DDR5 RAM has been on the market for over a half year now, but most brands still don’t have higher capacity memory kits in stores. After some quick online browsing, I could barely find any stores with actual available 64GB or higher capacity kits. However, having said that, one brand did come up quite often … and that’s Crucial, which is not only a respected brand but also one of the least expensive.
Crucial was so kind as to send us a 32GB x2 kit of the latest DDR5-4800 memory kit, so we can check how fast it is and if the dual-rank design makes a difference in the latest RAM generation.
Let’s look at the specifications and features, while later, we will focus on the test results.
Faster load times and file transfers
Crucial DDR5 Desktop Memory can empower your computer to transfer 50% more data than DDR4 at launch, resulting in faster load times, file transfers, downloads, refresh rates, and less lag time. Due to higher bus efficiency, DDR5 technology is not just faster than the previous generation, it’s better.
More responsive multitasking
Crucial DDR5 offers 50% faster speeds than DDR4 at launch, empowering users with extreme performance right out of the box. Even more impressive, Crucial DDR5 is optimized for enhanced performance and multitasking, not just during testing, but in real-world conditions. Opening more browser tabs and switching between apps now feels more responsive than ever.
Extreme innovation for stable performance
Crucial DDR5 takes an extreme step forward in engineering over the previous generation with two independent 32-bit channels per module for optimized performance. Designed with on-die ECC (ODECC) at the component level for long-term stability, Crucial DDR5 is engineered to maintain the same reliability as the previous generation, even with the rigorous demands of next-gen computing.
Optimized power efficiency
For improved efficiency and stability, Crucial DDR5 introduces on-module voltage regulation with a power management integrated circuit (PMIC), which was on the motherboard with older memory technologies. This results in improved signaling and cleaner power for the modules (DIMMs). Moreover, DDR5’s on-module operating voltage is only 1.1V compared to DDR4’s 1.2V.
Micron® quality – tested reliability you can trust
As the vertically integrated consumer brand of Micron, Crucial is trusted by millions for reliability, performance, and compatibility. Unlike module assemblers, our unique relationship with Micron involves a deeper level of engineering collaboration to squeeze every ounce of performance from our products without compromising reliability. With Micron’s 43+ years of manufacturing excellence and Crucial’s 25+ years of consumer product development, Crucial DDR5 is backed by our limited lifetime warranty and delivers the powerful performance you can trust. When it comes to memory, don’t settle for less.
SPECIFICATIONS
The tested Crucial memory kit uses dual-rank modules based on the Micron IC. It was expected as Crucial is Micron’s brand. Each module has a 32GB capacity and it seems to be the cheapest option if we really need a lot of RAM in our desktop PC. I assume that 32GB is more than enough for gaming but all those who have home labs, or graphics workstations may use 64GB or more.
Crucial as always delivers top-quality modules but at least these early Micron chips are not clocking high so we will find them mainly in memory kits up to DDR5-5200. In fact, all Micron-based memory kits tested in our redaction could run up to DDR5-5400. About the same results were on single and dual rank modules. Knowing Micron, we will see much improved IC in not far future. We have to remember it’s the first generation of DDR5 on the mass market, so manufacturers fight for stability and compatibility with available chipsets and don’t focus so much on the maximum frequency.
Our memory kit works great at the declared settings on ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI motherboards. Most tests were performed on ASUS Z690-I Gaming WiFi which is an ITX motherboard installed in a quite small case. Since Crucial DDR5-4800 memory runs at a standard 1.1V then it keeps low temperatures and we don’t have to worry about it’s stability.
The DDR5-4800 seems like a standard speed but a significant amount of dual-rank DDR5 memory kits start from DDR5-4000 or DDR5-4400. I mean brands like Corsair that appeared in stores some months ago. These memory kits are also using Micron IC but are somehow not as good as Crucial, considering that are rated at lower frequencies and overclock worse.
Before tests, let’s take a closer look at the package and its contents.
Package and its Contents
The Crucial 64GB DDR5-4800 memory kit arrived in retail packaging, which is a small, flat blister-type box. The package has only basic info about the contents, but I assume that all who buy this type of product know what to expect inside.
Right now the only compatible chipsets are Intel Z690 and B660 but soon it will change as in the upcoming months we will see a new AMD and Intel.
Inside the box, we will find two memory modules. The installation is straightforward, but we can always find support and manuals on the Crucial website.
The tested Crucial memory kit is let’s say standard looking. There are no heatsinks or RGB illumination. Modules still look good with black PCB. Most retail DDR5 memory kits have heatsinks but also most run at higher than standard voltages. Crucial decided to use standard 1.1V which keeps modules at low temperatures and is enough even for overclocking.
Since there are no heatsinks then we can easily check all the components on the PCB. Our memory kit uses Micron D8BNJ IC.
On the next page, I will tell you some more about the test platform, and of course, I will present our test results.
