Model: Crucial 32GB DDR5-6000 Pro Overlclocking Desktop Memory
Manufacturer: Crucial
Provided By: Crucial
Crucial is a global brand of Micron Technology, Inc., one of the largest memory and flash storage manufacturers in the world. The company's product lineup includes award-winning solid state drives (SSDs) and computer memory upgrades (DRAM) for more than 50,000 systems. These products have been qualified and approved by major original equipment manufacturers and every single module has been rigorously tested at the component and module level. Each SSD also undergoes over a thousand hours of prerelease validation testing and hundreds of qualification tests to ensure optimal reliability and performance.
Earlier this year, Crucial launched its DDR5 Pro Overclocking memory. Compatible with Intel Core 12-14th Gen and AMD Ryzen 7000 series and higher desktop CPUs, this new memory is capable of speeds as high as 6,000 MT/s and offers 25% lower latency than Crucial's normal Pro series DRAM. Crucial's DDR5 Pro Overclocking memory is also equipped with a unique, origami-inspired aluminum heat spreader and features support for both Intel XMP 3.0 and AMD EXPO on the same module for maximum compatibility.
Crucial's DDR5-6000 Pro Overclocking memory is available as a single 16GB stick or as a 32GB kit (2x16GB). For this review, Crucial sent us the 32GB kit in white. The specs are below:
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Instead of a box or plastic clamshell, Crucial's DDR5-6000 Pro Overclocking memory kit comes packaged in a cardboard blister pack. The front of the packaging advertises many of its key features including the capacity, speed rating and lifetime warranty.
Physical Features:
Crucial's DDR5-6000 Pro Overclocking memory comes equipped with an aluminum heat spreader. Available in your choice of white or black, this heat spreader features a unique, origami-based design that is cool to the touch. There's also Crucial and DDR5 Pro logos on the front and the back as well as a sticker showing the model number, capacity, rated speed, voltage and timing.
I you were to remove the heat spreader, you'd find Micron's D8GCD memory chips. Using the part number (MT60B2G8RZ-60P:D), we can determine that they are 16Gb chips in a 2Gig x 8 configuration with a speed grade of 6000MT/s. These modules also use a Richtek PMIC (power management integrated circuit) to control the voltage of these memory chips.
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In addition to the default JEDEC settings, Crucial's DDR5-6000 memory offers a couple of XMP profiles for Intel processors as well as a couple of EXPO profiles for AMD processors. As you can see above, the XMP and EXPO profiles are fairly similar with only a few differences in frequency and voltage.
The test system used in this review is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 9 7900x CPU, Gigabyte B650E AORUS master motherboard, 32GB (16GB x 2) of Corsair Vengeance 5200MT/s DDR5 memory, Samsung 990 Pro 2TB SSD and a GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1060 WINDFORCE OC 6G graphics card. For the operating system, I used the latest version of Windows 11.
To test the performance of Crucial's DDR5-6000 Pro Overclocking memory, I ran a series of benchmarks using AIDA64 Extreme and PCMark 10. For comparison, I've also included test results from Crucial's DDR-5200 and 5600 desktop memory as well as Corsair's VENGEANCE 32GB DDR5-5200 C40 memory kit.
AIDA64 Extreme 6.85.6300:
First, I ran a few quick tests using AIDA64. Among other things, this benchmark measures the read, write and copy speeds of your system's memory as well as the latency.
Crucial's DDR5-6000 Pro Overclocking memory performed as expected here. With its 6000MT/s speed and low CAS latency, it had no problems taking the top spot in the read, write, copy and latency tests. Even at 5600MT/s, it was faster than Crucial's Pro and "classic" DDR5-5600 memory.
PCMark 10 Extended Benchmark:
The PCMark 10 Extended benchmark is a longer benchmark that covers a wider range of activities. It contains tests that cover the wide variety of work encountered in a modern office from everyday essentials and productivity applications to demanding work with digital media content. The benchmark also includes a gaming test that focuses on real-time graphics and physics.
Contrary to its name, Crucial's DDR5-6000 Pro Overclocking memory is not really intended to be overclocked. In fact, your warranty will be voided if you overclock it beyond its rated speeds, timings and voltage. Not one to be deterred by such things, I wanted to see how much performance I could gain without increasing the operating voltage (1.35V).
To begin, I first increased the data rate by 200 MT/s. The computer booted fine but when I went to run a benchmark with AIDA64, it would spontaneously reboot. The only way I was able to get the system stable was to increase the timings by a couple of clock cycles. As you can see, I was able to get the computer to run at 6400 MT/s without any problems. I also tried reducing the timings at the memory's stock speed but the computer failed to boot altogether.
While not a huge overclock by any means, I saw a 2-6% improvement in read and write speeds by simply increasing the data rate. Unfortunately, with the higher timings, latency also increased by as much as 5 nanoseconds.
Final Thoughts:
Crucial's DDR5 Pro Overclocking memory is a great choice for the gamer, DIYer or overclocker looking to take the performance of their multi-core Intel or AMD-based computer to the next level. Available in your choice of black or white, the memory features an aluminum heat spreader with a unique, origami-based design that looks great and remains cool to the touch, even after long gaming sessions. Like Crucial's other DDR5 memory, it also offers support for Intel XMP 3.0 and AMD EXPO which, in this case, allows users to hit 6000 MT/s speeds at low latencies without spending a lot of time tweaking settings in the BIOS.
The white version of Crucial's 32GB DDR5 Pro Overclocking memory kit is available now and can be purchased directly from Crucial.com or through retailers like Amazon for about $103.
