Confused about which memory

Durzel · 17 Jan 2011 at 12:06

Sorry for yet another thread on Sandybridge memory but coming from a Core 2 Duo with DDR2 I'm totally in the dark when it comes to "the right memory" for Sandybridge.

I've bought a Maximus IV Extreme & i7-2600k which should hopefully be arriving today. I haven't yet bought the memory because quite honestly I haven't got a clue what speed I should be getting.

I'm aiming to hopefully get at least 4.6Ghz 24/7 on air, maybe 4.8Ghz if possible.

Keen on the 8GB Ripjaws-X memory that OCUK are selling, but concerned about the "low" PC3-12800 (1600Mhz) speed. Then again I have no clue how Sandybridge overclocking works really.

I've seen the PC3-17000 (2133Mhz) Ripjaws-X kit for sale elsewhere but it runs at 1.65v and has slower timings (9-11-9-28), and is about £50 more expensive though it does come with a fan. It's this kit.

I'm not as convinced about the whole "you must run 1.5v memory!" panic as others, 1.65v memory is certified for the platform and if everyone who was using it (and being sold it by various retailers) were having problems I think we'd be hearing a lot more about it....

So it's a toss up between:

G.Skill RipJawX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz, 1.5v, 9-9-9-24-2N
and
G.Skill RipJawX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C9 2133MHz, 1.65v, 9-11-9-28-2N

So, thoughts?

Durzel · 17 Jan 2011 at 16:29

Anyone??

Apem · 17 Jan 2011 at 16:33

Rather like the RipjawX cas 6 ram myself it also looks good. Had to laugh today saw a competitor with a section for SB compatible ram all the ram they say is for sb is 1.65v and above.

andyr · 17 Jan 2011 at 20:41

I just got 2 x 4gig Ripjawx 1866 @8,9,8,24 sort of in between , hope its the way to go , wont know how they perform untill i get my board, and they are 1.65volts

Durzel · 17 Jan 2011 at 20:42

Do not as for competitor links

andyr · 17 Jan 2011 at 20:47

e-mailed g skill about this 1.65v thing and they said they have tested lots with 1.65 volt kits without issue so i guess you have to believe them :confused:

Admiral Huddy · 18 Jan 2011 at 08:12

Durzel said:
Nice. Can you share where you got those from please? Email in trust.

No he can't.. Please read the FAQs.

NathWraith · 18 Jan 2011 at 09:00

I would choose the 1600MHz kit. The tighter timings and lower voltage more than make up for the slower frequency. You won't notice any increase in speed with the higher freqeuncy kit and the slacker timing will make it slower in certain applications.

Durzel · 18 Jan 2011 at 17:16

NathWraith said:
I would choose the 1600MHz kit. The tighter timings and lower voltage more than make up for the slower frequency. You won't notice any increase in speed with the higher freqeuncy kit and the slacker timing will make it slower in certain applications.

Thanks for the advice. It's a shame there is uncertainty around what is safe and not safe when it comes to Sandybridge memory.