1600 cl 9 or 1866 cl 10 ram?

[MuchResearch]

I don't expect either would make much of an improvement over the other but I'm just curious. They are both 2x4gb kits. I read you can do Cas/Speed to get the general speed of the ram, but I'm not sure if thats entirely true (read on a random forum post, haven't found any definitive answers online)
If I did do that then it shows 10/1866 would be about .02 faster than 9/1600. Hardly substantial and I don't expect much if any difference choosing either one.

So my real question is, is there any reason a CL of 9 would be better with slightly slower speed ram? Should the latency or the speed take priority when it comes to ram of such a slight difference in speed/timing?

Feel free to tell me I'm just splitting hairs

 

[jitpublisher]

There is not enough difference here to amount to a hill of beans talking about pure speed. Choose which ever you feel better about, but speed is not a consideration in this decision. I would look at other things, like voltage requirements. Does one require higher voltage than the other? What are the brand names? Do they have heat spreaders, things like this would be the deciding factors on this comparison.

 

[JoneD]

You should keep the timings lowest as possible. You should be looking for something like CL8 1600MHz, 1.5V with head spreaders.
Here's a good pair of ram sticks: http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Desktop-Memory-CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8/dp/B004E0ZKOI

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... You will not notice a difference between 1600 or 1866... and Yes you can run the 1866 at 1600 settings.... the important Number is the CAS rating, lower is better... But Don't over pay for RAM in general... 1600 CAS 11 is pretty standard RAM installed in OEM systems.
Your CPU and GPU investment will have the most noticable Performance effect.

 

[MuchResearch]

There is not enough difference here to amount to a hill of beans talking about pure speed. Choose which ever you feel better about, but speed is not a consideration in this decision. I would look at other things, like voltage requirements. Does one require higher voltage than the other? What are the brand names? Do they have heat spreaders, things like this would be the deciding factors on this comparison.

Both have heat spreaders and match my color scheme, both run at 1.5v. Kingston hyper x fury and G.Skill Ares, so both good brands. I suppose I'm splitting hairs lol

You should keep the timings lowest as possible. You should be looking for something like CL8 1600MHz, 1.5V with head spreaders.
Here's a good pair of ram sticks: http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Desktop-Memory-CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8/dp/B004E0ZKOI

I need low profile ram, and it seems they are pretty expensive when it comes to getting higher speeds. I haven't found any cl8 1600mhz ram with red, or black/silver heatspreaders in the price range of 80-85 dollars.

Hello... You will not notice a difference between 1600 or 1866... and Yes you can run the 1866 at 1600 settings.

Yeah I knew I could turn the speed down, was more wondering if there was a reason to always go for a better CL rather than MHz or vice versa

Edit: just saw your edit, so cl is more ideal (even if negligible in this comparison) thanks!

Thanks for the help guys

 

[jitpublisher]

CL in THIS comparison might have a very, very slight edge. However, this is not always the case! If you were looking at the difference in 1600 and 2000mhz memory or greater, then the discussion would be different.

 

[MuchResearch]

CL in THIS comparison might have a very, very slight edge. However, this is not always the case! If you were looking at the difference in 1600 and 2000mhz memory or greater, then the discussion would be different.

Lol, yeah I figured when I couldn't find any comparisons of 1600mhz 9 cas and 1866mhz cas 10 online. I did notice people favored latency over speed when comparing ram with a larger difference. Seeing as you can overclock ram, I see why they would choose to prioritize latency over speed. Thanks for all the help!!!