Introduction

What more does an enthusiast desire when they already have the edge with speed & performance? One might add aesthetics to the table! Today we will be focusing on Crucial with their flashy line of 1600 MHz Triple Channel Ballistix Tracer’s for the X58 platform. We opted for the blue, but Crucial provide Red and Green alternatives’ to fit best with both Nvidia and ATI fanboys no doubt. The problem these days (and in the past) is that most products that boost top specs and look flashy, tend to be over-hyped, over-exaggerated pieces of junk that are not worth their weight in gold. They may look great, but can they meet the mark and more so with the promise of great performance?

About Crucial

Crucial is a key brand in the Lexar Media family of products. As the Memory Expertsâ„¢, they are the only DRAM supplier that’s part of a major memory manufacturer.

A wholly owned subsidiary of Micron Technology, Inc., Lexar Media, Inc. boasts one of the most comprehensive offerings of memory product lines in the industry. They deliver high-quality, award-winning products in every memory category: USB flash drives, all popular form factors of memory cards and card readers, DRAM computer memory for PCs and Mac systems, and solid state drives (SSD). They back there products with outstanding customer support and industry-leading warranties, and strive to expand their offerings to meet the ever-changing needs of the customers.

The Lexar brand has long been synonymous with reliable, high-performance products, which is reflected in the award-wining memory products and USB flash drives sold under the Lexar name.

The Crucial brand reflects their status as the only consumer memory upgrade supplier that’s part of a major DRAM manufacturer. They sell high-quality memory that has been qualified and approved by most major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The Crucial.com website features innovative online tools and an intuitive design that makes it easy to find compatible memory and recommended upgrades.

Manufacturer’s Specifications:

Module Size: 6GB kit (2GBx3)

• PC3-12800 / DDR3-1600 MHz
• 8-8-8-24
• 1.65V
• Unbuffered
• NON-ECC

Introduction

Having large amounts of memory installed in ones computer system is very beneficial in all daily tasks. Choosing the right memory though can prove tricky when trying to match the consumer’s needs. Speaking for the overclocking community, one must find memory that not only runs at high speeds with tight timings, but can also push beyond its stated specifications for finding that sweet spot. Overclocking your memory is rarely worth the effort and doesn’t really yield noticeable results in day to day tasks. However, not having the biggest budget to spend on memory can result is purchasing lower speed RAM and romping it up to speeds of a much more expensive product. Today this reviewer will be looking over at G.Skill’s corner with their Trident CL9 2000Mhz Triple Channel RAM for the X58 platform.

About G.Skill

G. SKILL has one of the widest breadths of products available in the memory industry and will continue to develop new storage products based on the cutting edge of technology. “G. SKILL”, established in 1989 by enthusiasts, is a leading memory module manufacturer based in Taipei, Taiwan. With traditional strengths, they have built an excellent reputation by meeting market demand and fostering business competitiveness both locally and internationally with their dedication to providing competitive prices, on-time delivery, assured quality, customer-oriented services and diversity of products.

Introduction

Its not often that we see any major changes in the computing industry regarding your computers memory. Every few years a new standard of memory appears that offers the next boost beyond that of the old. DDR3 is no different to this trend, offering greater speeds at voltages that are gradually getting lower.  Today sees the beginning of a new eara where one company has aimed to take this trend to a whole new level, that only a few months ago would have seemed an impossibility!

Company Background

Founded in 1989 by a select group of enthusiasts over in Taiwan; G.Skill was set from this day forth to develop and produce high quality memory for the desktop computer as we know it today. Only really hitting the mainstream as a reputable manufacturer of RAM in mid 2003; G.Skill set about developing high speed, high quality products for both the mainstream and enthusiast alike. The latest achievement has been that of the RipJaw range of high performance low voltage DDR3 designed with Intel’s i5/i7 in mind. With time comes the development and manufacture of newer and possibly greater products. Today faces no exception to this rule with the release of the ECO series of memory for the i5/i7 range of Intel CPUs. Rated to run at speeds of 1600mhz (pc12800) with latencies of 8-8-8-24 and a mind blowing low of 1.35v out of the box; the ECO series ram looks to set new standards in both the mainstream and enthusiast world. G.Skill produces some of the industry’s best memory modules however with competitive pricing towards the lower end of the pricing scale; G.Skill have products aimed at both the enthusiasts within the market and with these low prices across the board have also managed to keep the mainstream user in the loop too. To see if this new line of ultra low voltage memory can keep up with the already proven 1.65v range of already released memory we set this reviewer with the task of seeing exactly what the new G.Skill ECO is all about.