Crucial DDR5 desktop memory has hit its second generation, coming in 5,200MHz and 5,600MHz frequencies, up to 32GB per DIMM, and is compatible with both Intel XMP and AMD EXPO. Read on for our tests and comparisons to other brands.
Crucial DDR5 desktop memory has hit its second generation, coming in 5,200MHz and 5,600MHz frequencies, up to 32GB per DIMM, and is compatible with both Intel XMP and AMD EXPO. Read on for our tests and comparisons to other brands.
Crucial DDR5 Specifications
Crucial is one of Micron’s computer memory brands. Its Crucial DDR5-5200 and DDR5-5600 desktop memory is available in capacities of up to 32GB. The uniqueness of this DDR5 comes from Crucial making it compatible with Intel XMP and AMD EXPO, whereas most modules we’ve tested tend to support just Intel XMP. (AMD EXPO is a newcomer.)
The Crucial DDR5 memory has a modern blacked-out circuit board though it lacks integrated heat spreaders; most other enthusiast DDR5 kits have included them. Cooling shouldn’t be a problem with mild airflow over the DIMMs, so those who like to see the heat spreaders, want them mostly for looks.
The Crucial DDR5 desktop memory modules’ specifications are as follows:
| Speed | DDR5-5200 or DDR5-5600 |
| CAS Latency | 42 (DDR5-5200) or 46 (DDR5-5600) |
| Capacities | 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB per DIMM; DDR5-5600 additionally available in 24GB and 48GB per DIMM |
| Supported Technologies |
|
Crucial DDR5 Performance
We use our self-built StorageReview desktop to test DDR5 memory. It has the following specifications:
- Intel Core i9-12900K CPU
- Asus ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming WiFi motherboard
- Microsoft Windows 11
- Seagate FireCuda 530 2TB SSD
We are testing 32GB kits (2x 16GB) of 5,200MHz and 5,600MHz Crucial DDR5 kits for this review. The 32GB DDR5-5200 kit is $149 (Amazon) while the DDR5-5600 kit was actually cheaper at review time, at $141 (Amazon). The pricing is competitive with the Kingston Fury Beast kit we reviewed earlier.
We ran Crucial’s DDR5 in XMP II settings for all tests, running the DDR5-5200 kit at DDR5-4800 and DDR5-5200 and the DDR5-5600 kit at DDR5-5200 and DDR5-5600. This should provide a clear picture of performance differences between the different configurations. The timings are as follows. (Again, all are XMP II):
- DDR5-5200 at DDR5-4800: CL40-39-39-58
- DDR5-5200 at DDR5-5200: CL42-42-42-62
- DDR5-5600 at DDR5-5200: CL42-42-42-62
- DDR5-5600 at DDR5-5600: CL46-45-45-67
For performance comparison, we’re using 32GB kits (2x 16GB) of Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5-6000 and Kingston Fury Beast DDR5-5200. (Hit those links for the full reviews.) The performance numbers we’re including in this review use the following settings (XMP II):
- Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5-6000: CL36-36-36-65
- Kingston Fury Beast DDR5-5200: CL40-40-40-61
SiSoftware Sandra 2021
We start with the popular SiSoftware Sandra 2021 suite. Higher numbers are better in all subtests.
Of the tested memory, Crucial’s DDR5-5200 run at 4,800MHz shows the highest latency and lowest bandwidth, which is expected. Its DDR5-5200 and DDR5-5600 kits also show almost identical performance when both run at 5,200MHz, also in line with expectations. Notably, the Kingston DDR5-5200 seems to outperform Crucial’s DDR5-5200 at the same speeds, with lower latency and higher bandwidth. The DDR5-6000 Corsair kit naturally wins the performance tests.
| Crucial DDR5 | Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro | Kingston Fury Beast | ||||
| DDR5-5200 at 4800, XMP II | DDR5-5200 at 5200 XMP II | DDR5-5600 at 5200 XMP II | DDR5-5600 at 5600 XMP II | DDR5-6000 (XMP II) | DDR5-5200 (XMP II) | |
| Memory Bandwidth | 54.079GB/s | 57.213GB/s | 57.102GB/s | 60.556GB/s | 70.944GB/s | 62.945GB/s |
| Cache & Memory Latency | 35.0ns | 33.6ns | 33.5ns | 33.4ns | 29.7ns | 34.0ns |
| Cache & Memory Bandwidth | 485.508GB/s | 498.483GB/s | 494.945GB/s | 511.247GB/s | 528.175GB/s | 487.290GB/s |
| Overall Memory Score | 2.30kPT | 2.39kPT | 2.39kPT | 2.46kPT | 2.73kPT | 2.44kPT |
7-Zip Compression Benchmark
The excellent 7-Zip file archive tool has a handy built-in compression benchmark. We ran 10 passes using a 128MB dictionary size and all 24 CPU threads of our Core i9-12900K; higher numbers are better.
