Which Ram for Bulldozer

longi · 2 Jan 2012 at 17:36

Hi all, i'm thinking of building a new system based around the AMD Bulldozer FX-8120 but i'm not sure whether I need 1333mhz ram or 1600 mhz ram. Can anybody tell me if the 1600 mhz ram is suitable for Bulldozer or whether I should even go as far as 1866?

Thanks ahead

Judgeneo · 2 Jan 2012 at 17:37

As hard as it is to recommend bulldozer. I'm under the impression that the high frequency ram, the better it will perform.

mjones1 · 2 Jan 2012 at 17:46

Don't build a bulldozer system, the 2500k/2600k is much faster. RAM over 1600mhz isn't worth the extra cost.

longi · 2 Jan 2012 at 18:08

Thanks for the quick replies! So do you think the i5 processor would be the better buy? I'm only going to use it for music production and BF3. What would be a good motherboard for around £130 for the i5 chip? What ram would I also need?

longi · 2 Jan 2012 at 18:11

I forgot to say, my budget is around £400 for the processor, ram, motherboard and operating system hence I was leaning towards the Bulldozer setup, only leaning though!

Luke · 2 Jan 2012 at 18:25

Are you old enough to remember betamax? Well imagine Bulldozer as Betamax (with the exception that Betamax was actually a better product).
Go i3/i5.

longi · 2 Jan 2012 at 18:39

Lol! Yes I remember Betamax, I used to own one!! Ok so what's a good i5 Intel motherboard for around £120-£130?

sehcure · 2 Jan 2012 at 18:45

I'd get a 2500k oem and a Gigabyte Z68AP-D3, with this ram - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-132-CR

Keod2 · 3 Jan 2012 at 15:52

Ummm Idk if these figures are correct but I found this picture of the i5 2500k and the quad core bulldozer benchmark scores. I think both are stock clock speeds Im unsure.

http://www.upload.ee/image/1947472/the_battle.jpg

beejjacobs · 3 Jan 2012 at 16:18

longi said:
I forgot to say, my budget is around £400 for the processor, ram, motherboard and operating system hence I was leaning towards the Bulldozer setup, only leaning though!

Something like this will be good for that money:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £161.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.38
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT51264BA160A) £34.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
Total : £395.74 (includes shipping : £9.50).

Good cooler for a nice overclock too, the i5s overclock very easily.

traineespark · 7 Jan 2012 at 15:47

beejjacobs.... nice call...

X3T · 8 Jan 2012 at 02:27

longi said:
Hi all, i'm thinking of building a new system based around the AMD Bulldozer FX-8120 but i'm not sure whether I need 1333mhz ram or 1600 mhz ram. Can anybody tell me if the 1600 mhz ram is suitable for Bulldozer or whether I should even go as far as 1866?

Thanks ahead

I think BD is designed for 1866 memory as standard (not that that necessarily makes any difference). I bought 4gb of Corsair Dominator 1600Mhz, and got it overclocked to 2000Mhz pretty easily. No idea how much it helps yet, need to run some benchmarks, but my WEI mem score went from 7.7 to 7.9.

So my recommendation is to get 1600mhz memory, and overclock if needed.