Is lower voltage DDR4 RAM better?

Montala

Montala

Montala

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Hi,

I am looking to buy some DDR4 RAM (2 x 4GB 'sticks') for a new Skylake system build (Asus Z170I PRO GAMING Intel Z170 LGA 1151 mini-itx motherboard with a Core i5-6600K 3.9GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor)

I currently favour the Corsair Vengeance LPX, but it seems to be available in 1.2v and 1.35v variants. Is the lower voltage preferable?

As for 'speed' the sweet spot looks to be 2666 or possibly 3000?

Am I on the right lines here?

Thanks! :)
 
My understanding is that for DDR4, the standard is 1.20 volts. If a brand is using extra volts to run a given speed, they are essentially overclocking them and using extra voltage to stabilise the memory at that speed.

Just as with my current four Corsair CMX4GX3MA1600C9 sticks in this Q9300 system, the SPD sets 1.65 volts for 1600 speeds, but can run a the DDR3 spec voltage of 1.50 volts for lower speeds.
 
Montala said:
Hi,

I am looking to buy some DDR4 RAM (2 x 4GB 'sticks') for a new Skylake system build (Asus Z170I PRO GAMING Intel Z170 LGA 1151 mini-itx motherboard with a Core i5-6600K 3.9GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor)

I currently favour the Corsair Vengeance LPX, but it seems to be available in 1.2v and 1.35v variants. Is the lower voltage preferable?

As for 'speed' the sweet spot looks to be 2666 or possibly 3000?

Am I on the right lines here?

Thanks! :)
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hello again mate, can you tell me please how your getting on with your build there as I am just about to buy something extremely similar ?

Plus, how did the ram go, did you get 3000mhz out of it just by enabling the xmp profile or did you need to kick the ram voltage up a fraction too possibly ? (I am sure I read something about increasing the ram voltage on that board can very badly damage the cpu or chipset (skylake) or something like that but I cant remember where i read the info now :( , hmmm :confused::confused:

Overall, how are you finding things with the new itx build mate, please be as honest as possible because it will help others like me that are just about ready to dive into the same thing ?

If montala doesnt answer then can anyone please give me their thoughts an opinions on what they think on the subjects ? thanks.
 
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Hi,

I am still gathering the various components together for my build, so may not actually be starting it for a few days yet.

I didn't think that was the correct section in which to start discussing it in more detail, so I have started a new thread at http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=28894412#post28894412 detailing the parts I have selected, but some of these might still possibly be changed!

I have always been a bit of a fan of small 'cube' cases, and have built plenty of Shuttle systems in the past, but have been after a build which utilised more standard components for some time now, and this seemed to fit the bill nicely.

Folk keep asking me for build details, plus photos etc. and although I have never actually done a 'build log' before, this could well be a good time to start.

Thanks again for your interest! :)
 
montala, what stuff did you settle on mate ?

I ordered this stuff as I was told it should simply run at 3000Mhz soon as the XMP profile is applied , its this stuff >> Corsair 8GB DDR4 Vengeance LPX 3000MHz Skylake, 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX Black, PC4-24000 (3000), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 15-17-17-35, XMP 2.0, 1.35V (I got 2x8GB sticks though, same speed 3000MHz though).

I heard its really good ram, but as I dont have it or tried it yet I can only go by what I read and watch on videos etc, you might already have all your stuff, you can let me know mate, thanks.
 
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horrorwood said:
I put 1.55v through my DDR4, it didn't even get warm. (I do not recommend this however) :D
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yeah I think I heard that ya need to be careful with that espeicially on skylake systems as over volting the ram can damage something badly on the motherboards or something like that maybe, hmmm, was it the memory controller or something, I cant remember off the top of my head.
 
I agree... actually I have a feeling that Intel actually recommend using 1.2v memory on Skylake based motherboards.
 
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