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Memory confusion: please help!

A

alexo

Member
So I'm putting together a system from parts (Asus P8Z77-V, i3770K) and go over to http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/parts/memory to pick me a nice 2x4MB kit.

Apparently, for about the same price (in CAD) I can get:

DDR3-1600 CAS 7 (1.5v)
* http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f3-12800cl7d-8gbxm

DDR3-1866 CAS 9 (1.5v)
* http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f3-14900cl9d-8gbxl
* http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f3-14900cl9d-8gbsr
* http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/blt2kit4g3d1869dt1tx0

DDR3-2133 CAS 11 (1.5v)
* http://www.corsair.com/en/vengeancer-8gb-dual-channel-ddr3-memory-kit-cmz8gx3m2a2133c11b

DDR3-2133 CAS 11 (1.5~1.6v)
* http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f3-17000cl11d-8gbxl

DDR3-2400 CAS 10 (1.65v)
* http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f3-2400c10d-8gtx

DDR3-2400 CAS 11 (1.65v)
* http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f3-2400c11d-8gxm
* http://www.kingston.com/datasheets/KHX24C11T3K2_8X.pdf

Not to mention countless others for up to $10 more...

Ouch, my head a splode!

Can you please help with the choice?
Thanks!
 
Last edited:
DominionSeraph said:
Which part of "wouldn't spend more" didn't you comprehend?
Click to expand...

Once upon a time . . . long, long ago . . . there was a DDR OCZ "Gold" 400Mhz and later "Platinum". The Gold kit was supposed to be overclockable up to 500. The Platinums could be set at timings 2,2,2,5, and you might overclock them to 466 or thereabouts at those latency specs.

I spent . . . $FIVE . . . HUNDRED . . . . DOLLARS on those damn Gold modules. Generally, what was commonly known about them put me in that ballpark. But the money!! The money!! Arrrrgghhhh!!!

The Platinums I think could be had for maybe 20 to 25% of that. And they lasted a lot longer.

I said this before: If you can overclock the RAM with loosened timings at no more than 1.5V "VDIMM" -- then get those having such prospects and you can choose a couple of approaches. If you choose to pay for RAM rated at the higher speeds, you can also tighten the latencies, downclock them, and for some makes/models -- drop the voltage. IF the "default" spec is 1.60V or higher, you definitely WANT to run them at lower voltage. Otherwise, you would probably notch up the VCCIO voltage to something less than 1.20V -- and even there, there are sweet spots lower than that which may stabilize HIGHER clocks.

I've bought DDR2-1000 modules knowing beforehand that I'd downclock to maybe 850 and tighten the latencies to 4,4,4,12 or even 4,4,4,10. I've bought 900 "Pi" modules so that I could clock them at 833.

But when it comes to the range between 1600 and 2400 DDR3, I'd settle for (a pair of) 2x8GB G.SKILL "GZH" RipJaws Z modules of DDR3-1866. The latencies are the same as the earlier 1600 RipJaws and RipJaws X, like the "GBRL"s: 9,9,9,24. They'll run at CMD=1, and it was nice to see the benchmark. And, ah . . . with voltage 1.50V. And those older RipJaws could be loosened to 10,10,10,28, so you could goose them up to 1866Mhz -- at, ah . . . 1.50V.

Check the "configurator" link at the memory manufacturer's website, and either list modules recommended for your motherboard, or see if there's a likely match. They test as many as they can, or rely on good intelligence about the motherboard(s).
 
My own preference.

1) stick to 1.5V RAM

2) By considering both frequency and latency. I will choose 1600 CL 7.
 
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