Crucial 2GB DDR2-1066 Ballistix Tracer

Here, we compare our overclocks of the memory being reviewed alongside other recently evaluated sticks. These graphs include benchmarks with each kit of ram at DDR2-1000 4-4-4-12-13 2.1v along with each kits own top overclock. While the DDR2-1000 results should not vary much, the top end overclocks will, given that each kit will top out differently.

For reference, here are the top overclocks for each kit of ram included:

• OCZ Reaper HPC PC2-9200 – 642MHz 5-5-5-18-19 2.5v (2.88GHz CPU) – (Review)
• Corsair Dominator PC2-9136 – 635MHz 5-5-5-18-16 2.5v (2.85GHz CPU) – (Review)
• OCZ Flex XLC PC2-9200 – 625MHz 5-5-5-18-16 2.5v (2.81GHz CPU) – (Review)
• Kingston HyperX PC2-9200 – 621.5MHz 5-5-5-18-13 2.5v (2.79GHz CPU) – (Review)
• OCZ Ti Alpha VX2 PC2-8000 – 620MHz 5-5-5-18-13 2.5v (2.79GHz CPU) – (Review)
• OCZ DFI Special PC2-9000 – 615MHz 5-5-5-18-13 2.5v (2.76GHz CPU) – (Review)
• Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC2-8500 – 609MHz 5-5-5-18-16 (2.74GHz CPU) – (Review)
• OCZ SLI-Ready PC2-7200 – 600MHz 5-5-5-18-13 2.4v (2.70GHz CPU) – (Review)

As you can see, the Tracer 8500 was our second lowest clocked, so the graphs represent just that. However, it did surpass the Kingston 9200 kit in our latency tests to sit in third from last place.

As you’ve probably noticed, I review a fair amount of ram. More often than not, I am completely impressed with each and every kit I review, which makes it difficult to give one a bad rating. As it stands, I firmly believe that Crucial’s Tracer 8500 kit deserves an eight out of ten, along with our Editors Choice award.

Though the kit did not overclock as high as a few others on the list, it costs far less than the majority of them. I mentioned earlier that the Tracer 8500 can be had for just over $200 from multiple e-tailers, while the others in our charts begin out at $275 and soar all the way up past $400. From that standpoint, these modules are a great choice. $200 for ram that is stable at DDR2-1200 speeds? It’s difficult to discredit that.

As far as the Tracer goes, these modules will not be for everyone. If you love having additional LEDs inside your case, you will love these. When the memory is being accessed frequently, the lights just go berserk and you can easily become entranced. To add to the bling factor, the bottoms of the modules have blue LEDs, so your DIMM slots will look like a disco.

These are some fantastic modules. Crucial has taken a while to finally launch DDR2-1066 modules to the market, but they sure didn’t disappoint now that it’s happened.

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