Everyone looks at the latest memory kits on the market these days to get maximum performance, but to get that you have to being will to part with quite a bit of money. However, there are still good choices when it comes to the "slower" kits on the market. We got what looks like a really good kit from Crucial as they sent us their Pc2 6400 memory kit that belongs to the Ballistix Tracer family so it's going to be interesting to see how this kit performs and overclocks.
About Crucial:
The Crucial story starts with Micron Technology, Inc., one of the largest dynamic random access memory (DRAM) manufacturers in the world and the only one based in the U.S. Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, Micron manufactures DRAM chips and assembles them into high-quality memory modules for sale to original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs") worldwide. For nearly three decades, Micron has learned that when you make some of the very best memory in the world, lots of companies want it, from computer makers to wireless device manufacturers to printer producers. (And we're really glad that they do!)
But then Micron asked, well, what about the end user? What about the everyday folks who want to upgrade their existing systems with OEM-quality memory � the home desktop user, the IT network guy, the student notebook user? Why don't we offer our memory to the public, at factory-direct pricing?
So in 1996, Micron responded to a growing demand for high-quality memory upgrades among end users who wanted the best possible performance from their systems. Micron launched Crucial Technology in September of that year, and for the first time, end users had the opportunity to buy directly from the manufacturer the same memory modules bought by the world's major OEMs for original installation in their systems.
Having a direct sales division focused on selling Micron's DRAM to the public was apparently an idea whose time had come, and 10 successful years later, we have expanded our product line to include graphics cards, flash cards and readers, and USB flash drives. In fact, we are celebrating our 10th anniversary at www.crucial.com/ten!
Why is Crucial thriving? We offer our customers a number of clear advantages over our competitors.
As usual Crucials memory kits come packed in a small brown cardboard box, inside the sticks are separated into their own anti static bags and also separated from each other by a piece of cardboard.
The Ballistix kits have either a yellow or black color and our kit has a nice black color to the heatsinks. You can see a Ballistix logo printed on them and also a sticker on each stick with information.
Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
As I said earlier you can find different stickers on the sticks which will tell you what stick it is, I don't think it will help you much but for Crucial it's very important in case of a RMA situation.
Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
If you look closer on the sticks you can see that it has leds on top that move depending on how much your memory works, there are also leds on the bottom of the sticks. This is what makes the Ballistix Tracer a bit special and I personally like this style.
