To Buy Or Not To Buy?

[Toyk115]

Hello Forum,

I am looking to buy myself a new set of RAM.

RAM is just so inexpensive right now, I'm itching for a new set. However, my situation is like this:

I'm currently running an i7-860 with 2 x 2GB of RAM (Corsair XMS). I intend to upgrade my set-up to Ivy Bridge once its released.

With rumours floating around that RAMs with speeds of almost 3000mhz are to be released in conjunction with ivy bridge, is it wise to purchase RAM now?

My computer is stuttering a little due to too little memory. I'm currently contemplating between Gskill Ripjaws 2 x 4GB kit running at 1866mhz and their Crucial Ballistix equivalent.

Question is-- When Ivy Bridge is available, will these RAMs be considered "slow"? Should I just bite the bullet and upgrade my system now, and re-use the RAM in my future Ivy Bridge system, or should I bide my time and wait for the official release of Ivy Bridge before purchasing the RAM?

Thanks!

 

[janas19]

I would go ahead and purchase the RAM now. Higher speed RAM is only going to see a marginal gain in performance. Also, do you want to trade real stability now for possible hype, later?

 

[razel]

You won't be able to tell the difference. Having higher throughput is useless unless you actually process that amount of data enough times. Endless benchmarks comparing RAM speeds have proven that RAM it is not the slowest part of the chain.

Ever since 64bit OSs became common, 4GB is the bare minimum now. The lowest I've price I've seen is 8GB for $20. It's all up to you whether you'll get enjoyment out of that $20 until you upgrade.

 

[Toyk115]

I would go ahead and purchase the RAM now. Higher speed RAM is only going to see a marginal gain in performance. Also, do you want to trade real stability now for possible hype, later?

Thanks for the quick response.

In that case, should I even be considering the 1866 variant, or would the 1600 variant suffice?

It's good to note that the 1866 variant is able to be OCed comfortably to 2166 without even having to tweak timings/voltage.

How would I be trading stability for hype, if I may?

 

[janas19]

Sure, go ahead and buy the higher speed RAM, if you prefer. All I'm saying is that the performance gains you will see are not worth paying an additional 20% for.

You said you are having stuttering issues, so I said buy the RAM now for stability. Until actual benchmarks come out about the high speed RAM, all the rumors swirling around are just hype.

 

[greenhawk]

depending on the stuttering, it might be a issue with the HDD more than a lack of RAM.

As to buying now or wait, I say wait. the I7-860 (and all that used that socket) have DDR RAM that needs 1.65V standard. With SB, intel lowered that to 1.5V. Not all RAM is happy to run at both voltages (but it does exist). If RAM is rated for one, it might not work 100% on the other.

 

[gramboh]

IB will run fine with DDR3-1600. As said, performance difference from 1600 up to 2133 is not significant in normal desktop usage/gaming (1-3%).

The voltage concern posted by Greenhawk is what you need to think about.

Since IB isn't coming out for another 2 months, I would just buy the cheapest 2x4GB kit you can find ($20-25) that will run in your current setup, sell your old ram for $5-10 on Craigslist, then if the RAM you buy isn't compatible, sell it on CL and buy new stuff for Ivy again . When you are talking stuttering, it is worth $20 to fix that problem for a few months.

 

[Toyk115]

What happens when I try to run RAM rated for 1.5v on my i7-860 system? Can't I just use 1.5v instead of having to ramp it up to 1.65v?

 

[Blain]

My computer is stuttering a little due to too little memory. I'm currently contemplating between Gskill Ripjaws 2 x 4GB kit running at 1866mhz and their Crucial Ballistix equivalent.

What is a "Crucial Ballistix equivalent"?
If you mean you're considering buying the Ballistix line, maybe you should think it over a bit more.
The Ballistix line doesn't have a stellar reputation for longevity.

 

[fffblackmage]

As to buying now or wait, I say wait. the I7-860 (and all that used that socket) have DDR RAM that needs 1.65V standard. With SB, intel lowered that to 1.5V. Not all RAM is happy to run at both voltages (but it does exist). If RAM is rated for one, it might not work 100% on the other.

1.5V has always been the standard voltage for DDR3 memory, for both Nehalem and SB. There was just a lot of DDR3 memory that required 1.65V during Nehalem's time. As technology improved, newer memory chips required less voltage to get the same performance, so we see more 1.5V ram kits today, even some 1.35V kits.

What happens when I try to run RAM rated for 1.5v on my i7-860 system? Can't I just use 1.5v instead of having to ramp it up to 1.65v?

You should be fine with 1.5V ram.

Anyways, I wouldn't bother going higher than DDR3-1600 ram. You're going to be paying a lot of money for faster ram and the performance gains are insignificant.

 

[Toyk115]

Thanks guys. I guess I'll go ahead and get a set of gskills.

The price difference between the 1866 and 1600 modules is actually rather insignificant. I'll just get the 1866 for peace of mind.

Get 2 X 4GB now, and another 2 X 4GB later.