Introduction

Crucial recently updated its product line-up with the addition of 2666 MHz DDR4 modules sporting the "Ballistix Elite" moniker. With Crucial being the first company that supplied me with DDR4, my overclocking experience with memory and benchmarking began with Micron ICs, which were topping out at 2400 MHz at the time. Seeing this speed boost gets me a bit excited as an overclocker—more time tuning overclocks!

When it comes time to relating real-world performance differences DDR4 products might offer the consumer, this Ballistix Elite kit fills a hole in the clock speeds I've looked at, which primarily ran a base of 2133 MHz and a high-clock of 3000 MHz, a frequency some CPUs have issues maintaining. To me, there are definite benefits to running high-clocked DIMMs, but what about those right in the middle? DDR4-2666 seems to be the perfect spot to drop in and take a look!

Crucial is the consumer-facing division of Micron, who has been in the memory business for a long time. Providing flash-based storage and SSDs along with memory, they are a "household name" to tech enthusiasts. Their past memory solutions have been some of the better options for low latency performance, but they haven't always topped the MHz charts. With the introduction of DDR4, I've seen a trend similar to the past emerge where latency might hold the best and easiest performance optimization a hardware tweaker can access. So, let's take a look at the Ballistix Elite sticks to see what they can offer "out-of-the-box".

Specifications

Packaging

Nearly all memory products from Crucial end up on my doorstep in similar packaging: a plastic clamshell and generic paper inserts. Be that as it may, it kind of hints that the packaging is minor and the memory is the focus.


Flipping the box open, you can access the memory itself inside of two trays, each holding two DIMMS, nestled inside the clamshell. The Crucial Ballistix Elite sticks are hefty and their larger size means the tray each sits in is much smaller than what some other Crucial products ship with in order to make way for the large heatspreaders.