Verdict and Conclusion
Value/budget/entry level ram is a tricky field. There are an awful lot of kits that are rated at the same 1600-9-9-9 speed as this kit. Price wise this kit is towards the low end, it is currently selling for ~$40. You can get the same rating of off-brand ram for $38, as well as a few other name brands for $39. These sticks lose a bit for that, but it’s a tiny difference.
Performance at 1600-9-9-9 is the same as with any other 1600-9-9-9 kit, that’s the dirty little secret of ram.
What isn’t the same is that this kit has SPD values for 1950MHz, that’s a nice plus. The 11-11-11 timings hurt, though.
The ram runs nice and cool, even with extra voltage put to it while hunting for higher speeds and/or tighter timings.
There aren’t any higher speeds or tighter timings to be found however, performance goes sharply downhill with the timings required for going over 2000MHz. 1600-8-8-8 is a no-go as well. You’re buying a kit of 1600-9-9-9 ram and getting a choice between 1600-9-9-9 and 1950-11-11-11. You are not, however, getting >2000MHz for $40, not this time anyway.
To summarize a bit, there are pros:
- Runs rated frequency/timings/voltage without going into BIOS.
- Has SPD for 1950MHz, and can run it easily.
- Runs cool.
- Clears large heatsinks easily.
There are cons too though:
- OCing headroom beyond 1950MHz nonexistent.
- Won’t tighten timings at 1600MHz, either.
- Price 3-5% high.
All told these are solid sticks for a basic / budget build, they have no faults from that standpoint. In this modern day of buying a 1600MHz ram kit and getting huge clocks out of it I’m a bit disappointed. To be fair to Crucial, if you’re looking for benching ram you probably shouldn’t be buying 1600MHz stuff anyway.
At the bottom line, I can easily recommend this ram for a general use / gaming computer build. If you’re looking for benching ram, keep looking. I give the Crucial Ballistix Sport 1600MHz 2x4GB ram kit a 7.9/10 score.
SCORE
7.9/10
