DDR3 tri-channel memory best price/buck

[Yella Fella]

Guys,

Been awhile, but looking to upgrade my pc... currently running windows 7 64bit and planning on upgrading to Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz, still looking at choice of motherboard but will make another thread on that after searching.

Anyways, my primary works involves photography in lightroom/photoshop and soon going back to video editing in premiere pro using hi def video.

I'm planning on maximising my memory, but probably 2 tri channel sets at 2GB, so looking at 2x 2GB, or maybe 1GB pending costs.

Is it ok just to get any? I probably won't plan on overclocking at any point, I've bought stuff for my current pc that is far more capable at overclocking but not bothered. Else cheapest memory it is, or is there a minimum I should get? One cheap but reliable is the key. Thanks

 

[yashiro]

No overclocking? Any triple channel set will do. If you have to make a choice you want the sets with the the lowest latency settings.

 

[bullyterrier]

The key requirement here is Premiere Pro and HD video.

Assuming you are going to use CS5, then you should spend some time in the Adobe Premiere forum, specifically in the hardware sub-forum. The forum will also help you tune specifically for the input and output file types you want to use.

Premiere needs CPU clock speed, lots of cores, fast memory and a good GPU for the whole workflow to be quick with HD.

So, plan to overclock the 950 and to keep HT on.

Plan to have at least 12GB memory (>12GB memory still gives more speed for CS5 and HD as the sweet spot is 2-4GB per thread).

12GB (or more) on X58 starts to get a little trickier when overclocking so a matched set will improve your odds of a clean overclock (100% stability is the goal as any errors = glitches in the video file). I would pick a decent brand with good RMA process just in case. The Windows-based HCI Memtest Pro is a very good way to test the memory for errors in exactly the way that CS5 will use it - hard and from all 8 threads - just use the "/tr" flag and run for 24 hours).

Faster clocked memory is more cost-effective for Premiere CS5 than lower CAS memory. (e.g. 1600/9 is better than paying for 1330/7 etc).

So, you could decide to take a 12GB matched set of memory (3 x 4GB ideally so you can grow later) rated at 1600 and plan to clock the 950 to 4Ghz with the RAM at 8x comfortably running under its rated speed and with a good chance that another 12GB could be added while maintaining the overclock later. Use CPU Tweaker to check that your board sets the memory timings correctly versus the memory SPD (tWR, tRTP, tRFC, tRRD etc) so you minimse the need for QPI volts for 100% stability.

Last point is the Mercury Playback Engine (MPE). CS5 can use CUDA cores to provide a dramatic speed increase in parts of the workflow (enabled in project settings). GTX470 is the sweet spot in price/perf right now (as the 480 etc higher CUDA count is not yet exploited by MPE). Again, a clean (0 errors in OCCT video stress test over at least an hour) overclock will pay back and a "look at my numbers" rough overclock will glitch the video file during the hours at 100%.

I have a 930 at 21 x 191 HT on with 12GB Corsair 1600 memory at 1528/9 and a GTX470 at 800. Premiere CS5 runs very smoothly and quickly with no glitches or errors....

 

[Yella Fella]

Who, 12GB memory is a lot of though, I have a bit of experience of overclocking, but that means working back down to the motherboard I require to handle this.

Quick question, does the new i7 chips utilise the triple channel more, because it's an extra stick compared to standard dual channel, or because it works in triples? e.g. would 2 x dual channel ddr3's be better than triple ddr3? 4x1GB compared to 3x1GB?