Ballistix Sport AT DDR4 3000 MHz 32GB Kit Review: Beautiful Looking Memory
Introduction
Micron is a well respected company in the memory and storage industry and their consumer products are marketed under the brands of Crucial and Ballistix. The Ballistix brand is now independent of the Crucial brand and goes by the name of Ballistix Gaming. The Ballistix Gaming memory line consists of the Elite, Tactical, and Sport memory series. The Elite series is Ballistix's premium memory line while the Tactical series is more of their mainstream line and the Sport series is their entry-level memory line.
A few weeks ago Ballistix released the Sport AT DDR4 memory which has been developed in collaboration with ASUS in support of ASUS' TUF Gaming Alliance. The ASUS TUF Gaming Alliance is a new brand announced during Computex 2018 that's designed for gamers on a budget. ASUS' TUF Gaming Alliance will provide hardware companies such as Antec, Ballistix, SilverStone, Corsair, Cooler Master and G.Skill with free marketing if they release products under the TUF Gaming Alliance brand. Products designed for ASUS' TUF Gaming Alliance brand will feature a black and yellow color scheme to complement the TUF Gaming Alliance theme.
The Ballistix Sport AT DDR4 memory comes with speeds ranging from 2666 MHz and 3000 MHz and capacities from 8GB to 16GB in dual and quad channel kit. Ballistix has sent us a sample of their Sport AT DDR4-3000 MHz 32GB (4x8GB) memory kit that runs at 1.35V and has a stock rated timings of 17-19-19-38. The Ballistix Sport AT feature a unique heat spreader that's aesthetically pleasing which complements the TUF gaming style.
Ballistix's Elite and Tactical Tracer DDR4 memory kits come with a thermal sensor which can be quite useful if you are overclocking the memory and want to know the temperature of your memory modules. However, the Ballistix Sport AT DDR4 memory does not come equipped with a thermal sensor which means you can't use the Ballistix M.O.D utility to monitor the temperature.
The Ballistix Sport AT DDR4 memory comes certified for Intel XMP 2.0 for easy setup and configuration. Once you turn the Intel XMP 2.0 profile on in the BIOS, it will automatically adjust to the fastest safe speed and you'll get great, reliable performance while maintaining full data integrity.
The Ballistix Sport AT DDR4 3000 MHz 32GB (4x8GB) memory kit has a limited lifetime warranty and at the time of writing this review, you can find the it for around $400 on Newegg and Amazon. Compared to other 32GB (4x8GB) 3000 MHz memory kits from Corsair and G.Skill that are out there, the Ballistix Sport AT DDR4 3000 MHz 32GB (4x8GB) memory kit is anywhere from $20 to $30 more expensive than the competition.
Specifications
| Technical Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Brand: | Ballistix |
| Series: | Sport AT |
| Model: | BLS4K8G4D30CESTK |
| Capacity: | 32GB (4 x 8GB) |
| Type: | 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM |
| Speed/Timings: | DDR4 3000 (PC4 24000) - 17-19-19-38 |
| Cas Latency: | 17 |
| Voltage: | 1.35V |
| ECC: | No |
| Buffered/Registered: | Unbuffered |
| Color: | Dark Gray/Yellow |
| PCB Type: | 10-Layer Design |
| Heat Spreader: | Yes |
| Form Factor: | UDIMM |
| Fan Included: | No |
| Height: | 44 mm |
| Warranty: | Limited Lifetime |
| Multi-Channel: | Quad-Channel Kit |
| Features: | Intel XMP 2.0 (Extreme Memory Profile) Ready |
Packaging
Ballistix packages the Sport AT DDR4 memory in a basic plastic box with clear sections so you can see the modules. On the front you will see the capacity, speed and voltage listed while on the back you will see a description of each memory series in different languages.
The Ballistix Sport AT DDR4 memory kit features a sleek design with a dark gray/yellow brushed aluminum heat spreaders and a black PCB. Since this memory is part of the TUF Gaming Alliance brand, it is available only in the dark gray/yellow color theme so if you are into modding and are looking for other color options, you will not find that with the Sport AT DDR4 line.
