... [100]

C.I.A.2 [Disabled]

[B]Advanced Clock Control:[/B]
CPU Clock Drive ..............................[800mV]
PCI Express Clock Drive ................... [900mV]
CPU Clock Skew ............................. [0ps]
IOH Clock Skew ............................. [0ps]

[B]Advanced DRAM Features:[/B]
Performance Enhance ...................... [eXtreme]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) ......... [Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) ........ [x8]
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) .......... [Manual]

[B]Channel A + B + C

Channel A Timing Settings:[/B]
##Channel A Standard Timing Control##
CAS Latency Time ......................7
tRCD .......................................7
tRP .........................................7
tRAS .......................................20

##Channel A Advanced Timing Control##
tRC ........................................ Auto
tRRD ....................................... Auto
tWTR ....................................... Auto
tWR ........................................ Auto
tWTP ....................................... Auto
tWL ........................................ Auto
tRFC ....................................... Auto
tRTP ....................................... Auto
tFAW ...................................... Auto
Command Rate (CMD) ................ 1

##Channel A Misc Timing Control##
Round Trip Latency ................... Auto

[B]Advanced Voltage Control:

CPU[/B]
Load Line Calibration ................. [Enabled]
CPU Vcore ............................... 1.39375
QPI/VTT Voltage 1.150v ............ 1.415
CPU PLL 1.800v ....................... 1.86

[B]MCH/ICH[/B]
PCIE 1.500v ........................... 1.54
QPI PLL 1.100v ....................... 1.24
IOH Core 1.100v ..................... 1.24
ICH I/O 1.500v ....................... 1.50
ICH Core 1.1v ........................ 1.16

[B]DRAM[/B]
DRAM Voltage 1.500v .............. 1.72
DRAM Termination 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-A Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-B Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-C Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-A Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-B Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-C Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]

1600Mhz CAS 8

Code:

[B]Advanced CPU Features:[/B]
CPU Clock Ratio ................................ [20x]
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech .................. [Enabled]
CPU Cores Enabled ............................ [All]
CPU Multi Threading .......................... [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) ................... [Disabled]
C3/C6/C7 State Support .................... [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor ......................... [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function ............................ [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology ................... [Enabled] 
Bi-Directional PROCHOT ..................... [Enabled]

[B]Uncore & QPI Features:[/B]
QPI Link Speed .............................. x36
Uncore Frequency ..........................  x17
Isonchronous Frequency ..................[Enabled]

[B]Standard Clock Control:[/B]
Base Clock (BCLK) Control ................ [Enabled]
BCLK Frequency (MHz) ..................... 200
PCI Express Frequency (MHz) ........... [100]

C.I.A.2 [Disabled]

[B]Advanced Clock Control:[/B]
CPU Clock Drive ..............................[800mV]
PCI Express Clock Drive ................... [900mV]
CPU Clock Skew ............................. [0ps]
IOH Clock Skew ............................. [0ps]

[B]Advanced DRAM Features:[/B]
Performance Enhance ...................... [eXtreme]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) ......... [Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) ........ [x8]
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) .......... [Manual]

[B]Channel A + B + C

Channel A Timing Settings:[/B]
##Channel A Standard Timing Control##
CAS Latency Time ......................8
tRCD .......................................8
tRP .........................................8
tRAS .......................................20

##Channel A Advanced Timing Control##
tRC ........................................ Auto
tRRD ....................................... Auto
tWTR ....................................... Auto
tWR ........................................ Auto
tWTP ....................................... Auto
tWL ........................................ Auto
tRFC ....................................... Auto
tRTP ....................................... Auto
tFAW ...................................... Auto
Command Rate (CMD) ................ 1

##Channel A Misc Timing Control##
Round Trip Latency ................... Auto

[B]Advanced Voltage Control:

CPU[/B]
Load Line Calibration ................. [Enabled]
CPU Vcore ............................... 1.39375
QPI/VTT Voltage 1.150v ............ 1.375
CPU PLL 1.800v ....................... 1.84

