Confused about which RAM to choose

hexagonsun · 2 Jan 2011 at 12:41

I am thinking of choosing this motherboard:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-248-GI

It says it supports these types of memory:

Memory: 4x DDR3 DIMM 2200 / 1333 / 1066 / 800 MHz (Max. 16GB) / Dual Channel / Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)

In the DDR3 Dual-Channel - PC3-14400+ category on this site the choices are:

1866/2000/2250/2400 MHz

In the DDR3 Dual-Channel - PC3-12800 category they are all 1600MHz, and in the DDR3 Dual-Channel - PC3-10666 category they are all 1333MHz.

Now am I right in thinking I can only buy the 1333MHz RAM, or can I buy 2250 or 2400 MHz RAM and it will just run at 2200MHz? If I buy 1866 or 2000MHz RAM will it just run at 1333MHz anyway?

stulid · 2 Jan 2011 at 12:56

This - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-203-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

Ignore the 1866/2000 ratings, a i5 memory speed is 1333mhz standard, all the values above this are overclocked settings which you would have to manually input in the motherboards bios.

The corsair linked above is 1600mhz so will work at the standard 1333mhz out of the box but will allow some good overclocking upto 1600mhz if desired.

Cookeh · 2 Jan 2011 at 13:01

stulid said:
This - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-203-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

Ignore the 1866/2000 ratings, a i5 memory speed is 1333mhz standard, all the values above this are overclocked settings which you would have to manually input in the motherboards bios.

The corsair linked above is 1600mhz so will work at the standard 1333mhz out of the box but will allow some good overclocking upto 1600mhz if desired.

+1

RJC · 2 Jan 2011 at 13:08

The memory linked by Stulid will be spot on.

hexagonsun · 2 Jan 2011 at 13:10

Ok thanks, so there's no point in me getting anything higher speed than 1600MHz? If I bought two sets of those I could have 8GB RAM for (Currently) £86, or would it be better to buy this pair, as I assume they will be matched:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-290-CS

I was originally looking at this RAM:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-292-CS

But is there any point in me getting that?

RJC · 2 Jan 2011 at 13:14

The ram would be a matched pair, In my opinion there is little point going above 1600 MHz, I would doubt you notice any performance difference.

stulid · 2 Jan 2011 at 13:14

The price for that 8Gb is very good, and will still keep two slots free.

If this pc is for gaming there is no need for more than 4GB, if your doing video editing etc then 8GB will be beneficial.

Apart from fancy heatsinks and a higher maximum speed rating I cant see the point in that vengence stuff, even the memory timings are no different(C9 vs C9)

hexagonsun · 2 Jan 2011 at 13:31

Cool, thanks for the help.