What is a good Memory?

TheAstrohaut

Member
Jun 12, 2012
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What is good 8gb memory? I was looking at the g.skill, but it looks too odd. Anybody have a different suggestion? Oh and it has to be 1600. Thanks.
 

Coup27

Platinum Member
Jul 17, 2010
2,140
3
81
Depends on whether you are running a stock system or want to overclock? If you run a stock ivy bridge with stock 1.5v 1600 RAM then Corsair XMS3 is a solid choice. If you do run stock then there is little point getting exoctic memory which can overclock.
 

IGemini

Platinum Member
Nov 5, 2010
2,472
2
81
I just built a A8 Llano setup with the memory I posted (1x4GB though), and it's humming along at 1866 9-9-9-24 @ 1.35V (aka DDR3L, which Ivy Bridge supports). There's nothing "exotic" about it, it just runs at that speed simply because it can. The XMS3 costs the same or more as the Samsung and runs at a higher voltage. I'm a Corsair fan but the Samsung is simply a better buy all around in this case.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
16,351
1,894
126
Um...you should just stop talking.

:thumbsup:

Dredd is quite right about the Samsung MV-3V4G3D/US. It trumps my G.SKILL 8GBRL kit, except for its "recommended" or "certified" latency settings, but probably will run at those same timings at the rated speed with only a slight voltage bump. The GBRLs are rated at 1.50V -- and it's likely I will get them to run as two kits in four slots at about that voltage @ DDR3-1866. A 20-hour test the other day at that speed using HCI Memtest 4.0 -- 16GB 2x8GB -- got past 380% coverage using the bootable-CD version before forcing a system reboot.

I should only have to increase the VCCIO another 0.025V to 1.10V to get the G.SKILLs to pass considerably more than that, and if that doesn't work, 1.15V probably will.

In this context, the Samsungs have a lot going for them -- in fact, a lot more. Given the relationship between vDIMM and VCCIO, a low voltage like 1.35V in the Samsung spec means that the VCCIO setting might be lower than 1.0V. More certain -- if you only have to raise the vDIMM to 1.475V or just under 1.5, the VCCIO can vary over a wider range to get higher speeds than 1600, while low enough to be "safe" for the processor and its IMC.

I could almost spend the $96 to get me into a two-kit Samsung ball-game, but it looks like I'm going to get these G.SKILLs to work at settings I've chosen, and I don't need to take them to 2133 Mhz.

As for heatspreaders, G.SKILL has been a stand-up brand for performance, but they've never been above giving their product different flavors of "bling-bling." They use Samsung parts, or so I heard. But there may be some truth to the idea that the heatspreaders could be the most distinct difference for differently-spec'd RAM kits, howsoever a deliberate and painstaking binning process assures product quality for the rated speeds and timings.
 

HaX

Member
Mar 14, 2010
25
0
0
+1 Samsung 30nm sticks. Be nice if 20nm was released for consumers, still in producion/development. The Samsung 20nm server sticks are out though... But that doesnt help you much lol
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,709
3,002
126
I don’t overclock, so I use Corsair Vengeance. It’s cheap and absolutely reliable.

I’m currently using the Arctic White 1.35V edition, which cost the same as the regular 1.5V sticks.
 

sm625

Diamond Member
May 6, 2011
8,172
137
106
Looks dont matter. What matters is if 10000 people can order something and only 58 have problems with it.