What am I looking for in RAM

Alex Adamson

Alex Adamson

Alex Adamson

Associate
Joined
1 Mar 2018
Posts
58
I need new RAM and I'm wondering what I'm looking for. What's important specs when buying them and what compatibility issues do I need to worry about?

EDIT: can a DDR4 motherboard use DDR3 RAM?
 
DDR3, max 8GB/stick, get whatever you want as long as it's 1.5V or less. You can run 1.65V RAM though if you want really fast stuff it's not going to kill your chip.

DDR3 2400 C11 is pretty cheap these days. In the grand scheme of things. Having said that all RAM is at rip-off prices right now and its a bad time to buy.

I would also seriously consider whether it's worth putting money into overpriced RAM for a CPU that came out 5 years ago.
 
I have always chosen named brands, I like Kingston personally. I would choose memory that operates well at 1.5v as it puts less strain on VRMS. I'm not into very fast memory as personally I feel it's less stable and in real terms faster memory makes very little difference.

If choosing DDR 3 for a desktop I would choose something like this, it's pretty no frills but it's going to work. The 1600mhz version of this would be fine also if you could find it.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/king...al-channel-kit-hx318c10fbk2-16-my-196-ks.html
 
I've always gone for a CPU overclock over faster RAM - the memory controller for AM3+ CPU is on the CPU die.

You can low CAS latency ideally, but faster Mhz ram can run at better CAS values if underclocked for speed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom