What RAM is best for my i7 2600K build?

schmutz06

schmutz06

schmutz06

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Video editing and extreme multi-tasking are top priorities for me, this being said I am having difficulty selecting the right RAM for my upgrade. I am getting 16GB but I do not know which of the following is the greater deal:

2X Kingston 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1333MHz HyperX Blu (X2 = 16GB) £125.98

2X G.Skill Ripjaws X-series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz = £172.98

I've done my research and many discussions imply there wouldn't be much difference between them in real world applications.

Yet I see the G.Skill Ripjaws X-series memory highly recommended for new builds all the time. I am looking for the best price/performance in the high-end range. If the extra performance warrants ++£52 I am happy to pay extra. Likewise, I do not wish to go with the 1333MHz memory only to find myself wanting to upgrade again in a few weeks because it is significantly slower than 1600MHz. I will definately make the most out of any extra speed because I usually work with many RAM intensive applications at the same time.

So, please discuss! Help me decide which DDR3 memory to invest in and feel free to suggest other kits I am not limited to the two I mentioned :hmm:

for reference I am upgrading from:
  • Q6600 @ 3.0Ghz*
  • 4GB DDR2 RAM @800mhz*
  • Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R*
  • Windows 7 64-bit OS
  • SATA drives x4 - 1TB,1TB,2TB,500GB
  • Coolermaster Silent pro Gold 1000W PSU
  • Asus Xonar DX soundcard
  • Dell U2711 + Samsung SyncMaster 245B
  • Gigabyte GTX 560ti
  • Keyboard/Mouse/Speakers/Hard drives
  • Coolermaster CM690 II Advanced Case
*replacing

To...

i7 2600K, Thermalright Silver Arrow cooler, 16GB RAM, Asrock Z68 EXTREME4, Crucial M4 128GB SSD
 
With regards to those tests 1600MHz appears to be the "sweet spot" for price/performance. Although, only by a fractional amount. Are there any cheaper 1600MHz kits worth considering that will perform up and around the same level as the G.Skill kit?

Thanks!
 
schmutz06 said:
With regards to those tests 1600MHz appears to be the "sweet spot" for price/performance. Although, only by a fractional amount. Are there any cheaper 1600MHz kits worth considering that will perform up and around the same level as the G.Skill kit?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

This is the cheapest at OcUK:

Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit

£69.98 for 8GB until Wednesday morning when the offers change.

Lots of people use XMS3 in Sandybridge builds.
 
oh good find I will consider that kit for a 1600MHz alternative.

Now, two G.Skill RipjawsX 8gb kits can be had for another £40. I've looked around extensively for the past week and this kit gets recommended every other build so it seems. Do you think I'd be throwing that £40 out the window if I went with the G.Skill RAM over the Corsair XMS3 kit?

Does anybody use the G.Skill RipJaws X-series RAM and recommend it over the XMS3 despite the extra £40 I'd pay for two kits?
 
schmutz06 said:
Now, two G.Skill RipjawsX 8gb kits can be had for another £40. I've looked around extensively for the past week and this kit gets recommended every other build so it seems. Do you think I'd be throwing that £40 out the window if I went with the G.Skill RAM over the Corsair XMS3 kit?
Click to expand...

Yes.

There's a G.Skill kit for £10 more with virtually identical timings to the XMS3.

There's a G.Skill kit for £20 more with slightly tighter timings than the XMS3.

Neither will make any noticeable performance difference.

I think quite often what gets recommended depends on what's on offer.

Some weeks XMS3 is cheaper, some weeks G.Skill might be cheaper.

The XMS3 also has better compatibility with large CPU coolers as it's low profile.
 
Surveyor said:
Yes.

There's a G.Skill kit for £10 more with virtually identical timings to the XMS3.

There's a G.Skill kit for £20 more with slightly tighter timings than the XMS3.

Neither will make any noticeable performance difference.

I think quite often what gets recommended depends on what's on offer.

Some weeks XMS3 is cheaper, some weeks G.Skill might be cheaper.

The XMS3 also has better compatibility with large CPU coolers as it's low profile.
Click to expand...

Thanks Surveyor the help has been insightful.

