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Picking DDR3

C

Craig234

Lifer
I've asked similar before, sorry but I might be getting the question a little better.

For 4GB AMD gaming, MSI 790FX-GD70 what should I bother with:

CAS 9, 8, 7? Voltage (1.5, 1.6, 1.65)?

1333 (default) versus 1600 (max)? Fancy 'heat sink' type things?

There seems to be a pricing of 'cheap stuff' about $80-100 and 'decent stuff' about $115-125.

I'm leaning towards the latter, and g.skill seems to have a good reputation, but others are ok too.
 
I try not to overcomplicate RAM purchasing, because all I really wanted was some headroom, and stability... I had read the G.Skill NQ series was really good for the price, and has some OCing headroom. (being 1600)

I suggest just reading some reviews and seeing what works on your board, and get the quantity at the price you need.

I'm really happy with my G.Skill. It's great looking with red spreaders, and stable.. No complaints.
 
Blain said:
1.5v is the DDR3 standard.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but what does that mean to me as a buyer? Only 1.5V is acceptable? Being the standard is meaningless since most RAM isn't 1.5V? I need to translate that fact into the purchasing decision.

Then there are the other factors listed.

It's a little like hearing 'this car has ABS brakes' without knowing whether that's great or a useless gimmick.
 
Without trying to suggest specific kits, i'd say try to find a solid brand w/ the following objectives:

- Lower rated vDIMM = generally better, though if you like heavily OCing RAM,
the lower rated stuff does not tend to do as well as higher binned 1.65v stuff.
- Highest speed w/ tighest timings
Higher speeds are slightly better on Intel;
on AMD this is becomes of even less importance generally.

Honestly, if you aren't big into OCing RAM itself (you just wanna OC the CPU), you'll find pretty much zero benefit from spending more on the "better" kits vs. the cheaper ones
These days with DDR3, RAM speed is never an issue, unlike the old days where things such as 1:1 existed (no such thing for DDR3 to worry about).

Even to heavily OC a CPU, you can simply lower the ratio/divider & still have tons of room to continue your CPU OC.

If you like OCing the RAM also, then i'd look for something DDR3-1600+ w/ the best possible timings/voltage combination.
 
Craig234 said:
Thanks, but what does that mean to me as a buyer? Only 1.5V is acceptable? Being the standard is meaningless since most RAM isn't 1.5V? I need to translate that fact into the purchasing decision.

Then there are the other factors listed.

It's a little like hearing 'this car has ABS brakes' without knowing whether that's great or a useless gimmick.
Click to expand...
1.5v is like a car with ABS brakes, while 1.65v is like a car with regular drum brakes on the rear and no ABS on the front.
Lots of DDR3 is rated for 1.5v operation.

High quality DDR3 memory will reflect the following attributes...
* 1.5v rating
* High clock rating
* Low latency timings
 
I appreciate the replies, but feel like I'm not getting the specifics. 'low latency timings' and 'RAM speed is never an issue' don't make it very clear how much preference to give CAS 7 verus 9 for example.

I do note the apparent advice of '1.5v is better not overclocking, and 1.65v is better for overclocking'.
Simlarly it seems 1600 is best for OC but there's that 'RAM speed is never an issue' not to OC it.

I didn't see anything about whether to get the 'heat sinks'.
 
Step back and look at the big picture...

Higher voltage is used to produce stability.
Memory makers slam higher voltage at memory to get it to run stable.
That way they can get by with using lower quality chips.
Lower voltage rated memory has more headroom for OCing that memory that's already being slammed with higher than standard voltage.

As far as latency goes, I don't look at that number in terms of performance, but as a measure of memory quality (when taking voltage into consideration).
 
Craig234 said:
I appreciate the replies, but feel like I'm not getting the specifics. 'low latency timings' and 'RAM speed is never an issue' don't make it very clear how much preference to give CAS 7 verus 9 for example.

I do note the apparent advice of '1.5v is better not overclocking, and 1.65v is better for overclocking'.
Simlarly it seems 1600 is best for OC but there's that 'RAM speed is never an issue' not to OC it.

I didn't see anything about whether to get the 'heat sinks'.
Click to expand...

I'm gonna be late for work, so i'll be quick.

Timings make extremely little difference other than for synthetic benches.
It will not effect normal usage.

I cannot really agree with Blain that lower voltage kits are always higher quality.
Most lower voltage kits are actually lower binned as they do not clock well with more voltage, or haven't been binned @ all.

A good 1.65v kit will usually be better than a 1.5v for OCing, though your luck will factor in this largely.

Now the newer 1.35v kits that have come out are a different story as they've been specifically binned to run nice speeds/timings @ low voltages.
Those same kits will rarely reach the same high speeds as something like my RipJaws @ 1.6v kit will do though, as their strong suit is lower voltage, not high speeds @ a bit more voltage.

Most of the good 1.65v kits should have tighter timings (say e.g, 7-8-7 instead of 9-9-9); if they don't, then it's likely a poorer kit.
Obviously you don't want to be spending extra for a kit @ higher voltage w/ the same timing as one w/ lower voltage.

As for speeds, you can always set a lower RAM ratio, which means a higher speed isn't necessary anymore.

Any 1333/1600 is more than adequate for basic to extreme OCing, unless again, you are specificially trying to heavily OC the RAM itself (not the CPU).

Heatsinks are useless for the normal user.
RAM that does not have them is generally not binned much @ all, or at least on the lower end of binning barring some rather good luck, so i'd be hesitant to go that route unless it's much cheaper as i would generally consider kits w/o heatsinks lower end.

I don't really know AMD well enough to make specific recommendations as well as for Intel, but the Xtreme Bandwidth section on XS has lots of info if you want to get into heavy RAM OCing.
 
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I appreciatethe tips but still think there's some contradictoryu tips. To make it simple, here are 3 g.skill picks.

The first 2 are each $114.99, the third $139.99. First is 1333 1.5v 7.7.7.7, second 1600 7-8-7-7 1,65v, third is 1600 7-7-7-7 1.6v.

I do think I've heard in the advice ram OC is not worth it. So it's quality/value/non-ram OC performance.

Other notes: only the first is listed for AMD, though that doesn't seem to matter, I don't like it really that they market to hard to Intel for AMD RAM; thre third one a review says is tricky to configure the bios.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231276

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231303

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231279
 
I said this in the other RAM thread floating at the top of the forum, but I'll say it again here in case it helps you.

LokutusofBorg said:
I bought 1066 memory for my i7 920 when I bought everything because I didn't want to run outside of spec. I also made sure to buy modules rated at 1.5v so they were JEDEC-compliant. If I bought an i7 1156 rig I would buy 1.5v 1333 memory for the same reasons. System stability is far and away the most important thing for me.
Click to expand...
If you're not overclocking, then I would just buy to spec, set-and-forget. And I agree that heatsinks on RAM are worthless.
 
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