Ram Sweet Spot

subharmonic

subharmonic

subharmonic

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Joined
18 Jul 2014
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22
I know this is probably a "how long is a bit of string" question - but is there a currently a sweet spot for ram (ie cost vs performance for the majority of builds) or is this too unspecific, and thus impossible to say?

I mean - I'm still in trying to finish my system as cheaply, but with as good components as I can get.

It's a 4770k system with the following.

4770k - £150
Z87X-OC - £55
Corsair AX860 - £85
Noctua NHD14 - £30
Fractal R3 with DVD burner - £20
Samsung Pro 256gb SSD - £70

And I've chucked a few spare HDs/

So, at this point, it's really been cheap.
I also acquired from one of the guys on here, 8gb of Team Group Xtreem memory for £45 - but I think I', going to have to flip this as it doesn't work with my Noctua due to those massive heat spreaders, which I didn't realise at the time.
I also think that 8gb is probably a bit light, as I plan on using it as a DAW, running Cubase or Ableton or something like that.

So - in my quest for bang for buck - what should I be looking at for this machine? I'll be looking mainly at 2nd hand market, but I'm struggling to figure out exactly what I should be getting attracted to.
Plus, given that I thought I'd won a watch on a couple of Hynix 8gb sticks, which I thought were supposed to work with my motherboard, only to find they are REGISTERED memory, and thus won't work on my system, I'm a wee bit antsy about jumping on the first ram that comes along.

That being said, the Hynix sticks were mega cheap, so no real big deal - hopefully I should be able to get rid quite easily.

So - anyway - any suggestions for the sort of things I should be keeping an eye out for?

I do plan to overclock at some point - but, it's baby steps at this stage.
I don't plan on trying to get my system to clock at 5ghz any time soon...
 
Ok - re: removing the Team Group spreaders.

I had thought about doing that, but I think I need 16gb minimum and would want to, at some point in future, getting 32gb.

16gb is what most audio peeps suggest getting, as ram is essential for running large sample players such as Spectrasonics Omnisphere, or anything that is just riddled with audio samples.

So, though I'm incredibly tempted to burst this new pack of Team Group Xtreem Frost Edition memory and removing the spreaders, I'd only want to move these on fairly soon down the line - in which case I've voided the warranty, and potentially made them more difficult to sell on being without spreaders.

I think I should be able to get my money back on these modules though (obviously would be a lot easier to do if I could get onto the classifieds on here though lol), but I'd be less confident with no warranty and detached spreaders.

Re: the G.Skill TridentX - those look good too - but as they are so new, are these likely to come up 2nd hand on ebay or elsewhere?
All I've found is new listings on ebay.

They look good though, and seem to perform very well by the feedback from various places. 16gb at the going rate for these is a bit out of my price range...
 
Well, I'd be happy-er with those as they are 8gb sticks - so I'd be more likely to keep them long term, than the 4gb variants I already have...

Still don't like the idea of voiding the warranty though.

Is there anything that SHOULD be coming up 2nd hand that would be worth looking at?

£109 for that Team Xtreem gear seems like a decent price though for brand new low voltage memory.
 
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