Crucial states that their Ballistix Sport LT series is “designed to provide mainstream users and general PC enthusiasts with a reliable no-hassle gaming experience”. In other words, this series is all about plug and play simplicity that prizes reliability above shear performance. In this regards the Crucial Ballistix Sport LT Red is a resounding success. Much like the Kingston HyperX Fury series which recently looked at these kit’s SPD has been programmed with their rated speed and not the typical 2133 that most kits still come with. This means that even if consumers never implement the XMP profile that they will get (basically) all the performance their RAM kit has to offer by simply installing them and turning the rig on. Better still is that they are 1.20volt kit so that there are no worries over finicky, POST failing issues that can crop up from time to time with more high voltage options.
These two features alone make the Crucial Ballistix Sport LT Red series an excellent choice for consumers who just want their rig to work and are not interested in chasing after modest speed improvements. However, the other half to the Crucial Ballistix Sport LT Red equation is the fact that they are rather good looking and are going to be perfect for custom builds where Red plays a critical role in the color scheme. While yes this kit’s heat spreader does not cover the tops of the RAM’s PCB they are still extremely attractive and will keep the RAM cool during extended usage. More importantly this attractiveness is more than skin deep as these RAM kits are also very overclocking friendly and offer rather impressive level of untapped potential to be found.
If all that was not enough, the fact that this 32 Gigabyte kit only costs $25 more than ‘extreme performance’ DDR4-3400 16GB kits really will seals the deal for many. When consumers go through the arithmetic (ease of use + ease of installation + custom good looks but not at custom prices) the end result is going to be rather tempting for a lot of consumers. The only major issue we have with this series is that it is a touch slow, and to push the performance up to and beyond 2600 – a level we find to be the first sweet spot for Z170 and X99 rigs – they will have to overclocked. This really is not all that big an issues as overclocking this kit safely is rather straightforward, but it does reduce the desirability of an otherwise highly desirable kit when compared to say the Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4-2666 32GB – kit which only costs $25 more than it does.
In the end the Crucial Ballistix Sport LT Red 32GB DDR4-2400 RAM kit may not be right for all systems and all custom builds, but much like the Crucial Elite series we previously reviewed this kit will quickly gain an enthusiastic customer base as those who like what it has to offer will like it a lot. As such if your needs and personal preferences align with the Crucial Ballistix Sport LT Red series then we would without reservation recommend them.
