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What is a good mem to buy for z97?

sebastian869

sebastian869

Member
Basically looking for memory for asrock z97 extreme 6. Would like something that OC about 10%. I'm thinking 8GB should be enough but 2x4 would allow me to get 8 more if ever needed. w/some head room and up to $200 total. I guess best way to ask is what is the most bang for the buck for $200?
Thx
 
I have the same mobo and I went with 2x8. I waited for a sale and got a Gskill 1866 pair for 150 shipped. If you want 8gb you can get a good pair for $80, as seen above. I don't need 16gb now but going with 2 dimms allows for more cpu cooler options.
 
2 sticks overclocks better as a general rule, or used to at any rate.

Still use triple channel myself atm I guess.
 
MongGrel said:
2 sticks overclocks better as a general rule, or used to at any rate.

Still use triple channel myself atm I guess.
Click to expand...

Sticking my nose in, with some minor thoughts. I always tempered my promotion of G.SKILL kits, just because there are many good brands. But I've always thought they were stellar.

I think someone posted a link for "GBRL" DDR3-1600 units. Before explaining it to me a couple years ago, someone we know here had verified that you could overclock 4x4GB GBRL's to 1866 with slightly looser timings, and I confirm it. But a 2x8GB kit in principle is a better choice -- if you really think you'll ever need that much RAM.

It's nice to hear that the same memory sticks work with Z97. With my Z68 board, I'm running these now:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-625-_-Product

The Patriot Vipers someone linked also seem worth investigating, since they run at the 1.5V spec and 2133Mhz. Always look for low volts and low latencies for any particular speed.
 
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If you can, get the DDR3 it should be out fairly soon and push your performance to all new heights.

I wish I would have waited for DDR2 when it was released in 07 or so.
 
Sattern said:
If you can, get the DDR3 it should be out fairly soon and push your performance to all new heights.

I wish I would have waited for DDR2 when it was released in 07 or so.
Click to expand...

Did you mean to write DDR4 instead of DDR3, and DDR3 instead of DDR2?

If that's the case, it's worth noting that DDR4 won't be released for Z97.
There's no telling when consumer-grade motherboards will support it, but it will all but certainly coincide with the next Intel chipsets and the Broadwell architecture.
 
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Freddy1765 said:
Did you mean to write DDR4 instead of DDR3, and DDR3 instead of DDR2?

If that's the case, it's worth noting that DDR4 won't be released for Z97.
There's no telling when consumer-grade motherboards will support it, but it will all but certainly coincide with the next Intel chipsets and the Broadwell architecture.
Click to expand...

Amen.
 
BonzaiDuck said:
Sticking my nose in, with some minor thoughts. I always tempered my promotion of G.SKILL kits, just because there are many good brands. But I've always thought they were stellar.

I think someone posted a link for "GBRL" DDR3-1600 units. Before explaining it to me a couple years ago, someone we know here had verified that you could overclock 4x4GB GBRL's to 1866 with slightly looser timings, and I confirm it. But a 2x8GB kit in principle is a better choice -- if you really think you'll ever need that much RAM.
Click to expand...

+1

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Still use 12 GB or GSKILL DDR3 1333 myself, but it works well with my older X5650 OC and runs around 1600 OCing the XEON at 4.3, and are low latency at 1.5.

but I've had to loosen em a bit to get there.

It's a special situation maybe a bit I guess.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231405

Not recommending them in this case but was more commenting on the GSKILLs, I've come to be a GSKILL fanboi myself over time. That particular set works well in this rig.
 
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MongGrel said:
+1

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Still use 12 GB or GSKILL DDR3 1333 myself, but it works well with my older X5650 OC and runs around 1600 OCing the XEON at 4.3, and are low latency at 1.5.

but I've had to loosen em a bit to get there.

It's a special situation maybe a bit I guess.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231405

Not recommending them in this case but was more commenting on the GSKILLs, I've come to be a GSKILL fanboi myself over time. That particular set works well in this rig.
Click to expand...

Sure. Not the first time I've said so: I remember using Corsair and OCZ DDR's; Crucial, Corsair and G.SKILL DDR2's. Since then, I stick with the G.SKILLs. I've had two sticks (and two kits) of the G.SKILL DDR2 go bad (or prove bad) out of seven kits. The RMA-warranty-replacement and service was stellar. I'll emphasize that Crucial replaced a pair of Ballistix with a pair that barely worked at spec, and I wasn't happy. They must have had a blitz of RMAs that year -- when Crucial was unusually popular, and I'm guessing they were mixing/matching good sticks from the RMA returns. With the G.SKILLs, if the RAM replacements weren't "new," I wouldn't know it.

Of the three kits (2x 2x4GB and 1x 2x8GB) of DDR3, they've all been flawless. I had a dialog with one of the G.SKILL tech-reps -- they were always accessible through e-mail. He confirmed my suspicion that their RAM, within particular "model-lines," was more or less symmetric in the ability to down-clock higher-speed RAM or up-clock those spec'd lower. In the latter case, you ran the risk that a kit wasn't quite up to snuff, but it generally held true. And for down-clocking, you could pretty much just look at the specs for the cheaper RAM kits to save yourself trouble for setting tighter latencies. [And vice-versa, I think. . . ]

Now that I've commented here, I can remind myself that my DDR3-1866 sticks are still set to CMD=2, and with a totally bug-free system, I can easily set it to 1 with a fair degree of confidence.
 
ok thanks for the advice, will the chips with "higher" heat sinks fit with something like a noctua NH-D15? or should i got with a smaller heat sink? and what do you guys think air or water based? i really like the [FONT=&quot]Swiftech H220-X[/FONT][FONT=&quot] as its the best of the water and u can use it for other items.
Thanks

[/FONT]
 
sebastian869 said:
ok thanks for the advice, will the chips with "higher" heat sinks fit with something like a noctua NH-D15? or should i got with a smaller heat sink? and what do you guys think air or water based? i really like the [FONT=&quot]Swiftech H220-X[/FONT][FONT=&quot] as its the best of the water and u can use it for other items.
Thanks

[/FONT]
Click to expand...

If you go with water, there shouldn't be any problem. The NH-D15 (check again) is supposedly designed to address the problem of high RAM heatsinks. Frankly, since I don't worry about "bling" -- I never needed the really tall RAM modules, and got the performance I needed from G.SKILL RipJaws (GBRL and GZH). This was with a D14, and the GBRL's just . . . barely . . . fit -- to have all four slots filled.

I just say -- if you're building a new machine -- bring up your Excel spreadsheet and start collecting info. Take your time. Especially, some of us have made "mistakes" or discovered the problems such as this one about the cooler and RAM sinks. So it's best to get all this resolved before you go bazoobas to charge up your Egg Preferred Account or whatever.
 
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