Best RAM Config for Skylake

_lecro_ · 16 Oct 2016 at 18:20

As per title , whats the best combination of Dimms for this board / cpu

4x4gb or 2x8gb ?

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Asus Maximus VIII Hero Alpha Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £249.95
1 x Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail= £338.99

Total: £599.44
(includes shipping: £10.50)

Englander91 · 16 Oct 2016 at 18:25

Socket 1151 uses dual channel RAM, so 2x8GB is your answer.

X99 boards run in quad channel, so for that you would want 4x4GB

abui1806 · 16 Oct 2016 at 18:54

2x8GB, also remember to pick something which runs around 3000Mhz-3600Mhz. Skylake likes memory speed.

_lecro_ · 16 Oct 2016 at 20:35

abui1806 said:
2x8GB, also remember to pick something which runs around 3000Mhz-3600Mhz. Skylake likes memory speed.

Is there a particular reason for that ?

I did hear talk of the memory controller struggling with OCs when all four slots are occupied !

abui1806 · 16 Oct 2016 at 21:15

_lecro_ said:
Is there a particular reason for that ?

I did hear talk of the memory controller struggling with OCs when all four slots are occupied !

The performance difference is quite considerable between 2133 vs 3000+.
http://www.techspot.com/article/1171-ddr4-4000-mhz-performance/page3.html

3000-3600Mhz seems to be the sweet spot since above this not all IMC/Motherboards in the market can handle.

abui1806 · 16 Oct 2016 at 21:16

yes you heard it right, when 4 sticks used, the IMC is stressed pretty hard to work at high speed.

RavenXXX2 · 18 Oct 2016 at 12:55

abui1806 said:
The performance difference is quite considerable between 2133 vs 3000+.
http://www.techspot.com/article/1171-ddr4-4000-mhz-performance/page3.html

3000-3600Mhz seems to be the sweet spot since above this not all IMC/Motherboards in the market can handle.

That's running sli, below is with a single 980ti. 2133 to 4000mhz there is little in it

http://www.techspot.com/article/1171-ddr4-4000-mhz-performance/page4.html

8 Pack · 18 Oct 2016 at 16:42

The best performance is 4 DIMMS as this board is based on T Topology and allows for Interleaving between the channels so improves bandwidth and performance accordingly.

abui1806 · 18 Oct 2016 at 22:25

8 Pack said:
The best performance is 4 DIMMS as this board is based on T Topology and allows for Interleaving between the channels so improves bandwidth and performance accordingly.

thanks for the info. Interested to see how much does this technology improve the performance.

Silent_Scone · 20 Oct 2016 at 15:56

abui1806 said:
thanks for the info. Interested to see how much does this technology improve the performance.

More so improves the ability to use higher density kits, as well as speeds. Conventional daisy chain layouts won't be as good with handling as many DIMM.