[SOLVED] 3200 or 3600 MHz Ram

[xerxesaria]

I am building a new gaming PC with the following stats:

- i5-10600 (no K- Don't want to overclock)

• Gigabyte Z490 aorus elite ac
• RTX 2060 super or 2070 super (not decided yet)
• 2 SSDs (not decided on the type yet)

I am down to choose a decent RAM matching the set up. I have set my mind at 32GB, therefore 2x16. But here is where I need help:

Can I stick with 3200Mhz (it is also cheaper) or go for 3600 Mhz considering CL values?

Thank you.

 

[Barty1884]

With a non-K 10-600, you might want to consider a B460 or H470 motherboard. All you really drop is (potential) SLI support, RAID etc.

As for RAM, there can be some slight gains to be had in the jump from 3200-3600MHz, but nowhere close to the 'jump' from something like 2133/2400 to ~3000MHz.

3200Mhz will be fine.


Out of curiosity, what are you doing to necessitate 32GB with a 6c/12t chip? There certainly are workloads that'll benefit from it, but for most people 2x8GB is more than enough....

If gaming, you'd be much better off saving the $50-$60 dropping to an H470 or B460 board and ~$50 or so dropping from 32GB to 16GB....

An extra $100 saved there just about steps you up from a 2060Super ($400) to a 2070Super ($500).... Or halfway from a 2070Super to a 2080Super (~$700)

 

[xerxesaria]

With a non-K 10-600, you might want to consider a B460 or H470 motherboard. All you really drop is (potential) SLI support, RAID etc.

As for RAM, there can be some slight gains to be had in the jump from 3200-3600MHz, but nowhere close to the 'jump' from something like 2133/2400 to ~3000MHz.

3200Mhz will be fine.


Out of curiosity, what are you doing to necessitate 32GB with a 6c/12t chip? There certainly are workloads that'll benefit from it, but for most people 2x8GB is more than enough....

If gaming, you'd be much better off saving the $50-$60 dropping to an H470 or B460 board and ~$50 or so dropping from 32GB to 16GB....

An extra $100 saved there just about steps you up from a 2060Super ($400) to a 2070Super ($500).... Or halfway from a 2070Super to a 2080Super (~$700)

Thank you for your recommendations. I will certainly take your suggestions about motherboards into consideration.
The reason that want to "upgrade" to 32gb ram is that I sometimes play ram hungry games amongst which an example is Cities Skylines (this particular game runs on the Unity engine). On my current pc with 16gb ram, the load times can take up to 15 minutes for a city larger than 50000 citizens as well as fps drops to 5. I have understood that this is not only related to the gpu but also ram consumption by the Unity engine. The game's community is full of discussions about this problem.
I also want to "future proof" my pc and thought of I'm spending on a good gpu and cpu, might as well spend a few extra bucks on ram.
I do also use my computer for video editing which I don't do often.
Perhaps it's overkill, and I'm still in doubt. So a good starting point was to come here and ask about the difference between 3200 and 3600Mhz.

 

[Barty1884]

I'm not too familiar with City Skylines... I don't doubt it can be memory intensive, but from what I do know, it's CPU morseo. If you're currently running the 3570K (in your sig) and have no interest in overclocking.... a stock 3570k is probably your main issue - but again, not too familiar with the game, it may well be memory.

When you do find a game that's memory intensive, speed usually matters less than capacity - assuming you're not running basic 2133MHz. Once you're at 2666-2800 or higher, capacity should have more focus IMO.

Don't focus too much on the 'future proof' aspect. There's no harm having one eye on the future, but I fully expect we're years away from >16GB being strictly 'necessary' in gaming (although there will always be games the exception to the generalization).

You're right though, in the grand scheme of a ~$300 10600K, $100+ MB, $400+ GPU... and extra $50 in memory isn't too bad at all.

Take a look for some benchmarks for RAM speeds/capacity that address City Skylines specifically. Generally speaking the difference won't be much, but in your specific scenario, it might be .... I know JayzTwoCents did a video not too long ago for Intel - not sure if CitySkylines was in there, and Science Studio (or Salazar, whatever he's called now) typically includes the game in his reviews/benchmarks, so perhaps you'll find a definitive answer there.

