DDR3 Ram Module - - Buying Help

[craige4u]

I am building a new system and have to understand stuff about DDR3., as I am not in touch with anything related to DDR3 as I would be jumping from DDR2. So please bear with me.

1] What are the Normal Spec Mhz of DDR3 ? (Non Oc'ed)
2] What are the ideal speed that I should buy that has a perfect balance of speed vs price.
3] What Latency shall I be looking for.
4] Suppose if I buy oc'ed Ram of 2133Mhz will it automatically run at tht speed OR I have to do sum manual overclocking/setting frm Mobo to Run at tht speed?

PS: I am a gamer and a non-overclocker. I will be buying top of the line Z97Asus board supporting modules upto 3200.

 

[Essence_of_War]

I'll refer to this post by forum-user Blain:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=35345931&postcount=2

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.

With regards to your specific questions:
1) I wouldn't bother with any clockspeed less than 1600 MHz
2) Usually 1600 & 1866 are fine, you see virtually no returns returns above that unless you're gaming on an AMD APU.
3) Lowest you can find, usually this is something like 9-9-9
4) Depends on your motherboard. I'd plan for your motherboard detecting it wrong and having to dial in the correct settings.

 

[Coup27]

I am building a new system and have to understand stuff about DDR3., as I am not in touch with anything related to DDR3 as I would be jumping from DDR2. So please bear with me.

1] What are the Normal Spec Mhz of DDR3 ? (Non Oc'ed)
2] What are the ideal speed that I should buy that has a perfect balance of speed vs price.
3] What Latency shall I be looking for.
4] Suppose if I buy oc'ed Ram of 2133Mhz will it automatically run at tht speed OR I have to do sum manual overclocking/setting frm Mobo to Run at tht speed?

PS: I am a gamer and a non-overclocker. I will be buying top of the line Z97Asus board supporting modules upto 3200.

In-spec RAM for Haswell is 1600Mhz 1.5v. Anything higher is overclocked. Timings change depending on price but the difference will be tiny.

 

[bryanl]

I am building a new system and have to understand stuff about DDR3., as I am not in touch with anything related to DDR3 as I would be jumping from DDR2. So please bear with me.

1] What are the Normal Spec Mhz of DDR3 ? (Non Oc'ed)
2] What are the ideal speed that I should buy that has a perfect balance of speed vs price.
3] What Latency shall I be looking for.
4] Suppose if I buy oc'ed Ram of 2133Mhz will it automatically run at tht speed OR I have to do sum manual overclocking/setting frm Mobo to Run at tht speed?

PS: I am a gamer and a non-overclocker. I will be buying top of the line Z97Asus board supporting modules upto 3200.

1. 1333-1600 MHz is normally the actual speed rating of the chips according to the strictest testing standards, that is those of the chip manufacturers. Very few modules are made with faster chips, contrary to the ratings printed on the modules, meaning most chips on modules are overclocked and binned, and the standards are relatively lax.

2, 3. The fastest your CPU can handle, but in reality CPU caching dominates memory I/O so overwhelmingly that memory clock and latency have little effect on overall performance. 1333 MHz chips are actually rated no faster than clk 9, 1600 MHz for clk 11.

4. You should be able to run at that speed if you first enable XMP in the BIOS (AMP for AMD CPUs).

 

[craige4u]

With regards to your specific questions:
1) I wouldn't bother with any clockspeed less than 1600 MHz
2) Usually 1600 & 1866 are fine, you see virtually no returns returns above that unless you're gaming on an AMD APU.
3) Lowest you can find, usually this is something like 9-9-9
4) Depends on your motherboard. I'd plan for your motherboard detecting it wrong and having to dial in the correct settings.

In-spec RAM for Haswell is 1600Mhz 1.5v.

1333 MHz chips are actually rated no faster than clk 9, 1600 MHz for clk 11.

You all have provided me with accurate & exactly the information that I was looking for and I thank you for that 🙂

 

[Blain]

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 purchase 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..

What he said

 

[craige4u]

After carefully reading the above and numerous articles I have decided to go with:
16GB 1866Mhz @ 9-10-9-27.

Now, as compared to what I have selected, how abt this:
16GB 1600Mhz @ 9-9-9-24.

I have read articles explaining the timings & what each number means but I cant seem to understand much.

PS: Both almost same price here.

 

[Coup27]

If you are a non-overclocker, why did you buy a Z series board and why are you looking at 1866Mhz RAM?

 

[craige4u]

If you are a non-overclocker, why did you buy a Z series board and why are you looking at 1866Mhz RAM?

I am buying Z-series board due to certain function tht I require and buying 1866Mhz Ram for faster speed... I believe just overclocking the RAM doesn't affect other part/setting of the system in any way.... (Do correct me if I am wrong)