variations and choices of ram

DotFifty89 · 29 Jul 2013 at 23:48

Hey guys, when choosing ram what should I be looking out for?

My mobo - Gigabyte Z87N wifi intel Z87 Mini itx

Cpu - i5 4670k

O/s - Windows 7 64 bit

There are so many different variations of ram available, im unsure what I should be looking for.

I have decided that I want 8gb though.

Why does 8gb ram with the same mhz have such a difference in price?

I have been looking at the FAQ thread but none of its making sense to me.

Budget - £70 can stretch a little more.

Ram size - 8gb

Would like something thats had lots of good reviews.

Thanks for any feedback, couldnt upload links of specs sorry on tablet.

alias86 · 30 Jul 2013 at 00:05

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (CML8GX3M2B1600C11) £53.99
Total : £62.69 (includes shipping : £7.25).

that what I use.
If you mean you want one 8 gb stick, larger ram modules cost more. also its worth noteing that 2x4 is better than one 8GB stick as you have twice the access to the 2x4.

joeyjojo · 30 Jul 2013 at 18:21

DotFifty89 said:
Why does 8gb ram with the same mhz have such a difference in price?

Mainly because of branding (you pay more for "cool" looking memory). Also, warranty length (most are lifetime), and timings (lower numbers are better, but little real-world impact).

I'd get the cheapest tbh. At 1600 Mhz the below have tighter timings than the ones alias86 mentions and are 20 quid cheaper:

Adata XPG Gaming v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AX3U1600GC4G9-2G)

DotFifty89 · 30 Jul 2013 at 20:50

I was looking for higher timings as I thought that would be better

thanks for the info.

I don't like the 1 pretty bad review on the adata though.

Will ALL ram fit in my machine? I don't mean it being to bulky or low profile I mean compatibility?

Something Else · 30 Jul 2013 at 22:09

what sort of cooler will the cpu have?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit £89.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £59.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £49.99
Total : £209.57 (includes shipping : £8.00).

I really like patriot memory, the 1600mhz speed ram there is very well priced, Haswell works well with higher speed memory too so I have specced some slightly faster stuff.

The Samsung green is very highly regarded, expensive though (used to be £50 but fatcats saw there was profit to be had) its well worth it.

The patriots have medium sized heatsinks that could interfere with large air coolers the samsung greens barely poke above the ram slots

DotFifty89 · 30 Jul 2013 at 23:52

I will be using a corsair h80i (prodigy build)

I do like the look of the patriot 1866 mhz, not heard of the make much though, any good?

Apparantley the samsung green started selling for £38 lol daiiim

Something Else · 1 Aug 2013 at 19:48

I run Patriot viper venom ram in my pc and have had no issues with it so far, my brother has used patriot ram for over a year now trouble free.

you won't have any issues with ram heights if you use that cooler so any mentioned in the thread will be good. there are various colours of ram too so when purchasing its a good idea to colour code where you can.