I never considered this, but is RAM speed and voltage related to CPU overclocking potential? I will be trying to achieve a healthy overclock on my 2600K, hopefully on par with the 2.4ghz-->3.0ghz overclock I use with my Q6600 (solid as a rock!) I don't wish to impair the stability of my new computer as I use it for important multimedia work so we are probably talking 4.0ghz-4.5ghz (or whatever a "stable" 2600K overclock would be)

With regards to this, are the ASROCK z68 Extreme 4 mobo and XMS3 RAM going to give me the same overclocking freedom as more expensive components would?
 
schmutz06 said:
Thanks Surveyor the help has been insightful.

I never considered this, but is RAM speed and voltage related to CPU overclocking potential? I will be trying to achieve a healthy overclock on my 2600K, hopefully on par with the 2.4ghz-->3.0ghz overclock I use with my Q6600 (solid as a rock!) I don't wish to impair the stability of my new computer as I use it for important multimedia work so we are probably talking 4.0ghz-4.5ghz (or whatever a "stable" 2600K overclock would be)

With regards to this, are the ASROCK z68 Extreme 4 mobo and XMS3 RAM going to give me the same overclocking freedom as more expensive components would?
Click to expand...

When filling all 4 memory slots there's always a chance that overclocking may be affected due to the extra load on the memory controller.

This would be the case whatever RAM and motherboard you had.

As you overclock Sandybridge by using the multiplier, not the base clock, this doesn't affect the RAM at all or vice versa.

Once you have the right settings for the RAM overclocking the CPU doesn't affect it, other than the filling all four slot potential issue.

As you leave the base clock alone the CPU and RAM speeds are effectively independent of each other.

Does that make sense?

Some experiences here:

High overclocks with 2600K & 16GB Ram?
 
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thanks very much! Yes, it makes good sense. I feel 16GB of RAM will mostly affect people wanting to achieve monster overclocks. As long as I aim for a moderate overclock it shouldn't be much of an object :)

Thankfully, I've managed to find the G.Skill ripjaws @ £130 for 16GB's now. Although tomorrow Overclockers is having a sale on Kingston HyperX 1333Mhz memory (16gb @ £95)

It's a considerable price difference, but I feel I will be getting the most out of the faster memory with regards to the multi-tasking/video editing I use my computer for...
 
schmutz06 said:
any thoughts? As it stands I'll be going with the RipJaws memory for peace of mind
Click to expand...

The only thing with the RipJaws is that they have taller heat spreaders which can get in the way of large CPU coolers.

You may need to be careful with the Silver Arrow:



The RipJaws are taller than the RAM in the picture.

I don't know how much wiggle room there is to raise the fan up a bit.

OcUK will have new offers from around 10.30-11am today (Wednesday).

Perhaps have a look at what's on offer before ordering.
 
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after more research this morning I decided to go with the Kingston 1333MHz memory and the Thermalright Silver Arrow. The performance gain didn't appear to warrant paying extra, even if I would get everything out of the extra speed. Fortunately for me the 560ti I have been looking out for was also on offer so I ordered one of them too.

I'm just down to the motherboard/processor/ssd now. The 2600K and Crucial M4 are my choice of processor/ssd.

Motherboard will be ASROCK Z68 Extreme 4 or the better value Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H. I do not want to compromise on any features, what do you guys think? The ASrock is ~£140 The gigabyte is ~£100.
 
any thoughts on the motherboard? I'm extremely stuck and want to order the rest of my parts this evening. I don't want to compromise on features/achieving a stable overclock. My candidates are:

VALUE--> Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H £100

GOOD REVIEWS--> Asus P8Z68-V PRO Z68 £150

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED--> ASROCK Z68 Extreme 4 £140

I want pure quality/stability/decent overclocking and support for all of my components (4x HDDs, SSD drive, 2x GPU's, PCI sound card etc) I don't know if I'll get all of this with the Gigabyte motherboard. I am only interested in Z68 boards.

Also I am frustrated to learn that IDE optical drives are not supported on recent motherboards. How do I install windows with my IDE Optical drive?

