Page 2 - A Closer Look, Test System
The Crucial Pro Overclocking DDR5-6000 maintains a low-profile appearance, but its heatspreader appears to be buffed up compared to the previous Crucial Pro memory I covered last year. The metal heatspreaders add some height to the modules. With tapered sides and a styled top edge, the aluminum feels a bit more refined look, accented by variations in thickness. This creates a visual illusion that the memory bulges out slightly, although this just highlights the differences in where the heatspreader covers the components and where it meets the sides. One metal plate has the Crucial by Micron branding, while the other side has "Crucial DDR5 Pro" printed on it.
Upon closer inspection, despite its appearances, the metal heatsink remains relatively thin. It still functions effectively as a heat conductor. This contributes to the overall height of each module, measuring 35mm, which is approximately 4mm taller than modules without a heatspreader. Nowadays, only OEM-grade memory seems to lack a heatspreader altogether. While the additional aluminum on the sides may or may not directly impact performance, heatspreaders serve a function of dissipating heat, with the added bonus of enhancing the memory's aesthetic appeal.
The Crucial Pro Overclocking DDR5-6000 modules are symmetrical in design with two aluminum sides attached to a plastic middle bracket. However, the plates are not physically locked with each other or onto the plastic bracket. Instead, they remain connected with adhesive. On one side of the module, there is a specifications sticker. It shows the model number, voltage, and some certification labels. This set of memory was assembled in Mexico.
The two aluminum sides are held together with strips of thermal conductive adhesive over the chips. This adhesion force between the heatspreaders and memory ICs is quite strong, but with some heat, one side can be pried open. It is unlikely you will ever need to remove the heatspreaders unless you are working within very low clearances in your build. In these situations, you should be aware if your aftermarket cooler does indeed interfere with the memory modules. Underneath on the black PCB itself, there is a power management integrated circuit, or PMIC, positioned in the middle of the module. A thermal pad resides over the PMIC area, so there is contact with the heatsink to aid in dissipating heat.
With a closer look at the surface components, two primary areas stand out. The first region is where the PMIC and related components are located. There is an SPD HUB labeled STA5307011. Next, we have the PMIC, although we could not identify this component. According to external sources, this is supposed to be a Richtek PMIC. The second region is the row of eight memory chips. Each of these are Micron-manufactured chips bearing a "D8GCD" FBGA inscription. Unfortunately, using Micron's part look up, I was not able to find the rest of the specifications. However, it is known these are 2GB chips for a total of 16GB on each DIMM. As mentioned on the previous page, the RAM modules operate at DDR5-6000 with 36-38-38-80 latencies. They operate at a DDR5 voltage of 1.35V, which aligns with the recommended safe voltage limit defined by both Intel and AMD.
Our test configuration is as follows:
CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K
CPU Cooling: be quiet! Dark Rock Elite
Motherboard: ASUS ProArt Z690-Creator WiFi
Graphics: EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING
Chassis: Thermaltake Core P3 TG Pro Snow
Storage: XPG Atom 30 1TB
Power: FSP Hydro PTM Pro 1200W
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
Compared Hardware:
- Crucial Pro Overclocking DDR5-6000 2x16GB @ DDR5-6000 36-38-38-80
- Crucial CT2K16G48C40U5 DDR5-4800 2x16GB @ DDR5-4800 40-39-39-77
- Crucial CT2K16G52C42U5 DDR5-5200 2x16GB @ DDR5-5200 42-42-42-84
- Crucial CT2K16G56C46U5 DDR5-5600 2x16GB @ DDR5-5600 46-45-45-90
- Crucial Pro DDR5-5600 2x16GB @ DDR5-5600 46-45-45-90
- Kingston FURY Beast DDR5-5200 2x16GB @ DDR5-5200 40-40-40-80
- Kingston FURY Renegade RGB DDR5-6000 2x16GB @ DDR5-6000 32-38-38-80
- Lexar ARES RGB DDR5-6000 2x16GB @ DDR5-6000 34-38-38-76
- Lexar THOR OC DDR5-6000 2x16GB @ DDR5-6000 32-38-38-96
- Patriot Viper Venom RGB DDR5-6200 2x16GB @ DDR5-6200 40-40-40-76
- XPG Lancer RGB DDR5-6000 2x16GB @ DDR5-6000 40-40-40-76
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