[B]MCH/ICH[/B]
PCIE 1.500v ........................... 1.54
QPI PLL 1.100v ....................... 1.24
IOH Core 1.100v ..................... 1.24
ICH I/O 1.500v ....................... 1.50
ICH Core 1.1v ........................ 1.14

[B]DRAM[/B]
DRAM Voltage 1.500v .............. 1.66
DRAM Termination 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-A Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-B Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-C Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-A Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-B Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-C Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]

1850Mhz CAS 8

Code:

[B]Advanced CPU Features:[/B]
CPU Clock Ratio ................................ [22x]
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech .................. [Disabled]
CPU Cores Enabled ............................ [All]
CPU Multi Threading .......................... [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) ................... [Disabled]
C3/C6/C7 State Support .................... [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor ......................... [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function ............................ [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology ................... [Enabled] 
Bi-Directional PROCHOT ..................... [Enabled]

[B]Uncore & QPI Features:[/B]
QPI Link Speed .............................. x36
Uncore Frequency ..........................  x21
Isonchronous Frequency ..................[Enabled]

[B]Standard Clock Control:[/B]
Base Clock (BCLK) Control ................ [Enabled]
BCLK Frequency (MHz) ..................... 185
PCI Express Frequency (MHz) ........... [100]

C.I.A.2 [Disabled]

[B]Advanced Clock Control:[/B]
CPU Clock Drive ..............................[800mV]
PCI Express Clock Drive ................... [900mV]
CPU Clock Skew ............................. [0ps]
IOH Clock Skew ............................. [0ps]

[B]Advanced DRAM Features:[/B]
Performance Enhance ...................... [eXtreme]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) ......... [Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) ........ [x10]
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) .......... [Manual]

[B]Channel A + B + C

Channel A Timing Settings:[/B]
##Channel A Standard Timing Control##
CAS Latency Time ......................8
tRCD .......................................8
tRP .........................................8
tRAS .......................................24

##Channel A Advanced Timing Control##
tRC ........................................ Auto
tRRD ....................................... Auto
tWTR ....................................... Auto
tWR ........................................ Auto
tWTP ....................................... Auto
tWL ........................................ Auto
tRFC ....................................... Auto
tRTP ....................................... Auto
tFAW ...................................... Auto
Command Rate (CMD) ................ 1

##Channel A Misc Timing Control##
Round Trip Latency ................... Auto

[B]Advanced Voltage Control:

CPU[/B]
Load Line Calibration ................. [Enabled]
CPU Vcore ............................... 1.375
QPI/VTT Voltage 1.150v ............ 1.415
CPU PLL 1.800v ....................... 1.86

[B]MCH/ICH[/B]
PCIE 1.500v ........................... 1.54
QPI PLL 1.100v ....................... 1.26
IOH Core 1.100v ..................... 1.26
ICH I/O 1.500v ....................... 1.50
ICH Core 1.1v ........................ 1.18

[B]DRAM[/B]
DRAM Voltage 1.500v .............. 1.78
DRAM Termination 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-A Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-B Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-C Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-A Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-B Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-C Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]

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lsdmeasap

Discussion Starter · #4 · Nov 25, 2009

1870Mhz CAS 9

Code:

[B]Advanced CPU Features:[/B]
CPU Clock Ratio ................................ [21x]
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech .................. [Disabled]
CPU Cores Enabled ............................ [All]
CPU Multi Threading .......................... [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) ................... [Disabled]
C3/C6/C7 State Support .................... [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor ......................... [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function ............................ [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology ................... [Enabled] 
Bi-Directional PROCHOT ..................... [Enabled]

[B]Uncore & QPI Features:[/B]
QPI Link Speed .............................. x36
Uncore Frequency ..........................  x20
Isonchronous Frequency ..................[Enabled]

