Crucial Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 2400MHz 16GB (2x8GB) Dual Channel Memory Kit Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The Crucial Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 2400MHz 16GB memory kit is available from Overclockers UK for the very reasonable price of £82.99. However, USA customers cannot select the white model which appears to be discontinued or simply not sold in this particular territory. For example, Amazon.com only stocks the silver variant which is a crying shame. In terms of value, the memory’s white PCB, attractive design and solid timings come at a really competitive price point. This is certainly one of the best value DDR4 packages I’ve seen and well worth your consideration.

Summary 

Before the release of Intel’s Z170 chipset, memory manufacturers opted for pretty safe, and professional designs which catered to the expensive X99 platform. As a result, to acquire the enhanced bandwidth, customers had to settle for pretty mundane aesthetic choices and pay a huge premium for a Haswell-E CPU and X99 motherboard. Thankfully, DDR4 is now a mainstream product and manufacturers like Crucial are more open to lavish heatspreaders and bold colour schemes. However, it’s quite rare for memory modules to utilize a white PCB which makes colour coordination an arduous task if you stray away from the typical gaming theme.

Crucial’s Ballistix Sport LT is the only DDR4 memory kit with a white PCB I’m aware of which makes it an enticing proposition. Furthermore, the modules also incorporate an absolutely gorgeous heatspreader design featuring a textured finish and intricate cut-outs. This combines to create a very sophisticated look and compliments a black or white motherboard extraordinarily well. On another note, the 40mm module height provides more than enough room to fit air coolers like the Noctua NH-D15, but it’s important to always check the maximize clearance before purchasing.

In terms of performance, the memory at stock values attained excellent results and compared quite well against the elite-tier G.Skill TridentZ 3200MHz dual channel kit. Once overclocked, there is a significant improvement, and enhanced memory bandwidth. Speaking of overclocking, Crucial have opted for premium ICs which provides a great deal of headroom to reach higher frequencies. In this case, I attained an overclock just shy of 2800MHz, while tightening the timings to 16-16-16-36. This was achieved with only a small voltage boost, and exemplifies how easily the RAM reaches a 200+MHz increase. Furthermore, I was surprised to see the memory remain stable at this frequency while utilizing very respectable timings. Throughout the stress testing procedure, I tried to reach 2800MHz, but this wasn’t possible even with 1.45v and much looser timings. Nevertheless, for an affordable memory kit, the overclocking headroom is great and much more than I anticipated.

Pros

• Beautiful heatspreaders
• Good compatibility with beefy air coolers
• Great price
• Large overclocking headroom
• Lifetime warranty
• Superb performance
• Tight timings
• White PCB
• XMP uses stock 1.2V

Cons

• White version not available in the US market

“The Crucial Ballistix Sport LT is the perfect choice for any system builder looking to construct a truly unique and thought-provoking setup. Additionally, the potent overclocking headroom, and strong stock results makes this particular kit superb value-for-money and a great choice for any hardware enthusiast.”

Crucial Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 2400MHz 16GB (2x8GB) Dual Channel Memory Kit Review

Thank you Crucial for providing us with this sample.