Memory for 3570K and Maximus V Gene

indigo_prime · 4 Oct 2012 at 14:01

I'm in the process of planning an upgrade and I don't have the huge budgets that I used to, so decided to downscale slightly and build a mATX system based around the ASUS Maximus V Gene.

Although I used to play a lot of ARMA, OFP and some COD etc, I play more WoW these days, no an uber PC isn't really necessary.

I'm currently running a Core 2 Duo E8400 on an EVGA 780i FTW with dual EVGA GTX260s in SLI and 8 GB of OCZ RAM. This still pushes plenty of pixels and frames for nearly every game I do play (on a 24 inch NEC Gaming display @ 1900 x 1200) but that willl be donated to the missus. After all, why would I build her a new PC and keep my old one!!! Priorities gentlemen!

For the upgrade, I want to use the 3570K CPU on the Maximus V Gene and a single ASUS GTX670 Direct CU!! That will be tied in with a Samsun D830 256GB SSD and I'll move my 1TB storage drive from the old PC into the new one.

There are so many options around regarding memory, with hugely varying prices and as I'd like to keep the red/black combo going through the build, I've been looking at the Corsair Dominator / GT / Platinum RAM.

As the CPU runs the memory bus at 1600 Mhz and I'm not all that fussed about OC'ing, would I see much benefit from installing anything of a higher speed than that?

Any suggestions for memory other than the Corsair Dominator are also welcome!

Krono5 · 4 Oct 2012 at 15:16

Why get a Gene if you won't be OC'ing?

If thats the case just get the cheapest 1600Mhz stuff you can. The difference between 1600Mhz and 2133mhz I noticed was 0.5% in heaven but that was before I significantly tightened timings. it's minimal and depends on the game but it can be anything upto 2-3% per 266mhz so going from 1600Mhz to 2400mhz can yeild a few fps. It does show a lot of benefit for non gaming applications like Winrar and other decoding, upto 20% in one benchmark I believe.

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wazza300 · 4 Oct 2012 at 15:19

8gb is usually plenty for gaming imo

and id choose this as it runs and overclocks well on that board

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-017-SA

8 Pack · 4 Oct 2012 at 15:34

8gb is all your going to need. G.SKILL Trident X is the best in my eyes on that board. I clocked my TridentX to DDR3165 using a MVG. Another good option is Samsung Green as wazza points out its very easy to set up and clock.

indigo_prime · 5 Oct 2012 at 12:13

Many thanks for the information and suggestions everyone.

C64 · 7 Oct 2012 at 16:27

I was thinking of upgrading too what ram are z77 and say 2500k or ivybridge limited to ? 1.5 volts max ram ? or will my old 2x4gb kingston 1.65v work fine ?
Been out of the latest loop so have no idea about z77

nm found it myself sandy =1.5volts ivy =1.6

buzzlightweight · 7 Oct 2012 at 19:52

8 Pack said:
8gb is all your going to need. G.SKILL Trident X is the best in my eyes on that board. I clocked my TridentX to DDR3165 using a MVG. Another good option is Samsung Green as wazza points out its very easy to set up and clock.

is that clock 24/7 or benching on cold? my gene v is arriving tuesday and i wanna spank my tridantx, currently @ 9-11-11-28-1T 2400MHz stock volts

8 Pack · 8 Oct 2012 at 10:13

buzzlightweight said:
is that clock 24/7 or benching on cold? my gene v is arriving tuesday and i wanna spank my tridantx, currently @ 9-11-11-28-1T 2400MHz stock volts

Yes its benching on the cold.

8 Pack · 8 Oct 2012 at 10:16

C64 said:
I was thinking of upgrading too what ram are z77 and say 2500k or ivybridge limited to ? 1.5 volts max ram ? or will my old 2x4gb kingston 1.65v work fine ?
Been out of the latest loop so have no idea about z77

nm found it myself sandy =1.5volts ivy =1.6

Dont worry about this stuff!!! Although your options are limited with IMC of Sandy.