Introduction



Crucial has long been associated with high performance memory for computer enthusiasts. However, in the past several years as the art of overclocking had evolved and other ram manufacturers were very aggressive in their product lineups, Crucial had taken a more conservative approach. Having seen the demand the market was generating, the fine people at Crucial were not content to take a back seat to anyone, and soon developed the Ballistix memory line. Going on a year of production and sales, the Ballistix line has become quite popular.

What has become very exciting as of late, is the addition of the Tracer memory series to the Ballistix memory lineup. Offering kits for DDR and DDR2, Crucial has taken steps to make sure Tracer is available to a wide audience of Intel and AMD users. Reports I have seen in various forums tend to support the Ballistix line as of high quality and performance.

Taking the description from Crucial's Website, the Tracer memory is described as “specifically built for performance enthusiasts and case modders who want to push the performance envelope while adding flash appeal to their boxes. The Ballistix line of high-performance memory modules features advanced speed grades, low latencies, and integrated aluminum heat spreaders. Ballistix Tracer memory features a black PCB, black integrated heat spreaders, and two rows of eight "chasing" red and green LEDs atop the module, circulating at varying speeds proportional to usage. A custom-designed circuit relays bus activity to the LEDs, allowing them to accurately reflect usage of each memory module. In addition, eight blue ground effects LEDs emit a constant glow near the pins.”



What really piqued my interest was how the memory performed in addition to the purported good looks. While I enjoy fancy lights, I don’t want to sacrifice performance, nor should we have to. While some may find such compromises acceptable, I don’t think I would, and in that frame of mind I sought to challenge these sticks as I am quite critical regarding performance versus compromise.

We were offered the opportunity to review the Crucial Ballistix DDR2 this past November and the results were impressive. Furthermore, our recent High Performance Memory Roundup for Socket 939 was criticized by several readers for not including Ballistix DDR. However, at the time of that latter article, we did not have Crucial Ballistix DDR in our possession, something we wished to rectify.

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