Matched paired memory?

Yella Fella · 12 Jul 2011 at 22:27

Is there any difference between getting 2 matched pairs of memory, or is it better to get a set of 4 matched as the latter is generally more expensive?

Or can I safely assume that 2 matched pairs is fine?

Plec · 12 Jul 2011 at 22:29

2 matched pairs will be fine.

Surveyor · 12 Jul 2011 at 23:21

Plec said:
2 matched pairs will be fine.

But may affect any overclock you have if you fill all 4 RAM slots.

Plec · 12 Jul 2011 at 23:28

Surveyor said:
But may affect any overclock you have if you fill all 4 RAM slots.

True, but his question was is it better to get 4 matched sticks (more expensive) or 2 matched pair sets (cheaper) - so either of his choices may impair an overclock.

I'm presuming from his question he's looking at a minimum of 16GB?..

Yella Fella · 13 Jul 2011 at 00:14

Is it that bad for overclocking on 4 ram sticks over 2?

Surveyor · 13 Jul 2011 at 00:37

Yella Fella said:
Is it that bad for overclocking on 4 ram sticks over 2?

It can make it more difficult.

Plec · 13 Jul 2011 at 00:43

As above - but if the memory is for a Sandybridge setup then it's not as problematic as it used to be.

In fact some members have done a quite a few builds using 4 sticks (i'm guessing by their numbers it's their job) and haven't encountered any problems keeping the original existing clocks stable.

Until more facts/figures come out - i would still assume it's a bit a of a lottery...

Yella Fella · 13 Jul 2011 at 10:15

Alright, I've done another thread regarding the initial PC I'm going for a video editing suite, however, was curious on an overclocking front...

Yes, assuming I will be buying 4 x 4GB DDR3 memory at around 1600Mhz (12800?), and it will be on a sandybridge Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) motherboard.

Doing research on here, it seems to be Corsair and Kingston that have been rated... I know OC had the weekly offer on the Kingstons, but need to know peoples reviews on them when overclocking... what is actually better and rated fine for configs of 16GB memory and a 2600k chip.

Are makes important or more to do with timings, or even voltage even? Is it up to 1.6v that's recommended for memory on SB? Kingston is 1.65v?

Plec · 13 Jul 2011 at 11:17

Yella Fella said:
Are makes important or more to do with timings, or even voltage even? Is it up to 1.6v that's recommended for memory on SB? Kingston is 1.65v?

The XMS3 and Kingston both have recommended max voltages of 1.65V - however both will/should run under 1.58V which is recommended when OCing a SB setup.

The XMS3 has a proven track record of running @ 1.5V - OcUK have had sets running at 1.35V. Plus, the OcUK staff/builders recommend it for SB and have used it in most of their SB bundles (at some point) - so compatibilty clearly isn't an issue.

I suspect the Kingston would do the same - but the XMS3 has oodles of forum users that have used it successfully so 'technically' the odds favour the XMS3 - on volume alone...