Much like all Ballistix RAM kits, the Ballistix Tactical DDR4-3000 16GB kit comes in a plastic clamshell type see-through shipping container. While certainly not the most durable or aesthetically pleasing this shipping container does have two things going for it. The first is you can easily see the RAM modules housed in side, so there will be zero surprises when you get home with your new purchase. The other is that even though it is lightweight it does securely hold the RAM in place. Any amount of force that can damage metal clad, RAM IC encrusted PCBs is certainly going to leave a mark on the plastic container – a mark that will easily be seen by all.
Right now Ballistix offers knowledgeable buyers three versions of their venerable Ballistix line. The ‘Elite’ which is meant for buyers who favor performance over price, the entry level ‘Sport’ meant to offer great value for those buyers who want good performance but are on a tight budget; and the Tactical series. The Ballistix Tactical delicately balances overclocking performance concerns with that of budget concerns. Basically, the Tactical is meant for people who have a need for speed but not necessarily a bank account large enough to remove price from any purchasing equation. Further making things touch more difficult for Ballistix’s design team is the Tactical line also has to be as user-friendly as possible. They can’t assume this large corner of the market will put up with prima-donna RAM and instead it must work the first time, every time.
That is indeed a tall order but to accomplish it all Ballistix has taken a rather interesting approach. In the case of the Ballistix Tactical DDR4-3000 4x4GB kit we are reviewing today they have opted for RAM ICs that are completely stable at 1.2volts at lower frequencies but are also rock solid at rather high frequencies… when 1.35v of power is applied. Basically, Ballistix bins all their RAM ICs that they have and the ones that not only pass all factory 1.2v tests but also pass factory overclocking tests are used for either Elite or Tactical models. The absolute cream of the crop goes to the more expensive Elite series while those that are still capable of such a wide range of scenarios become part of the less expensive Tactical series (depending on how the 1.35v testing goes the specific model will vary). The down side is that Tactical models usually do not have as much overclocking headroom… but do cost noticeably less. This way everyone wins. Those who want killer performance and maybe want to play around at overclocking to improve the performance don’t have to pay the ‘Elite’ price premiums that go along with flagship model’s ‘Elite’ status.
Now with that said this kit is actually bloody fast right out of the box and we doubt many will be disappointed with not being able to push things all the much further than DDR4-3000 speeds with rather tight timings of 15-16-16! Mix in the fact that for those who need even tighter timings but necessarily DDR4-3000 speeds can easily tighten things up by simply stepping down a notch to DDR4-28000. We will go over exactly how fast and how tight you can make this kit with very little effort later in the review… but for $175 knowledgeable buyers get one heck of a flexible kit that did impress us.
Further making this kit more user-friendly is that Ballistix has set multiple SPD timings that allow this kit to run at even DDR4-2133 speeds ‘out of the box’ at only 1.2 volts. What this means is even systems that are temperamental about RAM changes will POST with no user-intervention beyond sticking the kit in and pushing the on button. Of course to then get the full speed users will either have to enter the BIOS and manually enter the timings and speeds they are rated for (AMD users), or turn on XMP (Intel users). That is a lot less than what you will have to do with the usual ‘overclocking’ kit. Some bleeding edge DDR4-3000 kits literally require you to over-volt your existing set to 1.35v before installing the new set as otherwise they simply will not work.
As an added bonus, for those who are thinking about future proofing… but their existing motherboard doesn’t support high DDR4 frequencies this adaptability means consumers can buy this kit now and then upgrade their motherboard later. Needless to say this Tactical kit is just as user-friendly as the slower DDR4 kits we have looked at previously.
Also impressive is the overall look and feel of this kit. While the custom heatspreaders are not armor thick like the Elite series they do a couple things very well. Firstly, DDR4 RAM – even 1.35v factory overclocked RAM – does not produce much heat. Even during our overclocking sessions these heatsinks were more than up to the demands we placed on them. This difference really is noticeable when compared to the Sport line which simply has less metal to displace heat than the Tactical line.
Conversely, while they are slightly taller than the Ballistix Sport LT series we reviewed earlier they are not that much taller than stock DDR4 sticks. This means they are rather easy to work with. So much so that it will only be the downright oddball aftermarket CPU cooling solution that causes compatibility issues with this RAM. This is something that should always be taken into consideration as you can have the most awesome looking stick of RAM, but if they won’t play nice with your CPU cooler… they are just going to end up as decorations in your spare parts bin.
Lastly, this kit is not only flexible in the performance and user-friendly departments it is also rather flexible in what systems it will work with. Usually RAM comes in either a specific color that only works with a few other colors, or in ‘basic black’ that works well in a variety of custom build color schemes. This is not the typical RAM series, as by using a gunmetal gray the Ballistix Tactical series works in even more than basic black, as many motherboard’s DIMMS are gray in color. Even those that are not, gray is a very neutral color that can work more efficiently than black with lighter color schemes, and yet works better than white in darker color schemes. That gives custom builders a rather wide pallet to work with to say the least. Though to be honest this kit may work great with a bunch of motherboards but it does appear to be tailor-made for ASUS premium motherboards like the ASUS RoG STRIX… as it is darn near the exact same color as that motherboards heatsinks. Food for thought indeed to what the Tactical’s design team had in mind when designing this kit’s heatsink.
Overall their combination of performance specifications, with good looks and great user-friendly abilities make this a very nice kit to work with. So, let’s see exactly what you can do with them.
