Which DDR3 Memory to pick. HELP!

[jv2907]

Hi, will be building a new PC soon and need help choosing which will be the best RAM from the selection below. I was advised to get the "Patriot Sector 5 Viper II 4GB (2x2GB) PC3-12800 1600MHz Dual Channel + 3D Mark Vantage", but OCuK dont have it anymore! My budget is around £85 not more, and will have a Phenom II X4 965BE 3.4ghz with Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5770

10666 - Corsair 4GB (2X2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMV4GX3M2A1333C9)

10666 - OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3P1333LV4GK)

12800 - OCZ Obsidian 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 Dual Channel (OCZ3OB1600LV4GK)

12800 - Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600C9DHX Twin3X (TW3X4G1600C9DHX)

12800 - Patriot Sector 5 G Series 4GB (2x2GB) PC3-12800 1600MHz Dual Channel (PGV34G1600ELK)

I dont know much about which RAM to pick, what is latency/timings all about? (e.g. 7-7-7-24). Any help on which one to pick would help!!

Many Thanks

 

[ejr22]

Basically, all you really need to know about latency/timings is - the lower the numbers the better.

In a nutshell, the numbers represent the amount of delay (measured in clock cycles) it takes for the memory to act on instructions from the memory controller. If you want a more detailed, technical explanation there are plenty of articles which will help - just Google "what is CAS latency".

You probably know but I will tell you anyway - when it comes to the speed of the RAM i.e. the MHz value (sometimes referred to as the bandwidth), it is the opposite rule - the higher the number the better.

So to sum up, you want to find a set of RAM which ideally has a combination of low latency/timings & a high MHz speed. Obviously you can only operate within a certain budget so it may be a case of compromising one for the other - you'll have to figure out which is more important to you based on your PC usage, and then make a choice.