A Closer Look At The Ballistix Elite 32GB Kit
The Ballistix Elite DDR4 modules are, as all enthusiast memory should be, fairly low profile. From the tips of the contacts to the height of the heatspreader measures just 40mm, exactly. There’s a large Ballistix log on one side and the crucial (no pun intended) model number, speed, and timings listed on a sticker on the opposite side.
As previously stated, there’s no LED lighting on these modules, and frankly, we’re fine with this. In exchange, we get thick metal heatsinks that actually appear to be capable of diffusing heat. There are gaps in the heatsink, right above the memory chips, presumably to allow a bit of airflow to this portion of the DRAM.
The Crucial Ballistix Elite DRAM modules have memory ICs populating just a single side of the PCB. In total, there are eight ICs per module. The IC side of the modules uses thermal tape to secure the sides of the heatsink in place, and it’s a fairly strong adhesive, which made it a little tricky to peel the heatsinks apart after we removed the two screws securing the top rail in place.
@Andrew Leibman
You went through the hassle of removing the heatsinks and still failed to identify the ICs on this kit as Samsung B-die?
“We may not quite be there yet, but at least non B-die memory, such as this kit from Micron…”
We’re still not there yet. Only the brand new Hynix CJR are capable of high clock speeds, but at the expense of tight timings. Also Samsung’s 8GBit C-die can be overclocked to fairly high speeds, but those are exclusively found on Samsung OEM sticks.
Use Thaiphoon Burner next time. It will tell you explicitly what type of ICs are used on the sticks.
Micron (Crucial) using Samsung ICs is hilarious. Also, more sticks with that awful PCB layout??