Crucial DDR5 Pro OC Memory DDR5-6400 16GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit Review

Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

Unless you have been living under a huge rock, you may recall a while back when Crucial sold the Ballistix name, and everyone lost their minds. More experienced users will know what we mean when we say there was a time when Crucial memory wasn't just strong; it was favored by many users, and we had hours of fun overclocking it. We can recall DDR running at CAS1 from 2 or 3, taking some of their 667 MT/s DDR2 to 1300 MT/s. With DDR3, we were still tied to DFI motherboards, and those boards loved most of what Crucial sold. Even with DDR4, we were pleased with what Crucial was doing, and we feel they had quite the following and fandom to keep them going forever.

DDR5 shone slightly differently because Crucial is part of Micron. Using solely Micron ICs, Crucial never got its kits beyond the sweet spot, from what we can tell. We were getting JEDEC kits, which is cool for the benchmark aspect of our charts. We feel that very few who read our reviews used it for more than that. In other words, they were not selling based on our reviews. When JEDEC raised the standard, we got another kit to test, but it had the same feel and usage as before. Then came a kit of Pro DDR5, which was cool and had its merits, but the XMP profile was wide open for timings, and we were never able to get to the level of Hynix.

As we end an era of fond memories with Crucial, they send what we expect to be the last hurrah, if you will, as we do not expect to see more samples from them any time soon. However, this isn't just another set of wide-open timed Crucial sticks; this time, they went harder, much harder. What we have now is a lower-latency option for those who love lingering in the sweet spot for DDR5, whether on AMD or Intel. In their Crucial DDR5 Pro OC Memory, we see the best thing to leave Crucial and hit our desk in quite some time.

Crucial has sent both the CP2K16G64C32U5B and the CP2K16G64C32U5W, which are a pair of options in this series of Crucial DDR5. The coloration gets special treatment. The white spreaders get light gray accents, whereas the black models use a combination of matte and shiny finishes to accomplish a similar effect. While the spreaders are made of aluminum, they are shaped to make the kit appear wider, but sadly, there isn't any ARGB to go along with their best-looking kit in some time.

Each stick is 16GB in density for a total of 32GB across the kit, and both black PCBs get filled with Micron ICs. These ICs have their JEDEC profile set at 5600 MT/s with 45-45-45-90 2T timings, using 1.10VDIMM. Crucial does offer a pair of XMP options. First is the one specified for the kit, which runs at 6400 MT/s with 32-40-40-103 2T timings, requiring 1.35VDIMM. The second is slightly slower at 6000 MT/s, but the timings get tightened to 36-38-38-80 2T, using the same 1.35VDIMM.

The spreaders are slightly longer than the PCBs at the top, with these sticks measuring 136.5mm. Height is of little concern at just 34.9mm, but with a thickness of 8.2 mm, we would expect these to weigh a ton. Looking back at the chart, we see a weight of 33.2 grams, which suggests something is hollow.

Further DDR-5 Memory Reading – Our Latest Reviews

• KLEVV CRAS V RGB DDR5-9200 CUDIMM 48GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit Review
• Patriot Viper Venom RGB DDR5-6400 UDIMM 32GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit Review
• Colorful iGame Shadow II DDR5-6000 UDIMM 32GB Dual-Channel Memory Kit Review

While it may be the best DDR5 we have seen from Crucial, some things still do not stack up. Pricing is one. At Crucial.com, you can pick up the white or black kits for $374.99 and have them shipped directly to your door. Those who use e-tailers, things change. On Amazon, we found them selling for $368.77. Great, we are saving money, but then we clicked on the white set, still sold by Crucial Store, at $402.99, why? Newegg shows the same, but at $369.99 and $409.99, respectively. At that price, you must pass quite a few Patriot options, some V-Color sticks, and even get into Corsair RAM pricing. Then comes the warranty. While we feel they will honor it as far as they can, with no further production intended for the consumers, and the cost of any stock they do have, we cannot see it lasting long. Sadly, we have to really sit and think about whether this is something we want to invest in, especially at an inflated cost.

