Mushkin Ridgeback DDR4 Memory Review

Final Thoughts

Price

The Mushkin Blackline Ridgeback DDR4 2400MHz 16GB dual channel memory kit is currently available from Newegg.com for $84.99 including free shipping. This provides a wonderful price to performance ratio and should please the average consumer looking for a balanced kit. On the other hand, competition is fierce in this sector, and the G.Skill Ripjaws V DDR4 3000MHz 16GB costs an extra $5 and features a higher stock frequency,  15-16-16-35 timings and black PCB. As a result, Mushkin faces a difficult task to persuade users to purchase their products instead of the competition. This is especially the case throughout Europe, where the memory isn’t in stock from any online store.     

Overview

Muskin’s FrostByte heatsink isn’t the most spectacular design I’ve encountered but its understated styling really looks fantastic and becomes more appealing over time. More specifically, the angled heat spreaders, vivid black finish and silver accents combine to create a premium finish. This is surprising considering the memory’s target audience and low price point. Even Mushkin’s branding has been implemented in a non-obnoxious way which adds to the product’s visual appeal. The Blackline Ridgeback range would really benefit from using a black PCB on every model. The green tone doesn’t contrast well, and I cannot understand why black themed DIMMs come in this colour. Perhaps, it’s down to Mushkin’s production where they could only use high-quality ICs with a green PCB.

The memory’s 2400MHz stock frequency and 15-15-15-35 timings are capable of producing some superb results and consistently traded blows with the Crucial Ballistix Sport LT kit. This is especially the case in memory latency which remained quite low. While we tend to focus on high-frequency quad channel kits, it’s important to see the memory bandwidth of budget friendly dual channel alternatives. The only fair comparison to make is with the Crucial Ballistix Sport LT given the identical frequency and dual channel setup. The results speak for themselves, and I was thoroughly impressed with the memory’s overall performance.

On another note, it was remarkably easy to overclock the memory while maintaining maximum stability with tight timings. As previously mentioned, I did attempt to loosen the timings and find the absolute bleeding edge of performance. However, altering the timings had zero effect, and I reached the memory’s full potential using stock values. Although, a small voltage change was required. Even though the Blackline Ridgeback fell 14MHz behind its nearest competitor, it didn’t really have a substantial effect in performance. Additionally, the overclock is still a great boost and showcases the memory’s overclocking abilities. One area the memory did really well in is overclocked 3DMark performance. This resulted in the best Physics score we seen thus far and outshone many higher priced options. Although, it’s unclear what percentage of this derives from memory performance or driver enhancements from NVIDIA. Whatever the case, the overclocked numbers are very good and surpassed my predictions.

Pros

• Attractive heat spreader design
• Excellent stock results
• Good overclocking headroom
• Hand tested
• Lifetime warranty
• Low voltage
• Overclock stable with default tight timings
• Superb value

Cons

• Green PCB
• Only available in the US at the time of writing

“The Mushkin Blackline Ridgeback DDR4 2400MHz 16GB memory kit offers exceptional stability, impressive stock results and good overclocking headroom. Additionally, its neutral colour scheme makes it the perfect choice for a wide range of PC builds. While the green PCB looks fairly outdated, this isn’t enough to detract from a very solid, and reliable package.”

Mushkin Blackline Ridgeback DDR4 2400MHz 16GB (2x8GB) Dual Channel Memory Kit Review

Thank you Mushkin for providing us with this sample.