There are variations in the CPU usage numbers during compression between the Crucial and Corsair and Kingston kits that we can’t explain, but they didn’t seem to affect the compression resulting ratings. The Crucial kits at 5,200MHz continue to perform almost identically while the DDR5-5200 kit at 4,800MHz shows the lowest performance. The Kingston DDR5-5200 continues its strong performance, but it’s unsurprisingly outperformed by the Crucial kit at 5,600MHz. Corsair’s DDR5-6000 again takes top numbers overall.
| Crucial DDR5 | Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5-6000 | Kingston Fury Beast DDR5-5200 | ||||
| DDR5-5200 at 4800, XMP II | DDR5-5200 at 5200 XMP II | DDR5-5600 at 5200 XMP II | DDR5-5600 at 5600 XMP II | DDR5-5600 (XMP II) | DDR5-5200 (XMP II) | |
| Compressing | ||||||
| Current CPU Usage | 1213% | 1223% | 1237% | 1186% | 2127% | 2014% |
| Current Rating/Usage | 7.501 GIPS | 8.011 GIPS | 7.876 GIPS | 8.286 GIPS | 5.319 GIPS | 4.898 GIPS |
| Current Rating | 90.992 GIPS | 98.001 GIPS | 97.431 GIPS | 98.296 GIPS | 113.115 GIPS | 98.664 GIPS |
| Resulting CPU Usage | 1249% | 1255% | 1252% | 1197% | 2120% | 2017% |
| Resulting Rating/Usage | 7.343 GIPS | 7.705 GIPS | 7.736 GIPS | 8.180 GIPS | 5.349 GIPS | 4.855 GIPS |
| Resulting Rating | 91.620 GIPS | 96.650 GIPS | 96.832 GIPS | 97.850 GIPS | 113.415 GIPS | 97.934 GIPS |
| Decompressing | ||||||
| Current CPU Usage | 2320% | 2295% | 2288% | 2259% | 2298% | 2306% |
| Current Rating/Usage | 5.837 GIPS | 5.843 GIPS | 5.947 GIPS | 5.937 GIPS | 5.910 GIPS | 5.661 GIPS |
| Current Rating | 135.413 GIPS | 134.078 GIPS | 136.053 GIPS | 134.103 GIPS | 135.802 GIPS | 130.539 GIPS |
| Resulting CPU Usage | 2278% | 2282% | 2277% | 2289% | 2304% | 2298% |
| Resulting Rating/Usage | 5.869 GIPS | 5.890 GIPS | 5.908 GIPS | 5.829 GIPS | 5.912 GIPS | 5.737 GIPS |
| Resulting Rating | 133.692 GIPS | 134.426 GIPS | 134.556 GIPS | 133.410 GIPS | 136.216 GIPS | 131.818 GIPS |
| Total Ratings | ||||||
| Total CPU Usage | 1763% | 1769% | 1765% | 1743% | 2212% | 2157% |
| Total Rating/Usage | 6.606 GIPS | 6.797 GIPS | 6.822 GIPS | 7.004 GIPS | 5.630 GIPS | 5.296 GIPS |
| Total Rating | 112.656 GIPS | 115.538 GIPS | 115.694 GIPS | 115.630 GIPS | 124.816 GIPS | 114.876 GIPS |
Conclusion
Crucial’s DDR5-5200 and DDR5-5600 desktop memory kits showed reliable performance in our testing, with DDR5-5200 showing notable performance benefits over DDR5-4800 and likewise DDR5-5600 over DDR5-5200. The 5,600MHz kit was actually less expensive at review time, so we see no reason to buy the 5,200MHz kit unless the price goes up. Most users won’t notice a difference between 5,200MHz and 5,600MHz, so the 5,600MHz kit isn’t worth much extra.
We like that Crucial makes these kits compatible with both Intel XMP and AMD EXPO, which isn’t something most DDR5 kits can claim. That said, we’d like to see this kit with integrated heat spreaders like other enthusiast DDR5 kits, if only for the looks. Overall, Crucial’s DDR5 performs within expectations and gets our recommendation.
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