Packaging and Crucial DDR5 Pro OC Memory

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As mentioned earlier, we received both versions of the latest Crucial DDR5 Pro OC Memory. The packaging on the front of the box is identical except for the color of the heat spreaders shown on the boxes. The backdrop, the notations, and even the specification stickers match, and they also show XMP and EXPO compatibility.

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The back of the cardboard box says we can game at higher framerates and lower latency with RAM from a company with over 45 years of history, and that these kits are precision-built for style and performance. We do get tiny openings to verify that the box color matches the kit inside, and the differentiator beyond that is the last letter in each part number shown at the bottom.

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Inside the boxes, we found our kits shipped in a two-piece, form-fitting plastic containment system where the top slides over the bottom, and the vacuum keeps them together. Both the black and white sets are protected from shocks while also protecting the latest Crucial heat spreader design.

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Opting for the white kit for the remainder of this review, we like what we see on this Pro OC. The spreaders look thick and are angled around the edges to give depth. Across the spreaders are gray paint (easier to see in upcoming images) in a zebra-stripe pattern, and a diamond-cut "crucial" in the center, adding contrast and style.

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Rather than painting Micron or diamond etch crucial on the reverse, there is an indent where the sticker is placed. On it, we see the stick's part number, density, speed, voltage, CAS, and where they are assembled. As for the backdrop, the gray is applied in blotches and appears needlepointed to give a pixelated effect.

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Seeing them in a similar way to how they will look in any build, the contrast on the heat spreaders is subtle, and even more so with the black option. The darker gray of the Micron name stands out, but the reflective quality of the exposed aluminum can blend in with the right light or stand out, as it has in other images.

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The top of this memory features a matching-colored plastic insert that runs end to end, wrapping down the sides and extending the overall length. On this piece, we see CRUCIAL PRO painted in the same gray used for the Micron tags. With the black sets, both the Micron and the CRUCIAL PRO are done in white.

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Even when zoomed in, it's tough to read the Micron ICs, but we think the markings next to the Micron logos read 54H75DHKZ. Inside the spreader, we find that the PMIC gets a thermal pad, while the ICs receive two layers of thermal tape to offset the heat spreader thickness.

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Opening HWiNFO 64 shows we are on the right track with the IC models, but it does not directly confirm it. However, we do see that these are single-rank Micron H-dies and the timing set.

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The SPD chip that holds JEDEC, XMP, and EXPO profiles is at the top left and made by Montage. In the center is the Richtek 12=8G unlocked PMIC.

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Under good lighting, you do have to look a bit harder to see the gray zebra striping, but no matter. The exposed metal and darker gray accents pop against this boldly white DDR5 set.

Getting a good look at the timings, the primaries are decent until you reach that 103 tRAS. The tRFC seems fine, but the tREFi appears high as well. There are also higher timings used in the bank-to-rank structure, while the others seem typical.

Test System Details

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To obtain the Intel CPU-Z screenshots, you will see directly following this image; this is the system we used to do it, as well as to get the results seen in the following pages. Thanks to ASRock, our wallet, HYTE, Patriot, GIGABYTE, and be quiet! for supporting us with this venture. Detailed specifications of the system can be found below.

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As any kit with profiles should, they boot into Windows with the first of two XMP options without a hitch. All we did was clear the CMOS, enable the profile, and boot. As we expected, they are running at 6400 MT/s with 32-40-40-103 2T timings. While using 1.35VDIMM, they also used 1.25VCCIO and 1.024VCCSA.

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We were able to get a bit of extra speed from the Crucial DDR5 Pro OC Memory, as seen in this screenshot, where it's now at 6600 MT/s while still using the XMP profile for voltages.

No voltage changes or timing changes resulted in anything short of BSODs or a black screen when attempting to load Windows. While we did find some hidden speed, we can say Crucial gave us all they had to offer in terms of reliability, without voiding their warranty.

Chad's Intel DDR5 Dual-Channel Test System Specifications

Intel Performance

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Looking at the Crucial Classic results in AIDA read performance, we get around 1500 MB/s more throughput with their latest submission, entering the chart at 97,332 MB/s. Crucial even manages to get hot on the heels of the Viper Venom, and with a small overclock, we got it over 100,000 MB/s, with a 2748 MB/s boost over XMP results.

