Question 3200C16 vs 3200C14

[thegoldendecadecontact]

Dear Tomshardware community,

I have this dilemma, I'm between HyperX Predator 3200C16 (Kit of 4) and G. Skill TridentZ 3200C14 (Kit of 2).

The difference between these two is 55 €.

Is it worth the extra 55 euro?

System: Intel i7-8700K, Maximus X Hero, GTX 1080 FTW2

Kind regards

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Get the kit of two , it's slightly faster and 2 modules puts less stress on the MC = Memory Controller.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

For 55 Euros , probably not worth it if the 2 kit is the higher priced set.

 

[Supahos]

I'd look for a 2 stick set at 3200 cl16 as mentioned 4 is worse than 2 performance wise but the 2 stick kit you have mentioned isn't going to help a lot on an Intel build

 

[thegoldendecadecontact]

Actually kit of 4 perform better and have better overclock ability (not that I care to tweak further than XMP profile) on ASUS Maximus X Hero due to its topology layout or something like that according to ASUS so they won't perform worse than kit of 2. Obviously the kit of 2 is the higher valued one.

 

[Supahos]

The higher cost is due to the lower cas latency of the 2 stick kit. And yes in all benchmarks on dual channel only motherboards 4 stick kits have worse bandwidth due to having to commutation times and the laws of physics

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Actually since Skylake Intel is better with all 4 DIMMs populated than with just 2.

https://www.overclock.net/forum/180...lake-6700k-memory-tests-speed-vs-latency.html

This is confirmed in many other tests I've seen.

The 3200/14 is very likely made using Samsung B-die ICs and will overclock further than the 3200/16. Is it worth 55 Euros? That's something only you can answer. The real world difference will be tiny and probably only noticeable in benchmarks.

 

[HEXiT]

G. Skill TridentZ 3200C14 (Kit of 2). is what you want. it has tighter timings by default. and will give sub 10ns (9.3ns) response times... the 3000 ram hits 10ns... now this doesnt sound a lot but it is a real difference of about 5-7%

you could also go for a cheaper cas 16 ram at 3200 and manually tighten the timings. but then your running out of spec which can lead to instability...

 

[thegoldendecadecontact]

As I said I’m only interested in running at the XMP profile. I won’t tweak anything myself. I’m just asking if performance wise, 3200C14 is worth 55€ more. I’ve seen some benchmarks, the average difference was 2 FPS extra.

As I said I only game

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Probably not.

 

[Supahos]

Your best bet is to find a 2 stick 3200cl16 kit which should be cheaper than the 4 stick set. Unless using integrated video or maybe ryzen the cl won't likely make up for that price difference

 

[thegoldendecadecontact]

I have a 8700K and Z370 Maximus X Hero paired with Corsair's Vengeance White Led 3000C15 which are Hynix A-Die (21nm) according to Taiphoon. I only want to change my RAM as I really want to populate all the DIMM slots. I'm going to sell my old kit obviously. I probably will go for the HyperX Predator 3200C16 unless, I manage to find 32GB of Vengeance PRO RGB at an affordable price, based on my budget (around 250€) or G. Skill TridentZ (non RGB). Market in Greece is a bit limited.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

My advice is always by the absolute best quality memory that you can and I would get the set of two

 

[thegoldendecadecontact]

Your best bet is to find a 2 stick 3200cl16 kit which should be cheaper than the 4 stick set. Unless using integrated video or maybe ryzen the cl won't likely make up for that price difference

Probably not.

Will it be fine if I get 2 kits of 2x8GB of G.Skill TridentZ 3200C14 (for example) or Corsair’s Dominator Platinum 3200C16 (for example) to reach the desired 4 DIMMs?

Will they work fine or will I face instability issues between the same part number kits?

 

[Supahos]

Mixing ram is always a gamble, the higher end stuff even more so as some of the sub timings change with 4 on xmp. I would buy them in a single kit whatever I bought