Testing:

The test system listed earlier in the review was used for the execution of all benchmarks, which include tests from these packages:

» Sisoftware Sandra Professional 2009.SP4
» PassMark Performance Test v7.0
» Lavalys Everest Ultimate Edition 5.30.1900
» Windows 7 Experience

For comparison purposes, the G.Skill F3 6GB PC3-12800 DDR3 triple channel memory kit rated at 1600MHz, 9-9-9-24 was tested head-to-head with the Crucial Ballistix Tracer kit. The Ballistix kit was run through each test at stock settings (1600MHz and 8-8-8-24 timings) and also at the maximum overclock (1980MHz and 10-10-10-28 timings). For reference - the G.Skill kit wouldn't overclock much at all (to about 1680MHz), so those results weren't even used.

Sandra Professional 2009.SP4:

Sisoft Sandra's memory related benchmarks were run first, and four sets of results were recorded. We have values for Latency (in nanoseconds), Float (in GB/s), Integer (in GB/s), and Aggregate Memory Performance (in GB/s). Lower values are better for latency, while higher values are better for the other three. The results seem somewhat odd to me, as the bandwidth of the two kits running at 1600MHz have a large difference, while comparing the results of the Crucial kit at stock speed and while overclocked seem rather close.



Performance Test v7.0:

PassMark Performance Test v7.0 was executed next, and only the memory portion of this suite of tests was used. The chart below shows results for Read Cached (MB/s), Read Uncached (MB/s), Write (MB/s), and Memory Mark (unitless). The two kits at 1600MHz are evenly matched in this test, with both kits winning in two categories each. With the overclock applied, the Crucial Ballistix kit puts up numbers generally several hundred points higher.