Some advice on choosing ram please

Ubung

Ubung

Ubung

Associate
Joined
6 Jan 2012
Posts
4
Hey guys

This is my first post on these forums and I have a couple of questions regarding ram.

Im upgrading my PC shortly with the following:

I7 2700k
GTX 570
AsRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3

Now im unsure on the RAM, the whole timings thing is a little confusing to me. All are priced very similarily to make price a non factor. Out of these 3 which would be the better RAM?


8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 XMS3, PC3-16000 (2000), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-10-9-27, 1.65V

8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance Red LP, PC3-14900 (1866), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-10-9-27, XMP, 1.5V

G-Skill 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 2133MHz RipjawsX Memory Kit CL11 (11-11-11-30) 1.5V


Also would all of these sticks function on the motherboard ive chosen? It says it supports;

DDR3 - 1066
DDR3 - 1333
DDR3 - 1600
DDR3 - 1866(OC)
DDR3 - 2133(OC)

It doesnt mention 2000 like the XMS3 uses.

Thank you for any advice or help you can give.

edit: now I know why it wouldnt work, thanks for the info.
 
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Hi and welcome to the forum.

Before we do anything you need to edit the competitor links and name out of your post.

This forum is paid for by OcUK and linking/naming competitors is against the rules.

If you want to link to products then do it to OcUK's or the manufacturer's sites.

FYI anything faster than 1600MHz is pretty much wasted with Sandy Bridge.
 
Ubung said:
Now im unsure on the RAM, the whole timings thing is a little confusing to me. Out of these 3 which would be the better RAM?

8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 XMS3, PC3-16000 (2000), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-10-9-27, 1.65V

8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance Red LP, PC3-14900 (1866), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-10-9-27, XMP, 1.5V

G-Skill 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 2133MHz RipjawsX Memory Kit CL11 (11-11-11-30) 1.5V (URL wont work)
Click to expand...

I wouldn't bother with any of those.

1600MHz is all you need.

crucial ballistix sport 8gb (2x4gb) ddr3 pc3-12800c10 1600mhz dual channel kit £31.19 until wednesday morning

kingston hyperx genesis grey 8gb (2x4gb) ddr3 pc3-12800c9 1600mhz dual channel kit £35.99 until wednesday morning

those are the sort of thing you need for the best price/performance.

check out what's on offer when you buy.

remember you want ram which will run at ~1.5v (both of the above will) and low profile ram, again like the above, is best if you're getting a big cpu cooler.

edit:

the best memory for sandy bridge

sandy bridge memory scaling: choosing the best ddr3

DDR3 SDRAM for Sandy Bridge: Choosing the Best Memory for LGA1155 Platform
 
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Thanks for the info. However it has brought up some further questions. Id like to learn more about RAM so I can make an informed choice.

Why 1.5v? I did notice in one of the articles you mentioned that its older RAM. However the more expensive RAM ive seen tends to have 1.65v.

Why does RAM have 2 speeds, PC-3 14900 (1866) for example? Im assuming its what it overclocks too but id like some more detail if you have any.

Also I bought the motherboard to be future compatable with the PCI-E 3.0 and the new processors. Would this affect what RAM I might buy for future proofing?

Thanks
 
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Ubung said:
Why 1.5v? I did notice in one of the articles you mentioned that its older RAM. However the more expensive RAM ive seen tends to have 1.65v.
Click to expand...

Intel recommend the DRAM voltage should be 1.5V +/- 5%, so 1.575V maximum.

Any higher can, in theory, cause damage to the CPU where the memory controller is located.


Ubung said:
Why does RAM have 2 speeds, PC-3 14900 (1866) for example? Im assuming its what it overclocks too but id like some more detail if you have any.
Click to expand...

DDR3 RAM has all sorts of speeds.

Any DDR3 above 1333MHz is "overclocked" as that's the highest official specification for DDR3.

Faster RAM = better performance but with Sandy Bridge anything above 1600MHz just isn't worth the extra cost for the small benefit it brings.


Ubung said:
Also I bought the motherboard to be future compatable with the PCI-E 3.0 and the new processors. Would this affect what RAM I might buy for future proofing?
Click to expand...

No.

Get some 1600MHz RAM now and it'll work fine with future Ivy Bridge processors.
 
I appreciate the time youve taken to explain things to me. Im still a bit unsure about the speeds of ram.

Am I right in my latest thinking that PC-3 14900 is just another way of saying 1866mhz RAM?
 
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