Ballistix Sport AT 32GB DDR4 Memory Kit Review

Ballistix Sport AT is the latest offering in performance memory from Crucial. These DDR4 memory modules share characteristic of the Sport Series such as faster speeds, lower latencies, and increased bandwidth at an affordable price point.

Additionally, this particular model features a unique stylized heat spreader and guarantees to be compatible with ASUS TUF Gaming Alliance builds.

In this review we're going to touch base on Sport AT exclusives, DDR4-3000 technology and what this 32GB Kit has to offer.

Hardware

Ballistix it is another consumer brand under Crucial which in turn is owned by Micron Technology. Why am I tell you this? Well, we now negate "Crucial" from our Ballistix article titles and want those unfamiliar with the brands to recognize they're viewing a quality product, with a competitive warranty, backed by one of the longest standing memory manufacturers in the business. Now that we've cleared up this marketing wizardry, on with the review. 

Ballistix Sport AT memory is available for purchase as individual DDR4 modules in a 8GB or 16GB density with speeds of either 2666 or 3000 MT/s. You may also choose from a 2-peice or 4-peice kit with varying quantities spanning 16GB, 32GB and 64GB total capacity — retail price points range from $89 up to $795 depending on your selection.

Though Crucial guarantees Ballistix Sport AT gaming memory to be compatible with ASUS TUF Gaming motherboards, these UIDMMs are of course still compatible with other motherboard brands. However, when browsing the Crucial website I'd highly recommend using the Crucial Advisor tool to identify appropriate options when choosing the right product for your needs.

We've selected the Ballistix Sport AT DDR4-3000 32GB Kit which is comprised of 4 x 8GB UDIMMs. This fully populates the dual channel memory slots on the motherboard as depicted in the photo below.

Exclusive to the Sport AT, Crucial has collaborated with ASUS to furnish the heat spreader to match the unique style of ASUS TUF Gaming motherboards. This is strictly complementary aesthetics and is only available in one color, yellow.

Modern game engines require more processing power from the CPU and GPU rather than memory resources. That being said, 32GB of memory is more than sufficient as the real benefit for gamers will come from the speed of Ballistix Sport AT DDR4-3000 specification.

For compatibility reasons all DDR4 memory meets a 2133MHz specification set fourth by Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC). If you've been shopping around you may have noticed some manufactures offer modules with higher speeds, but these aren't always achievable due to motherboard support, firmware, etcetera.

In the case of Ballistix Sport AT these DDR4 modules offer a rated clock speed up to 3000MHz. DDR4-3000 would be my preferred choice over the DDR4-2660 (2666MHz) model within the Sport Series as it offers a slight performance gain.

During this evaluation I used an AMD X370 chipset motherboard and was able to apply 3000MHz Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) with sustained stability during regular use and benchmarking.

DDR4 operates at a reduced voltage (1.2 volts) when compared to the previous generation DDR3 (1.5 volts). Ballistix Sport AT rates DDR4-2666 at 1.2V and DDR4-3000 at 1.35V.

Features

Highlight summary:

• Speed: 3000 MT/s
• Total Capacity: 32GB kit (8GB x 4)
• Heat spreader: ASUS TUF Gaming Style
• Warranty: Limited Lifetime

Specifications

• DDR4 PC4-24000
• 17-19-19
• Unbuffered
• NON-ECC
• DDR4-3000
• 1.35V

Performance

Performance testing was done under Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) with a 4.15 Kernel. Your results may vary.

Test System

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 1700X
• Motherboard: AMD X370 chipset
• RAM: Ballistix 32GB (8GB x 4)
• GPU: ASUS ROG Strix Radeon RX580 8GB OC Edition
• Disk: 1TB Crucial_CT1000MX500 SSD
• OS: Ubuntu Desktop 18.04 (64-Bit)
• Kernel: 4.15.0-30-generic
• File-System: ext4

Test Results

• Pass 1
• Memory Read: 46269 MB/s
• Memory Write: 46113 MB/s
• Memory Copy: 44820 MB/s
• Memory Latency: 81.2 ns

• Pass 2
• Memory Read: 46289 MB/s
• Memory Write: 46025 MB/s
• Memory Copy: 44488 MB/s
• Memory Latency: 81.1 ns

• Pass 3
• Memory Read: 46276 MB/s
• Memory Write: 46108 MB/s
• Memory Copy: 44749 MB/s
• Memory Latency: 81.1 ns