[B]Standard Clock Control:[/B]
Base Clock (BCLK) Control ................ [Enabled]
BCLK Frequency (MHz) ..................... 187
PCI Express Frequency (MHz) ........... [100]

C.I.A.2 [Disabled]

[B]Advanced Clock Control:[/B]
CPU Clock Drive ..............................[800mV]
PCI Express Clock Drive ................... [900mV]
CPU Clock Skew ............................. [0ps]
IOH Clock Skew ............................. [0ps]

[B]Advanced DRAM Features:[/B]
Performance Enhance ...................... [eXtreme]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) ......... [Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) ........ [x10]
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) .......... [Manual]

[B]Channel A + B + C

Channel A Timing Settings:[/B]
##Channel A Standard Timing Control##
CAS Latency Time ......................9
tRCD .......................................9
tRP .........................................9
tRAS .......................................24

##Channel A Advanced Timing Control##
tRC ........................................ Auto
tRRD ....................................... Auto
tWTR ....................................... Auto
tWR ........................................ Auto
tWTP ....................................... Auto
tWL ........................................ Auto
tRFC ....................................... Auto
tRTP ....................................... Auto
tFAW ...................................... Auto
Command Rate (CMD) ................ 1

##Channel A Misc Timing Control##
Round Trip Latency ................... Auto

[B]Advanced Voltage Control:

CPU[/B]
Load Line Calibration ................. [Enabled]
CPU Vcore ............................... 1.375
QPI/VTT Voltage 1.150v ............ 1.415
CPU PLL 1.800v ....................... 1.84

[B]MCH/ICH[/B]
PCIE 1.500v ........................... 1.54
QPI PLL 1.100v ....................... 1.26
IOH Core 1.100v ..................... 1.26
ICH I/O 1.500v ....................... 1.50
ICH Core 1.1v ........................ 1.18

[B]DRAM[/B]
DRAM Voltage 1.500v .............. 1.78
DRAM Termination 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-A Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-B Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-C Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-A Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-B Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-C Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]

1900Mhz CAS 9

Code:

[B]Advanced CPU Features:[/B]
CPU Clock Ratio ................................ [21x]
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech .................. [Disabled]
CPU Cores Enabled ............................ [All]
CPU Multi Threading .......................... [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) ................... [Disabled]
C3/C6/C7 State Support .................... [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor ......................... [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function ............................ [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology ................... [Enabled] 
Bi-Directional PROCHOT ..................... [Enabled]

[B]Uncore & QPI Features:[/B]
QPI Link Speed .............................. x36
Uncore Frequency ..........................  x20
Isonchronous Frequency ..................[Enabled]

[B]Standard Clock Control:[/B]
Base Clock (BCLK) Control ................ [Enabled]
BCLK Frequency (MHz) ..................... 190
PCI Express Frequency (MHz) ........... [100]

C.I.A.2 [Disabled]

[B]Advanced Clock Control:[/B]
CPU Clock Drive ..............................[800mV]
PCI Express Clock Drive ................... [900mV]
CPU Clock Skew ............................. [0ps]
IOH Clock Skew ............................. [0ps]

[B]Advanced DRAM Features:[/B]
Performance Enhance ...................... [eXtreme]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) ......... [Disabled]
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) ........ [x10]
DRAM Timing Selectable (SPD) .......... [Manual]

[B]Channel A + B + C

Channel A Timing Settings:[/B]
##Channel A Standard Timing Control##
CAS Latency Time ......................9
tRCD .......................................9
tRP .........................................9
tRAS .......................................24

##Channel A Advanced Timing Control##
tRC ........................................ Auto
tRRD ....................................... Auto
tWTR ....................................... Auto
tWR ........................................ Auto
tWTP ....................................... Auto
tWL ........................................ Auto
tRFC ....................................... Auto
tRTP ....................................... Auto
tFAW ...................................... Auto
Command Rate (CMD) ................ 1

##Channel A Misc Timing Control##
Round Trip Latency ................... Auto

[B]Advanced Voltage Control:

