Buying new RAM; need advice (buying soon to ship today)

Freddy1765

Senior member
May 3, 2011
389
1
81
Long story short, my 4x2GB RAM blocks are fairly old, and I recently found out one of them is (according to specs) set to run at 1.7-1.9v, which I understand isn't very healthy on a Sandybridge system (2500k).

Been looking around and think these two are my best options:
Crucial Ballistix Tactical 2x4GB
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/part...D1608DT1TX0CEU

Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233144

The Crucial are cheaper, and are ready for shipping now, whereas the Corsair won't ship until friday, and the heatsink on those Vengeance ones is so massive I worry about obstructing airflow to my Evo 212 (there's plenty of clearance for the CPU heatsink if I use sockets 3 and 4, though).

What to do? Or alternatives?
 

Blain

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
23,643
3
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Buying new RAM; need advice
:colbert:
If I were shopping for high quality memory, I would use the following parameters as a guide...

* DDR3 rated at 1.5v or lower
* DDR3 rated at the lowest CAS I could afford
* DDR3 rated at the highest clock speed I could afford
* Limit the scope of my purchease to G.Skill, Mushkin, Samsung, Corsair XMS or Crucial (non-Ballistix)

While not wavering on the voltage point, I would balance the other issues with my budget.

Remember, my goal is not pure "benchmarking" performance, but simply finding the highest quality memory I can afford. ^_^
The only reason I pay a premium for low latency, high speed, low voltage memory is...
Quality and quality alone.
1.5v is the JEDEC DDR3 voltage standard.
Stay with 1.5v or less if you can afford it..
 

Freddy1765

Senior member
May 3, 2011
389
1
81
What's wrong with the Crucial Ballistix?

EDIT: Oh and I don't know what that emoticon means :(
 
Last edited:

Freddy1765

Senior member
May 3, 2011
389
1
81
You've given fair warning, thanks. The Ballistix were quite cheap and in stock at a shop very close to where I live, so went for them anyway. So far all's well.
If they fail it'll be a lesson learned, but until then I'll take my chances.