Ram advice for new system

MylesS · 29 Mar 2016 at 19:01

Hi,

I've been putting together some specs for a new build, but am not sure about which speed of ram to go for.

My motherboard will be Gigabyte Z170-Gaming K3 Intel Z170 DDR4 ATX and this has the following specs for ram -

Support for DDR4 3466(O.C.) /3400(O.C.) /3333(O.C.) /3300(O.C.) /3200(O.C.) /3000(O.C.) /2800(O.C.) /2666(O.C.) /2400(O.C.) /2133 MHz memory modules

I would like to start with 16GB ram and originally chose - Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C 15 3000MHz Dual Channel (CMK 16GX4M2B30

I'm now wondering though if I would notice any perfomance difference if I went with the slower 2133 MHz such as Kingston Fury Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-17000C14 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (HX421C14FB2K2/1

I'm also not really sure what the (O.C.) means in above specs? I'm guessing overclocking? Would that mean the bios would need changing if I went with the 3000 MHz?

Hope someone can advise.

stulid · 29 Mar 2016 at 19:12

2133Mhz is the normal speed (approved by some egg heads in an office somewhere, called JEDEC), everything above that is technically an overclock.

To set the RAM to its rated speed in this case 3000Mhz you go into the BIOS, advanced frequency page or memory options, load the XMP profile and save+exit.

There is a little chip on the RAM itself that contains the info the board/bios needs to set the RAM multiplier/timings/voltage up automatically, so it reads that and does it all for you.

DDR4 2133Mhz is weak, do get faster, atleast 2666Mhz I feel I personally could live with.

Danny75 · 29 Mar 2016 at 19:29

That Vengeance 3000MHz has free shipping. So you might find there are no savings to be had by going for slower RAM in this case. Unless you are also purchasing another product that already has free shipping.

The Gaming K3 motherboard automatically set the RAM I bought for it, at its rated 2666MHz speed. It was already like that, no clicking anything. Pretty fancy. What I don't know is if the original BIOS (F1) does that, or the updated BIOS (F2) does it. Because I flashed and updated from USB as soon as the machine started running.

stulid · 29 Mar 2016 at 19:32

The Gaming K3 motherboard automatically set the RAM I bought for it, at its rated 2666MHz speed. It was already like that, no clicking anything.

Kingston RAM?

Fury RAM?

Danny75 · 29 Mar 2016 at 19:32

Yup. 2x8GB Kingston Fury 2666Mhz.

stulid · 29 Mar 2016 at 19:34

Danny75 said:
Yup. 2x8GB Kingston Fury 2666Mhz.

Thats one of its little tricks.

Danny75 · 29 Mar 2016 at 19:36

So it was the RAM itself who dun it.

stulid · 29 Mar 2016 at 19:45

Yes.

RAM getting self-aware, next is Skynet.

flowrider99 · 29 Mar 2016 at 19:53

For not a lot more money than the Fury the Kingston Savage RAM looks a good buy at the moment.

MylesS · 29 Mar 2016 at 20:08

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll go with faster ram. I'll probably stick with my original choice as it's only about £5 -£6 quid more than the 2666 MHz.

I'm sure it will be a big step up from my current 4GB DDR2 667 MHz !!!! I can't wait!!! Lol.

glenimp617 · 30 Mar 2016 at 08:41

There's a calculation you can do which determines which ram is the fastest, they are almost all identical. I went with the savage as it was cheapest at the time, and something like 0.00001% faster than anything else.

MylesS · 30 Mar 2016 at 10:09

glen8 said:
There's a calculation you can do which determines which ram is the fastest, they are almost all identical. I went with the savage as it was cheapest at the time, and something like 0.00001% faster than anything else.

I did wonder if the speed differences would be noticable. Your experience seems to show that it's not!