Crucial Pro

A single 16GB DDR5 stick running at 6000 MT/s with CL36 timings, landing in the 88th percentile for speed. It's a solid budget gaming option at 77.5 out of 100, but the 28.6 server score and 46th percentile capacity ranking mean it's strictly a desktop module. Shop carefully, prices swing from USD 230 to USD 346 depending on the vendor.

6000 MT/s is the sweet spot for DDR5 on most current platforms, and this Crucial stick hits it without breaking a sweat. At the 88th percentile for speed, it's faster than the vast majority of DDR5 modules in our database. The PC5-48000 rating means it's got real bandwidth headroom, and the 1.35V operating voltage is standard for this speed class. You're not pushing exotic voltages or dealing with stability headaches just to hit rated speeds.

Latency is where things get a bit more pedestrian. CL36 at 6000 MT/s works out to 12 nanoseconds of first-word latency, which lands at the 75th percentile. That's good, not great. The 36-38-38-80 sub-timings are typical for budget-oriented 6000 MT/s kits, and you won't see the snappier response of something like a CL28 or CL30 kit. For gaming and general use, the difference is measurable but not life-changing. The heat spreader is a nice touch for sustained loads, though this isn't a module that's going to generate serious heat at 1.35V.

Against the Kingston Fury Renegade KF564C32RWAK2-32, this Crucial stick gives up a lot. The Kingston kit runs CL32 at 6400 MT/s and comes as a 32GB pair, which is a meaningful step up in both speed and capacity. The G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB F5-7600J3646G16GX2-TZ5RK is in a completely different league at 7600 MT/s, though you'll pay for that privilege. The Corsair Vengeance RGB CMH32GX5M2B6000C28 matches the 6000 MT/s speed but with much tighter CL28 timings and double the capacity. Where this Crucial module makes sense is against the Team Group T-CREATE EXPERT and KLEVV CRAS V, both of which compete in the same budget 16GB space. The Crucial holds its own on speed but doesn't stand out on price or capacity.

Pricing on this module is all over the map depending on where you shop. In the US, you'll find it anywhere from USD 230 to USD 346, a USD 116 spread that's frankly ridiculous for a single 16GB stick. The lower end of that range is competitive for a 6000 MT/s module, but the higher end puts you dangerously close to 32GB kit territory. In Europe, the EUR 319 to EUR 405 range tells the same story, with a EUR 86 gap between the cheapest and most expensive listings. If you're buying this, shop around. The Best Buy listing at the lower end of the US range is the one to watch, especially with their price match guarantee. At the high end of these ranges, you're paying too much for what you get.

The Crucial Pro Overclocking CP16G60C36U5B is a single 16GB stick of DDR5 running at 6000 MT/s with CL36 timings. That speed lands in the 88th percentile of our database, which puts it ahead of most kits we've tested. The latency story is solid too, sitting at the 75th percentile, though the 36-38-38-80 timings aren't going to win any overclocking awards. It's a straightforward module with a heat spreader, EXPO and XMP 3.0 support, and no RGB nonsense to drive up the price.

The catch is capacity. A single 16GB stick puts you at the 46th percentile for capacity, which is about average for budget builds but limiting if you're planning to run memory-hungry workloads. Our scoring reflects that split personality: 77.5 for budget builds, 76.3 for gaming, but a total score of 70 that gets dragged down by a 28.6 server score. This is a desktop gaming and everyday use module, not something you'd spec for a workstation or server.

If you're building a server or any kind of memory-intensive workstation, look elsewhere. The 28.6 server score is one of the weakest in our database for this category, and a single 16GB stick won't cut it for virtualization, large datasets, or heavy multitasking. Content creators working with 4K video or complex 3D scenes should also pass, the 46th percentile capacity ranking means you'll run out of headroom fast. And if you're shopping in Europe where prices range from EUR 319 to EUR 405, you're paying a premium for a module that doesn't justify it. At those prices, a 32GB kit from Corsair or Kingston is the smarter buy.

The Crucial Pro Overclocking CP16G60C36U5B is a competent single-stick DDR5 module that hits the 6000 MT/s sweet spot with decent latency. The 88th percentile speed ranking is the headline here, and for a budget gaming build where you're starting with one stick and planning to add a second later, it's a reasonable choice. But the 44th percentile affordability ranking means you're not getting a screaming deal, and the single 16GB capacity limits your options. If you can find it at the low end of the USD 230 to USD 346 range, it's worth considering. At the high end, buy something else.