I've have some options:

new sata DVD drive ~£14

Or spending around triple on a blu ray drive ~£50-60

OR... try a SATA to IDE converter ~£4

WHY OH WHY have IDE drives been phased out? I've used the same DVD drive since my AMD 3500+ build and I have never had any reason to upgrade it :'(
 
schmutz06 said:
any thoughts on the motherboard? I'm extremely stuck and want to order the rest of my parts this evening. I don't want to compromise on features/achieving a stable overclock. My candidates are:

VALUE--> Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H £100

GOOD REVIEWS--> Asus P8Z68-V PRO Z68 £150

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED--> ASROCK Z68 Extreme 4 £140

I want pure quality/stability/decent overclocking and support for all of my components (4x HDDs, SSD drive, 2x GPU's, PCI sound card etc) I don't know if I'll get all of this with the Gigabyte motherboard. I am only interested in Z68 boards.
Click to expand...

I don't own any of those so I can't advise you.

They will all take the hardware you've listed and they all support SLI/Crossfire.

With 4HDD's, an SSD and a SATA DVD (see below) all of the Gigabyte's SATA ports will be full. The Asus and the Asrock will have 2 spare.

I assume all your HDD's are SATA as well?

It's down to reading reviews and personal preference.


schmutz06 said:
Also I am frustrated to learn that IDE optical drives are not supported on recent motherboards. How do I install windows with my IDE Optical drive?

I've have some options:

new sata DVD drive ~£14

Or spending around triple on a blu ray drive ~£50-60

OR... try a SATA to IDE converter ~£4

WHY OH WHY have IDE drives been phased out? I've used the same DVD drive since my AMD 3500+ build and I have never had any reason to upgrade it :'(
Click to expand...

That's progress for you.

There's no need to buy a Blu-ray drive unless you want Blu-ray.

You take your chances with a converter.

For the sake of the extra £10 I'd buy a new SATA DVD burner. At least you know it will work.
 
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aha! considering I will buy more HDD's in the future and the optical drive will take up a sata port I can finally forget about the gigabyte board and focus on the other two

It just so happens that the Asus mobo is on offer this week - @£130. BUT I've already ordered my RAM this morning from Overclockers so I'd be paying another £9.5 for delivery :/ I'm going to call them early tomorrow and try to add the mobo to my order/get the delivery charge consolidated. It is most likely going to be too late but I might get lucky.
 
schmutz06 said:
aha! considering I will buy more HDD's in the future and the optical drive will take up a sata port I can finally forget about the gigabyte board and focus on the other two

It just so happens that the Asus mobo is on offer this week - @£130. BUT I've already ordered my RAM this morning from Overclockers so I'd be paying another £9.5 for delivery :/ I'm going to call them early tomorrow and try to add the mobo to my order/get the delivery charge consolidated. It is most likely going to be too late but I might get lucky.
Click to expand...

The board that's on offer at £130 is not the one you referred to above.

This is the board you referred to:

Asus P8Z68-V PRO

And this is the board on offer:

Asus P8Z68-V

The one on offer only has 6 SATA ports, like the Gigabyte, so is no use if you plan to add more drives.
 
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oh I see. I've just ordered the ASROCK z68 Extreme 4

It has largely positive reviews everywhere I look and I've been recommended it by several people. I don't think I can go wrong with it.
 
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The Asrock seems a good choice.

But remove any mention of the competitor.

That's a no, no.

We, Overclockers UK (OcUK) are happy to provide the resources of these forums to responsible individuals without charge. They cost a substantial amount of money to maintain and use considerable amounts of bandwidth which is paid for exclusively by us. As you know OcUK are in the computer hardware business and therefore the promotion of OcUK's competitors is forbidden. Examples of promotion are :-

Posting links to competitors websites
Posting links to reviews that promote competitors
Quoting the names or contact details of competitors
Offering to provide the names or contact details of competitors
Hinting about product availability at competitors and their pricing
Using the forums to notify a member of intent or actual supply of names or contact details of competitors
Listing competitors names, URL's or e-mail addresses in signatures
Listing competitors names, URL's or e-mail addresses in profile
Posting links to or the mentioning of auction sites
Disguising attempts to do any of the above
Click to expand...
 
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