Crucial Ballistix Elite, Sport & Tactical 16GB DDR4 Memory Group Test

1. Introduction2. Closer Look - Motherboard Installation3. Testing Methodology4. Tests: Memory Metrics5. Tests: Memory Performance6. Overclocking: Frequencies and Performance7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

Cinebench R15

We used the ‘CPU’ test built into Cinebench R15 to measure the effect that system memory has on computational performance.

Handbrake

We measured the average frame rate achieved for a task of transcoding a 1.2GB AVI file to MP4 using an Android Tablet preset.

WPrime

We ran the 32 million Pi calculation to observe any changes in mathematical computation performance caused by different system memory.

3DMark

The Firestrike test was used with a focus on the Physics score to record how faster memory can impact gaming performance.

Cinebench, Handbrake and 3DMark all performed better on Crucial's memory kits than standard 2133MHz DDR4 memory but the results were a mixed bag. Handbrake scaled the best while both 3DMark and Cinebench were so close that the differences are negligible and could be called margin of error.

Only by adding in the faster 3,200MHz G.Skill kit were we able to demonstrate a notable difference across these benchmarks against DDR4-2133. WPrime yielded seemingly random results suggesting that memory frequency has little impact on mathematical CPU computation.

This general trend does yield some inherent advantages for prospective buyers though. Users can be more concerned with getting a memory kit of the right capacity, aesthetics and price point, leaving frequency to be an afterthought, and it will be of virtually no detriment to overall system performance levels. As such Crucial's DDR4 2400 and 2666 both seem to be adept in keeping up with all of today's memory bandwidth requirements.

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