CPU[/B]
Load Line Calibration ................. [Enabled]
CPU Vcore ............................... 1.375
QPI/VTT Voltage 1.150v ............ 1.415
CPU PLL 1.800v ....................... 1.84

[B]MCH/ICH[/B]
PCIE 1.500v ........................... 1.54
QPI PLL 1.100v ....................... 1.26
IOH Core 1.100v ..................... 1.26
ICH I/O 1.500v ....................... 1.50
ICH Core 1.1v ........................ 1.22

[B]DRAM[/B]
DRAM Voltage 1.500v .............. 1.78
DRAM Termination 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-A Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-B Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-C Data VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-A Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-B Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]
Ch-C Address VRef. 0.750v [AUTO]

DO NOT use all of my voltage settings, of course, many of them are motherboard or CPU specific, and you would need to find your hardware's own stable voltage ranges.

And, as always, if you do need help, I am here to offer it!

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lsdmeasap

Discussion Starter · #5 · Nov 25, 2009

I found this kit to be stable well beyond the stock specifications, but of course you have a trade off of some speed and timings to be able to add the great looks to this package. I was unable to push much past 2100Mhz (which is insanely good anyway though), even at higher voltages, but I was able to accomplish the 7-7-7-20 Extreme profile without an issue. This kit scaled very nicely with voltages, as the speed increased so would the voltages required. This occurred within normally expected amounts as you are used to in DDR2. I did not push the kit past 1.8V though, as I felt the trade off in Mhz Vs. Voltages may have been pushing the limits of the IC's in this kit. I am not sure how much they can withstand, but they do scale nicely up to 1.8V without a hiccup.

Although some of you may believe that you must keep your ram in the 1.65V area, I do not believe this to be true, nor do many overclockers around the web. The 1.65V limit is only true when QPI/Vtt is at stock, you simply must keep the difference between QPI/Vtt and Vdimm within .5 of each other to maintain the proper ratio. This means you can easily use 1.7-1.9+ if you like, as long as you raise QPI/Vtt to keep it within the .5 ratio range.

When it comes to voltages, what you choose to use is always up to you. Intel keeps so quiet, and answers things in regards to voltages cryptically, so it is often up to us overclockers to do our own research to come to a proper conclusion. My thoughts about QPI/Vtt / Vdimm above are the basic assumption, and generally used ratio by many overclockers who have had no issues. It's always up to you though, so please do your own research and come up with a conclusion on what you feel to be usable and safe.

I felt a video was definitely needed as a part of this review, because these new Tracer Modules are very different from the older kits. The LED's move in a very different and unique way, and everyone should be able to see that live, so as to not confuse these with the older type of Tracers.

My only camera that will shoot movies is stuck on Auto-Focus, however, you will still be able to view the memory in action just fine. The beginning of this video was made during a 3DMark 06 Graphic test. Towards the end, when the test is over and the system is idle, the LED frequency slows down.

YouTube- Crucial Tracer Blue LED DDR3 1600Mhz

This kit has been very easy to work with, speeds scale with voltages very nicely. You will not find a nicer looking kit than these, especially if you are all about looks when it comes to your computer setup. I find them to be of the very finest craftsmanship, and the remake on the Tracer LED Design is superb. The new LED pattern reminds me of the old Knight Rider car "Kit", they flash outwards from the middle at various speeds increasing with usage. The heat spreaders look outstanding, and the inclusion of the new LED design makes this kit unbeatable when it comes to pleasing the eye.

Price at time of publishing this review was $188.97 at Crucial Direct, and $150.99 at Newegg.

These are bound to be a collectors item!

Thanks again to Kelly at Crucial Memory for making this review possible

Disclaimer: This document is only intended to help anyone who is using Crucial Memory to obtain a stable starting point for their memory in a Gigabyte board. This is not the usual ram overclocking and testing reviews you may find online by other professionals. Thank you for leaving only constructive comments, please.

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