We love when companies push the envelope of specs and size.
One such perfect example are these very low profile DDR3 memory modules from Crucial.
What’s so special about them I hear you ask?
Well, besides the 8 GB density per stick, 1600 Mhz with CL8 timings and low voltage of just 1.35 V (thus a new standard is born DDR3L – and it even has two XMP profiles one for 1.35 V and the standard 1.5 V) … does it suffice for now?
No? Ok, all of these plus with a competitive price and the fact that they will eliminate any height clearance issues for eternity.
Why? Because even with the included head-spreaders, they are only 20 mm ! That’s 5-10 mm shorter than any normal/standard height memory module !
Ah and they overclock like the energizer bunny.
Crucial, we salute you for these !
Crucial is a global brand of Micron Technology, Inc., one of the largest memory and flash storage manufacturers in the world also ranked among the Top 5 Semiconductor producing companies in the world.
Micron was named one of Thomson Reuters top 100 global innovators in 2012 and 2013.
As of January 2015, its market capitalization was $32 billion.
They make computer memory upgrades (DRAM) and solid state drives (SSDs), and offer more than 250,000 upgrades for over 50,000 systems.
Price when reviewed: £ 94.12 – via Amazon.co.uk
Ballistix Tactical BLT2C8G3D1608ET3LX0CEU 16GB kit (8GB x 2) DDR3 PC3-12800 Unbuffered NON-ECC 1.35V
Specifications
And since most of it we covered in the prolog:
So let’s move into the :
Visual inspection
They come in a standard packaging for memory modules, a hard and secure plastic.
They are so small in real life.
And here are some size references – compared to the Tactical Tracers @ 35.6 mm tall.
As you can see from this angle, even with the included heatsink, they still are smaller that the stock DIMM if they didn’t have heatsinks – even further, they are almost half the size regarding the PCB !
Installation
We were so exited to test such a product because one of our main testing rigs is the perfect candidate – a system around the NCase M1 – the smallest mITX with full length video support and dual radiator water cooling in the world – at 12.6 L !
So you can imagine a SFF build like this everything is with tight tolerances and no room for errors.
And here is the rest of the system:
Processor: Intel i7 2700k @ 3.5 GHz – Sandy Bridge 32nm, HT and Turbo Boost Enabled up to 3.9 GHz
CPU cooler: Thermalright AXP-100R @ 120 Noiseblocker eLOOP B12-P PWM
Motherboard: MSI B75IA-E33 mITX
Old RAM: 2 x 4 GB Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracers 1600 MHz CL8
HDD : 2.5″ HGST 1 TB 7200 RPM 32 MB buffer
SSD : Samsung 840 Pro 128 GB
Case: NCase M1 mITX
Case Fans: 2x 120 mm Noiseblocker MP12-PS PWM
PSU: SilverStone SFX 600 W w/ Single rail – 50 A – SX-600G
And here are some perspectives:
As you can see a cooler like the low profile Thermalright AXP-100R, it must use normal DIMMs with no heatsinks – when we tested the Crucial Tactical Tracers, we had to remove one heatspreader from the inside of one DIMM.
But now, these Tactical LPs are so small, we didn’t even have to remove the cpu cooler to mount them ! Crazy !
Like we said, with these, you virtually remove all worries regarding fitment and clearance of any kind.
Testing
We managed to overclock them at very good numbers withing the 1.5V safe limits.
This is what we reached, where all of them were stable and we could perform benchmarks.
– 1600 Mhz – 8-8-8-24-2T – 1.35 V
– 1866 Mhz – 9-9-9-24-1T – 1.35 V
– 2133 Mhz – 9-9-9-24-1T – 1.50 V
Software:
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
AIDA64 Extreme v1.70
SiSoft Sandra 2012
WinRar v3.90
Crysis 3 – 15 minutes gameplay session
MSI Afterburner v3.00 – to record the FPS
Results
In all the synthetic test, they scale proportionally as usual.
But in real life like gaming there are no tangible gains to go crazy with the OC or get the most expensive highest frequency memory modules.
Conclusion
The good:
– Superb performance
– Superb value
– Pushes the envelope of size and new standards and efficiency
– They overclock very well
– They virtually remove all worries regarding fitment and clearance of any kind
The bad:
– Color ? I mean when we have to pick on subjective matters like these, it’s clear how good they are overall and it’s hard to find negatives.
Clear winner today, thus:
Globetrotters “Perfect” Award – 5 out of 5
A lot of thanks to Crucial for supplying us this kit !
