Conclusion

Overall I must say the Crucial Ballistix PC2-5300 DDR2 memory worked exactly as the manufacturer states. While the memory timings leave a bit to be desired in comparison to standard DDR, this is a new standard and as we raise the memory speeds, the speed gains offset the lax timings. I am actually quite pleased that memory is readily available, and speed ramps seem to be on time for DDR2 to this point. I would attribute this entirely to the push for DDR2 coming from Intel as opposed to AMD.

While I am a huge AMD supporter, it is often quite frustrating to ride the bleeding edge with products they offer, only to suffer from short supply of components specific to their platforms. Intel is the 800lb gorilla in the market and when they say jump, manufacturers invariably shout: "how high"! Then again, this argument could be challenged by the apparent shortage of high end PCI-Express video cards, but that's another topic all together.

So at the end of the day, one should ask the question: Is this Crucial Ballistix PC2-5300 DDR2 worth our hard earned money? Well yes and no! I would have to say, if you currently own a platform that is meeting your demands and can keep up with your workload (read intense gaming and/or encoding), then I would have to say stay put and save your money for awhile. However, if you are considering an upgrade with Intel as your choice of CPU, and you want to make the jump to PCI Express and DDR2; then I can very much recommend these modules. They are a bit pricey, but when isn't new technology expensive? Running at truly impressive speeds the memory delivers excellent performance and wetting our appetite for what DDR2 will bring forth in the future.

I would like to than Sam Harmer at Crucial Public Relation for allowing us to review these memory modules.



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