 

[xerxesaria]

I'm not too familiar with City Skylines... I don't doubt it can be memory intensive, but from what I do know, it's CPU morseo. If you're currently running the 3570K (in your sig) and have no interest in overclocking.... a stock 3570k is probably your main issue - but again, not too familiar with the game, it may well be memory.

When you do find a game that's memory intensive, speed usually matters less than capacity - assuming you're not running basic 2133MHz. Once you're at 2666-2800 or higher, capacity should have more focus IMO.

Don't focus too much on the 'future proof' aspect. There's no harm having one eye on the future, but I fully expect we're years away from >16GB being strictly 'necessary' in gaming (although there will always be games the exception to the generalization).

You're right though, in the grand scheme of a ~$300 10600K, $100+ MB, $400+ GPU... and extra $50 in memory isn't too bad at all.

Take a look for some benchmarks for RAM speeds/capacity that address City Skylines specifically. Generally speaking the difference won't be much, but in your specific scenario, it might be .... I know JayzTwoCents did a video not too long ago for Intel - not sure if CitySkylines was in there, and Science Studio (or Salazar, whatever he's called now) typically includes the game in his reviews/benchmarks, so perhaps you'll find a definitive answer there.

That particular game is very memory intensive. But I also use Blender for example to create custom assets for it with lots of details. And yes, it also eats up lots of cpu time as well as works your gpu if you load 1000s of custom detailed assets.
But I am running the game on my other pc (laptop) using i7-8750 (2.2 ghz) and gtx1060 (6gb gddr5). Still due to limitations in ram!!! game runs slow....
I will definitely check out the videos you mentioned, though I must say I am not building this machine JUST for Cities! That would not be wise.
In general, I don't know if we digressed from the main point or have I understood you well? Are you suggesting that the 400Mhz won't make much difference?

 

[Barty1884]

In general, I don't know if we digressed from the main point or have I understood you well? Are you suggesting that the 400Mhz won't make much difference?

Much difference, in the majority of games/applications yes, that's what I'm suggesting.

 

[Encryption+]

3200 Mhz is going to be your best bang for the buck with that setup. And since you said you don't want to overclock anything, your RAM is going to be auto limited by the motherboard down to 2933 Mhz anyways.

 

[geofelt]

Intel is not very dependent on ram speed for performance(integrated graphics excluded)

That said, there is probably only a $20 difference between a 3200 and a 3600 kit.
Buy the 3600 or you will forever be second guessing if you should have.

In a similar vein the i5-10600K costs exactly 2$ more than the i5-10600 on newegg.
Buy the K.
You may, in time want to dabble with tuning and overclocking.

There is a potential for savings on the ssd devices.
Normally, a single large ssd will cost less.

 

[Barty1884]

Fair point on both there @geofelt - I didn't realize the price delta was so small on the 10600 vs K. At their lowest points, Adorama and B&H both have the non-K for around $260, so more like a $30 delta, but still a valid point.

As for the RAM speed, at >3000MHz I completely agree. Some interesting results on recent YT videos (JayzTwoCents for sure, I want to say there was others in the last couple of weeks) saw measurable gains with increasing RAM speed &/or tightening timings. Not huge differences, to the point I'd opt for spending the money on faster RAM at the expense of something else, but certainly measurable and worth it if budget is not a huge concern.

 

[xerxesaria]

Much difference, in the majority of games/applications yes, that's what I'm suggesting.

Thank you again!!! It was a very informative discussion.

 

[xerxesaria]

Intel is not very dependent on ram speed for performance(integrated graphics excluded)

That said, there is probably only a $20 difference between a 3200 and a 3600 kit.
Buy the 3600 or you will forever be second guessing if you should have.

In a similar vein the i5-10600K costs exactly 2$ more than the i5-10600 on newegg.
Buy the K.
You may, in time want to dabble with tuning and overclocking.

There is a potential for savings on the ssd devices.
Normally, a single large ssd will cost less.

Thank you. I live in the Netherlands actually. And here the price difference between K and non K is around €50.00 give or take. I am still debating in my mind what to do. But as you and @Barty1884 suggested, I am definitely going to go for the 3600. It doesn't hurt after all!

 

[geofelt]

FWIW:
Yes, paying more up front hurts for a little while.
But, over time, I the sweetness of the price diminishes quickly and regrets linger on much longer.