A Closer Look

Crucial announced the Ballistix Sport XT series, a new edition that complements the rest of their lineup by offering a different color scheme as well as a different focus on performance than previous products, during Computex 2013.


One side of the sticks has two labels. One clearly lists the part number and its specifications, and I think the other is some sort of batch code or something.


The heatsink stands fairly high over the top of the DIMM's PCB, with a point in the middle of the DIMM for the heatsink to capture airflow that passes off the DIMMs and down over the modules below, which helps to keep them cool. There are some fairly basic identifying markers by Micron on the PCB, but nothing that indicates how many layers the PCB has, nor was any such information in the marketing materials Crucial provided.


Looking at the DIMM in profile, you can see the obvious reference to past Ballistix Sport models that have a smaller sweeping heatsink covering the memory ICs. The Ballistix Sport XT simply has more metal up top, and the heatsink wraps over to meet on the other side. The blue color is pretty specific and doesn't exactly match many of the other blue components on today's market.