12GB ddr3 1333MHz or 6GB ddr3 1866 MHz?

[alrobichaud]

Which is better for my system? All I do is play games. With dual monitor, MSI afterburner, coretemp,fraps and crysis2 at max settings running my RAM usuage never exceeds 4MB. I have read lot's of threads where some people say more RAM and some people say faster RAM. I am leaning towards faster RAM. I currently have the 12 GB 1333 MHz RAM installed and have a chance to pick up 6GB 1866MHz for next to nothing. Any thoughts?

 

[geekapproved]

Also, it has been 4 days since I realized the default RAM latency settings were incorrect and changed them. I have not had a random restart due to system overclocking since then. Could it be because the RAM was set to 7/7/7/20 when it should have been 9/9/9/24?

If you set it to what it's supposed to be from the start, you won't have any issues at all. I can't believe it took you this long to realize the specs on the sticker do not match your settings in the bios.

 

[alrobichaud]

Was that comment really nescesarry, geekapproved?

 

[geekapproved]

What comment?

There is a sticker on your dimms that tells you what the settings are supposed to be.......if you fail to set those settings, then you can expect trouble.......so yes, the comment was necessary obviously.

 

[jaquith]

My question - I assume the settings I provided solved your problem aka worked. Keep in mind the BCLK is not required for up to DDR3-1600, but instead it's geared to improve your 'benchmarks' BCLK 133.33 vs 160MHz in conjunction with your i7-920; the increased BCLK does cause the CPU to run hotter but improves the IMC on the LGA 1366.

 

[alrobichaud]

Yes, jaquith, your help solved my issues and is greatly appreciated! For the record, geekaproved, the last computer I built had jumpers on the motherboard and was probably around 1998. I don't recall having to make any BIOS changes back then. The comment you made ' I can't believe it took you this long to realize the specs on the sticker do not match your settings in the bios.' was a bit of a dick thing to say. We all can't be as informed as you are that is why I came here to ask. If I knew that I had to even change those settings I would have done it on day one. For the most part, the people who come here and read these threads appear to be quite helpfull and understanding of those of us who lack the experience and generally offer good advice. I can't say that you are one of those persons. 'Since you failed to mention what your system is, nobody could possibly answer that question' WTF was that for? You could have just read it and moved on or simply asked me what my specs were and I would have gladly copied and pasted it from my public profile. Even better you could have just said eventhough you put your system info in your public profile, we generally retype our specs on each new thread so that no one has to spend time looking it up.

 

[jaquith]

Glad to hear! If you have any problems i.e. instability you can also increase the {CPU's IMC voltage} QPI/VTT Voltage -> 1.25v~1.30v. Stress tests like Prime95 + Blend, in particular Test #7, stress the CPU's IMC.

I too assume your scores went up as well.

In any case, Good Luck!

 

[alrobichaud]

I downloaded prime95 last night but I have not tried it yet. I plan on running a stress test when I get home. I first OC'd the 1333MHz to 1600MHz and ran memtest86 for an hour with no errors. I did get an improvement of almost 140 on my 3dmark11 score. I did pick up the OCZgold pc3 15000 triple channel kit. Paid $35 for it so I really couldn't pass on it. Also got the original reciept for 209+tax from the guy. Unfortunately, lifetime warranty may not be possible since OCZ no longer makes RAM. I plan on giving the pc3 15000 a try to see what kind of numbers I get. I will keep the 12GB kit just incase I have any issues with 64 bit games down the road.

Thanks again

Al

 

[jaquith]

OCZ quit producing RAM for a reason; problematic. OCZ is honoring replacements -- at least until they're out of RAM -- after that -- ??

Good Luck!

 

[alrobichaud]

Best answer selected by alrobichaud.