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The write performance in AIDA 64 is decent as well. Starting off with 87,651 MB/s, the Pro OC is slugging it out with the Viper Venom and Viper Elite. With the overclock applied, the Pro OC was able to close the gap to the Elite ultra, and even while falling short, it does give us another 1063 MB/s for changing a single setting in the BIOS.

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Crucial also delivers impressive copy results. In the mix with Patriot options at 6400 MT/s, it's a good place to be, with an 89,582 MB/s performance. We were able to climb the chart a couple of places with the overclock, but the difference is less than 500 MB/s.

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Looking at 89.7 ns, the latency result seems high, but it is not once placed in the chart. Again, deadlocked between Patriot options, Crucial has stepped up from the Classics performance. At 6600 MT/s, we got down to 88.3 ns, which is impressive given only a 200 MT/s difference.

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Basic number crunching is something RAM should just do. Using Super Pi to do this a bunch of times, we see the Pro OC gets hammered and lands near the bottom of the chart. Sadly, applying the overclock was no help, as we ended up losing time using that option.

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If you are looking for efficiency over a multitude of tests, the Pro OC holds its own just behind some Patriot examples. The overclock may be good for other tests, but for efficiency tuning, you are better off with the way Crucial presents them.

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The time it takes to compress nearly 8GB of data with 7-Zip has us raising an eyebrow. With other metrics being hit-or-miss, there is no faster DDR5 set at 6400 MT/s than the Crucial Pro OC for this task. Overclocking shows no real gains, but we are no less impressed with how well our Pro OC performed here.

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At this point, both brows are raised as Crucial again delivers a best-in-class performance, transcoding faster than the other submissions. We picked on earlier Crucial samples for the lackluster performance in these areas, and they made appropriate changes to fix it.

Final Thoughts

On the one hand, we have some of the greatest-looking RAM to leave Crucial since selling the Ballistix name. The light gray-on-white is a slick play for added style, but opting for higher-contrast paint for the names and diamond-cut exposed aluminum for the Crucial name on the side ticks all the boxes. Even in the black version, they keep the high contrast to black with white accents; it gets the same diamond-cut treatment, only the color is matte black against shiny black for the zebra stripes. It could be tiger stripes, too, but you get the feel for what Crucial is offering aesthetically, and we applaud them for upping their game in this regard.

As much as we tout Patriot as the class leader in most instances, the battle between them and Crucial in the 6400 MT/s class went blow for blow as they swapped positions on the charts. In our minds, if you can keep up with what Patriot puts out, you are on the right page for selling RAM to the masses. While AIDA results were good, compression and transcoding results were surprising and impressive. We never expected the Micron ICs to overcome that performance gap, but Crucial found it in the lower-latency option they now offer.

We then stare into the other hand and ponder things like... Crucial is officially out of the consumer market. Crucial will honor the warranty, but for how long? Once the stock runs out, then what? Even though performance is much better than their JEDEC and Crucial Pro submissions, the timing is wrong. On top of that, we look at the price, and why are the white kits so expensive? If Crucial is selling on their page, Amazon, and Newegg, why do the prices vary so much? While a strong solution for 9 out of 10 gamers looking for a 32GB RAM kit, there are too many variables for us to stand behind Crucial and help customers understand what they are doing.

Having to shell out over $400 for the white Crucial DDR5 Pro OC Memory that we showed is a tough pill to swallow. While Crucial gives Patriot a solid competitor in the charts, Patriot solutions are typically more affordable. When you get into Corsair pricing, you have lost the budget market and ventured into the higher end, and the Pro OC doesn't deliver in that respect. While there was a little room to overclock, it also makes us lean towards Patriot. If, like us, you want the last hurrah of what Crucial decided to put on the market, grab a kit. If you are on a budget and don't mind black, grab a kit; they are solid, but know that when they give up the ghost, you may have no recourse. For most buyers, we would consider these kits, but you will likely spend your money elsewhere when all factors are taken into account.