By: Aaron Lai
May 10, 2024
As you may remember from the last set of memory I reviewed, the Lexar THOR OC DDR5-6000 2x16GB, I discussed a conversation I overheard with a belligerent father and son at the Hockey Hall of Fame. They were boasting about Ilya Sorokin, who is the starting goaltender for the New York Islanders. Prior to that moment, I had neither been a fan nor a rival of the team, especially given their location out east. However, after the interaction, I paid more attention to the Islanders. Whenever I watched them play, I could not help but feel a slight sense of satisfaction in seeing them lose. While I cannot deny the New York Islanders went further than the Calgary Flames in the playoffs, I was also happy to see them lose in five games in the first round while Ilya Sorokin was relegated to backup duties. Some may call me petty, but every fan base could benefit from a dose of humility from time to time, particularly when their arrogance clouds their judgement. On a different note, Crucial appears to be taking a different approach with their latest line of DDR5 memory, which they have dubbed the "Pro Overclocking" series. Previously, we have seen their unmarked and unassuming memory such as the nondescript CT2K16G56C46U5 DDR5-5600 2x16GB, and more recently their Pro DDR5-5600 2x16GB. This begs the question: What does this added name of "Overclocking" mean to the end user? Does is imply further capabilities of overclocking, or has Crucial already pushed this kit to the limits? Will we see a memory kit needing a humility check, or is this the start of something exceptional? Let us read on to find out!
Today's review unit of the Crucial Pro Overclocking DDR5-6000 2x16GB kit arrived from Brownsville, Texas. Once again, the shipper is labeled as Micron Consumer Products Group, although Micron's website does not indicate any offices in this area. Instead, this is from Avant Technology, a partner of Micron serving as a supplier. This package was delivered via FedEx Express service and arrived in excellent condition to our location here in Calgary, Alberta.
The retail packaging of the Crucial Pro Overclocking DDR5-6000 2x16GB kit is primarily gray and accented with black and purple elements. Crucial's logo is prominently displayed at the top of the packaging. On the right side, you can see a "Pro Series" branding, accompanied by a large "DDR5" label running down the left side. The "Overclocking" designation makes an appearance underneath. Some specifications are provided on the right, including the fact this is a 2x16GB kit operating at 6000MT/s. Further specifications show this kit works with Intel 12th to 14th generation and AMD Ryzen 7000 series CPUs. Additionally, we can see badges for Intel XMP 3.0 and AMD EXPO compatibility. Finally, lifetime warranty is included, which is standard for RAM. On the backside, we have more specifications and features in other languages.
Before we continue, I have grabbed the specifications from the manufacturer's website for your perusal:
General tech specs
DIMM type: Unbuffered
Technology: DDR5
Density: 32GB Kit (2x16GB)
Module quantity: 2
Voltage: 1.35V/(5V ext)
Module type: UDIMM
Die Density: 16Gb
Default and performance recovery profiles
Default(JEDEC): 5600MT/s 46-45-45
XMP 3.0 Profile 1: 6000MT/s 36-38-38-80
XMP 3.0 Profile 2: 5600MT/s 36-38-38-80
EXPO Profile 1: 6000MT/s 36-38-38-80
EXPO Profile 2: 5600MT/s 36-38-38-80
Warranty & returns
Warranty: Limited Lifetime
Our ASUS ProArt Z690-Creator WiFi motherboard used for testing had no issues detecting and working with the Crucial Pro Overclocking DDR5-6000 right out of the box using the latest BIOS revision. Above, we have a screenshot of the memory tab in CPU-Z with the SPD timings table. This reads standard JEDEC specifications programmed into the memory as well as XMP data for running the memory at various speeds. This kit of Crucial Pro Overclocking DDR5-6000 2x16GB retails for as low as $93 at press time.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look, Test System
3. Benchmark: AIDA64 CPU
4. Benchmark: AIDA64 FPU
5. Benchmark: AIDA64 Memory
6. Benchmark: PCMark 10
7. Benchmark: 3DMark
8. Benchmark: PassMark PerformanceTest 10
9. Benchmark: SuperPI 1M, Cinebench 2024
10. Overclocking and Conclusion
