8GB for Sandybridge setup.

slipd · 17 May 2011 at 17:34

Hi guys,

As above I'm upgrading to Sandybridge at the end of the month and I'm looking for a decent bit of ram that will pair up nicely with my 2600k

Any recommendations; I was hoping to keep it around the £100 mark?

Cheers!

Ginger-Menace · 17 May 2011 at 17:35

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-290-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

also good if you have a big heatsink as it will fit under it

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-292-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1387

or this, faster but has the fins

Plec · 17 May 2011 at 17:45

XMS3 - great value and very slutty, so compatibility issues are not a problem plus these sets will usually run at the lower voltage settings (a bonus if you're going to clock).

slipd · 17 May 2011 at 20:14

Excellent! I've used Corsair a lot in the past (using them now actually?!) and I've never had a problem. Doesn't there ram come with a lifetime guarantee as well?

Of the 2 sets you've recommended, I'd be inclined to go with the cheaper set - simply because I'm on a bit of a budget and I'd be able to put the difference toward something else

Cheers!

Plec · 17 May 2011 at 20:38

Sound choice and, yes, Corsair comes with a limited lifetime warranty.

slipd · 1 Jun 2011 at 21:06

Right, it's time to buys guys: so what do I do? I see both options are on offer this week... Help!

Incidentally, I've already order my cpu cooler, I went for a h60 - also on offer this week

With the h60 there shouldn't be any fitting problems should there, even if I decide to go with the vengeance chips?

Greenja · 1 Jun 2011 at 21:21

Nope, you won't have any issues with the heatsink on the vengeance chips with the H60.

Personally i'd go for the XMS3 as theres very little differance between 1600mhz and 1866mhz RAM performance wise. There was a comparison done somewhere that showed identical framerates between the two in games, i forget where the article was though.

So you get the same performance, less cost, smaller incase you decide to change to a large aircooler for whatever reason in the future and it runs nicely at 1.5v like Sandybridge prefers.

The vengeance would work fine too though

slipd · 1 Jun 2011 at 21:27

Greenja said:
Nope, you won't have any issues with the heatsink on the vengeance chips with the H60.

Personally i'd go for the XMS3 as theres very little differance between 1600mhz and 1866mhz RAM performance wise. There was a comparison done somewhere that showed identical framerates between the two in games, i forget where the article was though.

So you get the same performance, less cost, smaller incase you decide to change to a large aircooler for whatever reason in the future and it runs nicely at 1.5v like Sandybridge prefers.

The vengeance would work fine too though

Thanks mate!

I've been trying to find a real-life comparison between the two chipsets, and haven't been able to

Atm, I think the difference is something like £15 between the 2 sets and seeing as though I won't be loosing much in the performance stakes, I may just go for the xms3's... unless anyone can convince me otherwise?

Both sets are incredibly cheap aren't they? In comparison to the other online retailers.

rgritchie · 1 Jun 2011 at 21:33

Been wondering about the XMS3 set myself. Not sure becasue of the 1.65v rating will they get to 1600Mhz at 1.5?

Plec · 1 Jun 2011 at 22:04

Plec said:
XMS3 - great value and very slutty, so compatibility issues are not a problem plus these sets will usually run at the lower voltage settings (a bonus if you're going to clock).

As already stated the XMS3 is great value (especially this week) and you wont notice any benefit in the extra 266 MHz that the Corsair Vengeance offers in everyday computing/games compared to that of the XMS3.

So i woud be inclined to save yourself £25.

Plec · 1 Jun 2011 at 22:06

rgritchie said:
Been wondering about the XMS3 set myself. Not sure becasue of the 1.65v rating will they get to 1600Mhz at 1.5?

Usually - i have the XMS3 2x2GB set and they will happily run just under 1.5V. Plus the fourm is littered with similar users who are using XMS3 at ~1.5V at full spec.

Obviously, this isn't a guarantee that you will get a set that will run at 1.5V but you would be buying memory with a proven track record and as such would be buying memory with a high probabilty of hitting the criteria you're after...

slipd · 1 Jun 2011 at 22:55

Hmm, there is always that possibility that you'll be the unlucky one?

@rgritchie - I wouldn't worry mate, if anyone's getting a dodgy set it'll most likely be me

In all seriousness though, what would be the knock on effect the ram not being able to make 1600mhz at 1.5v?

Plec · 1 Jun 2011 at 23:06

sam.wheale said:
In all seriousness though, what would be the knock on effect the ram not being able to make 1600mhz at 1.5v?

Quote from OcUK's guidlines:

Gibbo said:
Memory - Intel recommend 1.50v plus/minus 5% which means 1.60v is the ideal safe maximum, but we have found in our testing all 1.65v memory is fine. We have also found most new 1.65v like Corsair XMS3 will run at its rated timings with just 1.50-1.55v which is well within Intel specifications. So people upgrading to Sandybridge you can still use your old DDR3, but we do recommend you run it at 1.60v or less. We are shipping most of our bundles which feature Corsair XMS at 1.50v-1.55v at rated timings. We've also discussed with Asus and MSI regarding voltages for memory and they also confirm in their testing 1.65v caused no issues with reliability.

Not all CPU's are as fragile as others, we have experimented upto 1.50v Vcore and 1.70v memory and had zero issues with reliability, so it seems some of fine when pushing hard.

Basically, 1.6V is your safest maximum - but as stated by OcUK XMS3 will usually run at/under 1.55V.

Greenja · 1 Jun 2011 at 23:12

I just built a system for my friend with the MSI G45 motherboard using the XMS3 and it hit the rated timings at 1600mhz with 1.5v no problem.

Even if it didn't you would just up the voltage a bit and you'd be fine as stated in Plec's quote. Hell that even says Asus and MSI ran the RAM at 1.65v without any issues and i've seen a lot of people on this and other forums doing the same.

Basically what i'm trying to say is don't worry about not hitting the rated timings, even if you do get a "bad" set just up the voltage slightly and your good to go!

Kaeo · 2 Jun 2011 at 08:33

I have 3 sets of XMS3 - 2x 2x4gb@1600mhz, and 1x 2x2gb@1600mhz. All of them run sub 1.5v with no problems at all.

slipd · 2 Jun 2011 at 11:29

Thanks guys, ordered!

Still can't believe how cheap they are are? Nothing comes near for the price

Randall8686 · 2 Jun 2011 at 13:50

i got the Vengeance stuff and i with a watercooler u simply wont get any issues with the ram, I have the H50. How ever the heat spreaders are To be Frank Cr4p lol there made of really thin cheap material that wont have and cooling properties, I was really shocked when i took them out the pack as i had corsair 1066 dominator ram before in my old setup and the heat speaders where solid and felt quality these just feel very very Cheap but it works fine :-)

but does get quite warm