The heatspreader is held in place with glue so it is easily removable which can come in handy if you are trying to install a big air CPU cooler such as the Noctua NH-D15. The memory kit stands 44 mm tall but you can lower the height to 35 mm if you remove the heatspreader. Removing the heatspreader will give you a few more millimeters to work with when installing big air CPU coolers.
You will notice two yellow stripes across the top of the memory module which in my opinion adds a nice touch to the aesthetics.
Here is a close view of the aluminum heat spreader that stands approximately 10mm above the PCB. The heat-spreaders are fairly thick but they also allow for airflow to flow through. You can see that the heat spreaders don't touch each other and this is important because you want each heat spreader to cool the ICs separately and not combine the heat load.
Test Methodology
| Test Setup | |
|---|---|
| Processor: | AMD Ryzen 7 1700X |
| Motherboard: | MSI X370 Gaming xPower Titanium (BIOS v1E) |
| RAM: | Ballistix Sport AT 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4-3000 MHz Ballistix Tactical Tracer 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4-2666 MHz Patriot Viper LED 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-3000 MHz Ballistix Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-3466 MHz Ballistix Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-3000 MHz Ballistix Tactical 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-2666 MHz Kingston HyperX Savage 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-2666 MHz Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-3000 MHz |
| Graphics Card: | Nvidia GTX 1070 |
| Storage: | Crucial MX300 1TB |
| Power Supply: | Seasonic Focus Plus 750W |
| Heatsink: | Noctua NH-D15 |
| OS: | Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit |
| Thermal Compound: | Noctua NT-H1 |
| Case: | Corsair 400C |
The testing was done on a fresh install of Windows 10 64-bit. We made sure there were as few processes running as possible during the testing. We'll be using the AMD Ryzen 7 1700X CPU that will run on stock settings and we are using the MSI X370 Gaming xPower Titanium motherboard with the latest BIOS installed. I went into the BIOS and loaded the A-XMP profile and it worked without any issues. Each memory kit will be tested at default speed and timings.
As far as benchmarking software goes, we'll be using AIDA64 (Read, Write, Copy, Latency), HyperPi 32M, Cinebench R15 and Battlefield 1.
Results
AIDA64 is an application used typically for benchmarking the components inside your computer.
In this test we are benchmarking the memory for read, write and copy speeds.
Now we are using AIDA64 again to measure the memory latency time.
Memory latency is measured in how long it takes for the data to go from RAM to the CPU in nano-seconds.
HyperPi is an application used to test the performance and stability of your machine.
You can select the digits of PI to be calculated which in this case it's 32M.
Cinebench R15 is a popular benchmarking tool for measuring the CPU and graphics performance of your machine.
In this test, we measuring just the CPU.
Here we are testing Battlefield 1 at 1440p on maximum settings. We are checking to see how many FPS we get the memory installed.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Ballistix Sport AT DDR4 3000 MHz 32GB (4x8GB) memory kit sports an attractive design which I really like and offers good performance with a good build quality. Price-wise, the Sport AT DDR4 3000 MHz 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 memory kit retails for around $400 on Newegg and Amazon which is very expensive for a 32GB (4x8GB) memory kit. It is about $20 to $30 more expensive compared to other brands from Corsair and G.Skill depending on where you live.
Looks-wise, the dark gray/yellow militaristic styling gives the memory a sleek and sturdy look and feel.
The aluminum heat spreaders do a good job of keeping the memory run cool and will come in handy if you decide to overclock the RAM
above 3000 MHz. Also, they extend to about 10mm above the PCB so you will be able to install large air coolers
without having to worry about interference.
Pros:
+ Beautiful Looking Memory
+ Good Build Quality
+ Decent Performance
+ Good Overclocking
Cons:
- High Stock Timings
- Expensive
After I finished running my benchmarks, I spent some time tweaking the timings in the BIOS because the stock timings are quite high
and I wanted to see how much I could lower them.
I managed to lower the timings down to 16-18-18-36 1T and it was fully stable at 3000 MHz
and I was also able to overclock it to 3200 MHz with those same exact timings without touching the voltage.
Overall, I believe the Ballistix Sport AT DDR4 3000 MHz 32GB (4x8GB) memory kit deserves our recommended award.
Final Score 9.0
