Performance: 36/38 out of 40
Let us be perfectly clear. We are not saying these are the most powerful, fastest… “bestest” DDR5 kits going. Instead what we are saying is that their performance by 32GB dual rank DDR5 standards is as about as good as you can reliably expect to get from both AMD and Intel’s Integrated Memory Controller(s). In time this will change, but right now both kits are right up there. Not at the tippy top of the mountain, as there are more expensive kits that can get tighter timings, but close enough that few will want to seek out “40 out 40” kits.
Of course, there is a wee bit of variation between the DDR5-6000 and DDR5-6400 kit in this regards and thus the two slightly different scores of 36 and 38 out of 40. Of the two kits the Crucial Pro DDR5-6400 OC Edition can be reliably trusted to wring out darn near every last ounce of (frequency) performance of said IMC regardless if it is part of an AMD Ryzen 9000 or Intel Core Ultra 200-series CPU. The same is almost true for the Crucial Pro DDR5-6000 OC Edition… but only almost. Thus the requirement of giving two scores. Not one.
Ease of Use:20 out of 20
Crucial has really gone above and beyond on the ease of use front with the new additions to their DDR5 Pro series. They are programmed not only with both AMD EXPO and Intel XMP timings but also pretty much the de-facto standard for 2x32GB kits: DDR5-5600. Then as icing on the cake they also include even slower frequencies so as to all but guarantee that your new system will POST first time. Every time. Just the way any product with the “Professional” moniker should. Mix in excellent compatibility with oversized CPU cooling solutions with excellent color options and we sincerely doubt many, if any, buyers will complain about these kits being ‘finicky’ or ‘difficult to work with’. Instead these two big boi kits of RAM can both easily be classified as easy, no drama kits of RAM. Color us impressed.
Build Quality & Warranty: 20 out of 20
As befitting of their Professional moniker both the Crucial Pro DDR5-6000 OC Edition and Crucial Pro DDR5-6400 kits are built to an extremely high standard. One that will not only last through multiple system upgrades but also look like they are worthy of being carried over from one system build to the next… to the next… to the next. Which is good as they both come with a lifetime warranty. A warranty backstopped by a company known for both their customer service and the likelihood of them sticking around for… well… as long as RAM is being made. So yes. Both are worthy of a perfect 20 out of 20 score and we doubt many will disagree.
Value: 18/20 out of 20
Value is a rather nebulous term at the best of times and here we have two excellent kits of RAM with rather reasonable (for their class) asking price. However, with that said the overall value of the Crucial Pro DDR5-6000 OC Edition is only excellent for AMD rigs, and deserves to be docked 2 points for Intel builds. Conversely, the Crucial Pro DDR5-6400 OC Edition is darn near perfect for a wide range of Intel builds… but is arguably overkill for AMD builds. As such the overall value is highly dependent on the specific build you are thinking about. Since we are conservative by nature… we are going to tally at the lower of the two possible scores for both kits.
Final Score:
Crucial Pro DDR5-6000 OC Edition 94%
Crucial Pro DDR5-6400 OC Edition 96%
With their combination of excellent aesthetics, incredible ease of use, and rather reasonable asking prices we are highly impressed with these new, and worthy, additions to Crucial’s PRO line-up. Put simply Crucial has finally provided both enthusiasts and professionals excellent DDR5 high capacity, high performance options that will neither break a budget nor compromise a builds overall aesthetics. As such the most difficult task one will have is deciding which option is more optimal for a given build. Just the way it should be for self-proclaimed pro grade kits.
