Every so often, SysOpt reviews a product that dominates the performance charts for a time, leaving no one immediately willing to take up the challenge. We thought that would be the case following our recent review of Corsair’s PC2-8500 dual-channel memory kit, but the folks at Crucial had other ideas…

Better known for reliability and good service than blistering, bleeding-edge performance, Crucial has for the past few years occasionally impressed us by applying those same principles to its high-performance Ballistix line, but we never really expected them to shoot for the top. Can they make it that far? And given the extreme cost typical of the highest-performance components, will they still meet SysOpt’s standards for value?

Two 1GB PC2-8000 modules arrived straight from Crucial’s factory-direct store in a brown cardboard box. Of course, direct sales allow Crucial to forgo any fancy packaging and pass the cost savings onto the customer in the form of reduced-rate shipping (free standard ground, $3 for three-day, etc).

Each module is individually packed in anti-static envelopes. Also included are an installation manual and a reduced-price voucher for Iolo Technologies' System Mechanic 6.