Memory advice for P8P67 Pro board

spindoctor · 21 Jul 2011 at 23:21

Hello all. Yep, first post, and a question. Sorry.

I'm about to do my first system build in a few years, so things have moved on a tad. I hate it when that happens.

Anyway, I've settle on the Asus P8P67 Pro rev3 motherboard with the i7 2600k CPU, but as I need a lot of RAM, I'm just making sure it's as likely to work out the box as possible. Reading around and searching, I've settle on either the Corsair Vengence 8GB 2x4 kit CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 or the 16GB 4x4 CML16GX3M4A1600C9B or CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B. All are listed on the Corsair site as 'Guaranteed-Compatible Memory for the Asus P8P67 PRO'

I'll be using the system as a DAW station, and need as much RAM as possible for the HUGE sample vsti's I have so would prefer the 16GB.

Any thoughts? Anyone else have large, stable memory on one of these boards?

Thanks.

CaptainUnlikely · 22 Jul 2011 at 06:13

I've been saying this a lot lately, but I'd recommend the Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB kit, get 2 for 16GB. Extremely reliable memory. The Corsair 16GB kit should be fine too though I've not used it personally, but I wouldn't recommend the Vengeance.

spindoctor · 22 Jul 2011 at 12:14

^^Oh, Derby lad eh? My home town

Thanks for the recommendation, but I always worry when it's not mentioned in any QVL. I only went with the Corsair due to the QVL. How much faith should I place in them and manufactures guarantees?

CaptainUnlikely · 22 Jul 2011 at 13:54

spindoctor said:
^^Oh, Derby lad eh? My home town

Indeed

Thanks for the recommendation, but I always worry when it's not mentioned in any QVL. I only went with the Corsair due to the QVL. How much faith should I place in them and manufactures guarantees?

I never place any faith in the manufacturer's QVL. The HyperX Genesis stuff is fairly new so it's not on a lot of lists yet. Also, the QVLs are never comprehensive and usually outdated. The Corsair XMS3 is very common RAM hence why it's almost always on the QVL. We use it on the Asus, Gigabyte and MSI P67 and Z68 boards with no issues.

spindoctor · 22 Jul 2011 at 16:27

Ok thanks. I meant to ask though; why not the Vengeance?

CaptainUnlikely · 22 Jul 2011 at 16:42

Reliability.

Tuvoc · 23 Jul 2011 at 11:32

CaptainUnlikely said:
Indeed
I never place any faith in the manufacturer's QVL.

Well, if you want to be as sure as you possibly can be that the RAM you buy will work, then it is a good place to look. I've had too much experience in the past of certain motherboards being picky about RAM. Of course if the memory manufacturer says "guaranteed compatible with xxx motherboard" then you have to assume that they have tested it as well, so both sources of information are valuable.

spindoctor · 23 Jul 2011 at 12:43

Tuvoc said:
Well, if you want to be as sure as you possibly can be that the RAM you buy will work, then it is a good place to look. I've had too much experience in the past of certain motherboards being picky about RAM. Of course if the memory manufacturer says "guaranteed compatible with xxx motherboard" then you have to assume that they have tested it as well, so both sources of information are valuable.

Yeah, that was my thinking. The Corsair Vengeance is the only memory I can easily find that seems to match both the Asus QVL and the Corsair site. Is Vengeance really so unreliable?

Another memory that I've had recommended is the G-Skill: F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL. But this is not listed in the QVL or on the G-skill site as suitable for the Asus P8P67, so I'm not sure about this.

But I would still really like to find anyone who has actual experience of memory in this board over 8GB.

CaptainUnlikely · 23 Jul 2011 at 12:59

Tuvoc, that's very true, the QVL does guarantee the memory will work and there are rare cases when boards are very picky. The P67 Pro doesn't seem to be too picky in my experience. The issue I have with the QVLs is that they're so patchy.

I've set up a lot of systems with this board and 16GB of the Kingston, I've had it with 16GB of XMS3 too and 8GB of Vengeance. The Kingston really is better overall, the Vengeance isn't the most unreliable kit ever but it's not fantastic.

Tuvoc · 23 Jul 2011 at 13:10

Yes, the practical experiences of others with specific memory, quantity, and board combinations can answer the question for you too. For example you've used 16GB of Kingston several times with this board, so I'd be happy to go with that combination as well, being something that is known to work.

spindoctor · 23 Jul 2011 at 17:05

As long as you have set up several of these boards with 8-16GB of this RAM Captain, I guess that's good enough for me. It is practical experience I'm after. The price is certainly very attractive at the moment as well. Can I just ask if any BIOS tweaks or updates were needed, or did it work out the box?

Out of interest, what are your thoughts on the G-Skill: F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL?
Otherwise, I guess I'm ready to go. Thanks for you help guys.

CaptainUnlikely · 23 Jul 2011 at 22:40

I've set up many boards with both 8 and 16GB, trust me it works great. Most of them were with varying overclock, a fair few have been at stock in which case I've left everything auto. Every time it's worked just fine, no tweaks necessary other than setting the ram to 1600MHz, set the tidings to their rated values, and voltage to 1.5v.
I've not used much of the G.Skill so I wouldn't be able to give an informed opinion. The few times I have used it, it's worked just fine, but I've only used it a handful of times compared to probably over a hundred systems with the Kingston.

Tuvoc · 23 Jul 2011 at 22:49

CaptainUnlikely said:
compared to probably over a hundred systems with the Kingston.

You can't get a recommendation much better than that ! I'll take a look at the Kingston myself, never used it before

CaptainUnlikely · 24 Jul 2011 at 07:35

Heh, you should definitely check it out. In the volumes we use reliability is obviously key, and I can honestly say the new Kingston lineup is the most reliable memory I've ever used, to the point where if theres an issue with a system that seems like memory I suspect the board or chip before the Kingston. Failures are extremely rare.

spindoctor · 24 Jul 2011 at 12:45

Yeah, that's what I call a solid recommendation! Thanks for your help

For the price and your experience, it's a no brainer cheers.

spindoctor · 24 Jul 2011 at 19:16

Just when you thought I'd left you in peace

In another forum, somebody said that when installing 4X4 sticks of 4GB, they should always be matched 4's. Is this right?

CaptainUnlikely · 24 Jul 2011 at 21:32

It's always best to used matched memory if possible, yes, as in the same brand and model.

spindoctor · 24 Jul 2011 at 23:43

Yeah that's how I understood it and it obviously makes sense. But this guy was talking about the importance of actually purchasing and installing a dedicated 4X4GB kit over separate 2X4GB kits on this particular board. The implication being that it's a very RAM sensitive board. I don't really buy it though, because following his advice would deter future memory upgrades of even same brand and model should I just opt for a 2X4 kit.

Anyway, I'm sold on the Kingston 16GB now. I will report back on this thread in the next couple of weeks with an update. Thanks again for your help.

CaptainUnlikely · 25 Jul 2011 at 06:03

Ah, I understand. There's no need to buy a 16GB kit as opposed to 2 x 8GB kits, it really makes no difference.

Efour · 26 Jul 2011 at 01:56

Just my experience with P67 and an ASUS board and the ram QVL. The ram i have was Gskil RipJaw, and i have had nothing but grief with it. Every bios flash and change to overclocks and it has a fit re-recognizing 2 sticks of ram.