Performance
Our test platform contains an Intel i5-12600K processor, ASUS Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi motherboard, and EVGA RTX3060 XC 12GB graphics card. All tests were performed on Windows 11 Pro x64 with the latest updates.
Our comparison includes overclocking results and settings at which the Crucial 64GB DDR5-4800 memory kit was stable. The maximum stable frequency using the mentioned motherboard was DDR5-5400 CL38-40-40 1.2V. Results with MSI Z690 Unify-X and Aorus Z690 Master were about the same.
The tested memory kit is dual-rank, as I mentioned before. There was no point in adding results on single rank memory kits to the comparison as in our tests, they’re nearly the same. We could see differences in DDR4 or earlier generations but at least the current platform can’t utilize dual-rank RAM. It still gives us a higher capacity, so we can confirm that the performance on a dual-rank memory kit is not lower at the same frequency. This situation was happening on DDR4 as higher capacity RAM required more relaxed timings. I assume we will still see even higher capacity modules at 64GB or 128GB. Right now, the retail market doesn’t really need them, so also manufacturers are not focusing on higher capacities for home and office computers.
As usual, we will start with AIDA64 Cache and Memory benchmark, which is probably the best software for synthetic memory speed tests.
Memory bandwidth, as usual, scales well with memory frequency. We could pass 80GB/s in our tests and it can be higher if we work some more on sub-timings. Out of the box, modules can pass 70GB/s in memory read, write and copy bandwidth.
Even though latency isn’t any special, Crucial DDR5-4800 has about 5ns better results than regular DDR5-4800 modules or typical SPD JEDEC settings. After overclocking we could easily drop it next 7.5ns.
PCMark 10 is showing us high performance in mixed load tests. In this test, we can see that even not the highest frequency of our memory kit gives us high performance, not much worse than that of top DDR5 kits. Our overclocked results are nearly the same as the default profile of the Crucial memory.
It’s time for some 3D benchmarks from UL.
Depending on the whole PC specification, we can often see more significant differences between RAM settings. In this case, results are nearly the same in all settings.
The same we can observe in all UL benchmarks from 3DMark and VRMark series. Overclocking gave us a 1FPS gain which is more of an error margin than the real difference.
In the Final Fantasy XV and Superposition benchmarks at high display resolutions, we can see that all results are very close to each other. However, the final scores are nearly the same at the default profile and overclocked settings.
Benchmarks based on popular games are usually showing us higher differences in scores. This time, even games are showing nearly the same performance at XMP and overclocked settings.
Regardless of how we see DDR5, the new memory series is fast even at standard settings. Crucial improved the performance and at given high capacity, we should be satisfied with results. A quick conclusion is that no matter how we set current higher capacity modules, the overall performance will be nearly the same, so it’s not worth spending time on overclocking. There will be always users who want something more, so let’s move to the next page where I tell you some more about overclocking of the Crucial DDR5.
Overclocking
Disclaimer: Overclocking is never guaranteed, so the results may vary depending on certain conditions and various hardware configurations. I am not recommending overclocking if you do not know what you are doing. High voltages may damage hardware, and the warranty will not cover it.
The first generation of Micron DDR5 isn’t really spectacular if we talk about overclocking. It still can reach the DDR5-5400 mark which is not a bad result considering low voltages and the fact it’s rated at DDR5-4800.
PMIC isn’t the problem with overclocking as Micron IC doesn’t like high voltages and is not scaling much higher than 1.25V. We can set a higher voltage, but it won’t help at all. About the same experience, we had with single-rank memory kits like Kingston Fury Beast reviewed some months ago. Also, that memory kit was using Micron IC, but single-rank. The Crucial memory kit is overclocking even a bit better as it’s easier to stabilize it at DDR5-5400 and CL38.
Our memory kit can also work at DDR5-5200 CL36 1.2V which is enough for most users but clearly loses to higher frequency memory kits. On the other hand, if we need a higher capacity RAM then we won’t have a big choice as there are barely any 32GB DDR5 memory modules at higher frequencies. Most brands don’t even have 64GB or higher capacity memory kits in stores and offer the popular 2x16GB series.
Crucial DDR5-4800 RAM is a good option for all those who are searching for higher capacity DDR5, but not so much for overclockers or computer enthusiasts searching for the top performance. The low price and some overclocking headroom are still quite convincing for many users as the RAM frequency doesn’t really change much on the current generation of chipsets.
Conclusion
Crucial one more time proved it offers high-quality RAM at a reasonable price. This is the main advantage of the tested 64GB DDR5-4800 memory kit. At the price of around $359, we can buy 64GB of fast RAM for the latest Intel platform (and soon also AMD). It is about as much or even less than the price of DDR4. What’s more, Crucial RAM is verified on pretty much every popular motherboard brand on the market, so we can be sure it will work.
We could ask for higher performance, but we have to remember that the competition doesn’t really have many faster options and it’s limited by available IC. The performance that we get is still high and should satisfy most, if not all, users. Especially professionals will be happy with high capacity, high performance, and fully stable work.