i7-4770k with Z87 mobo - will older Patriot Gamer pc3-10666 cause issues?

paradigmGT

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Jan 22, 2013
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I have some older Patriot Gamer 2 pc3-10666 DDR3 memory (8GB) that I am hoping to pair with an i7-4770k that will be on a z87 motherboard.

Is this is a bad idea for system reliability?

Alternatively I also have G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) memory that I can use with the above motherboard/CPU...but I am trying not to, in order to save cost.
 
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nwo

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Jun 21, 2005
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Are you talking about the i7 3770k or i7 4770k? Because only one of them is compatible with Z87 mobo.
 

DigDog

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Jun 3, 2011
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there's no reason why that ram wouldn't work. as far as i can tell, only if you had bought some very unusual high-voltage DDR3 ram from back in the DDR2 days, you might have issues, but no, it will work fine.
 

paradigmGT

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Jan 22, 2013
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there's no reason why that ram wouldn't work. as far as i can tell, only if you had bought some very unusual high-voltage DDR3 ram from back in the DDR2 days, you might have issues, but no, it will work fine.
The older slower patriot memory won't be too much of a bottleneck for the i7-4770k though?
 

tsupersonic

Senior member
Nov 11, 2013
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I am in the same boat. I'm using 2x4 GB Patriot DDR3 1066 (CL 7) on my i5 4670, from my leftover build. It doesn't cause any noticeable bottlenecks. I have been meaning to upgrade to faster RAM and 16GB, but it's not a priority at the moment.
 

nwo

Platinum Member
Jun 21, 2005
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The older slower patriot memory won't be too much of a bottleneck for the i7-4770k though?

Depends on what you are going to be using it for.

Switching from DDR 2133 to 1866 RAM on my i7 4770k caused my mining hashrate to go down from 110kH/s to 100kH/s at the same i7 4770k clock speed. I also heard, but not witnessed, that memory can give you an fps boost in certain games.
 

tsupersonic

Senior member
Nov 11, 2013
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Depends on what you are going to be using it for.

Switching from DDR 2133 to 1866 RAM on my i7 4770k caused my mining hashrate to go down from 110kH/s to 100kH/s at the same i7 4770k clock speed. I also heard, but not witnessed, that memory can give you an fps boost in certain games.
You're talking very (and I mean VERY) minimal increases when it comes to gaming... Anandtech actually has an excellent article on Memory scaling on Haswell.
 

wand3r3r

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May 16, 2008
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You're talking very (and I mean VERY) minimal increases when it comes to gaming... Anandtech actually has an excellent article on Memory scaling on Haswell.

Thanks for the link. I've seen it over-hyped in forums and that brings it back to reality/perspective. So it's nothing unusual or special for people who already have e.g. ddr3 1600 from previous builds. I don't even recall that it would be any different than previous generations. The claims that haswell is super sensitive to memory timings appear to be misaligned. Sure if you are buying you can look at pricing and compare them, but if upgrading I wouldn't bother spending much extra for those gains over a previous builds ddr3.
 

nwo

Platinum Member
Jun 21, 2005
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Well to answer the OP's original question:

Using DDR 1333 RAM with an i7 4770k will not have an impact on its reliability and yes, it will be compatible with the CPU/motherboard.

There is going to be a performance difference (which is most likely going to be unnoticeable in everyday use) if you were to upgrade to 1866 or higher, but it's probably not going to be worth 50-60 bucks that you will have to spend to get a new 8GB kit.
 

felang

Senior member
Feb 17, 2007
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Have you tried overclocking your RAM, you might have lucked out and gotten 1333mhz or even higher rated chips.