Best RAM for Intel Core i7 4770k

[adzmihakin98]

Hello! I'm planning to build a system which uses the intel core i7 4770k processer. What do you guys think the best RAM for them? For gaming specifically. And if it's possible, what are the numbers on the ram like MHz mean too? hahah thanks a bunch

 

[Ron Lacy]

RAM for the Haswell 4770K

Someone said that RAM is dependent on the motherboard and not the CPU. That is only HALF RIGHT. But half right implies half wrong.

I built a system two and a half years ago with an Intel i5. I ALMOST bought the wrong RAM. Based on the mother board ALONE I could have used RAM with voltage any where from 1.5 to 1.65 volts. When it comes to overclocking the higher voltage is usually better.

However, at the last moment I went to Intel's website and it recommended 1.5 volt RAM !! So I contacted Intel Tech Support and spoke a tech directly. He told me personally that anything over 1.5 volts could be hazardous to THAT particular CPU, and in some cases you could even VOID THE WARRANTY by using the wrong RAM. When you are paying $300 or more for a 4770k you certainly want to be careful that you do NOT either damage your investment or void the warranty.

That said I am planning on building a new system with the 4770k chip, I still have not figured out which would be the best RAM for it? Intel recommends DDR3 1333/1600...

I am wondering if you finished building your system what did you use and how is it working out for you??

 

[Tradesman1]

Yep welcome to the wonderful world of Intel, often wonder if the left and right hands there ever have a clue what the other is doing - Think about about it, they have long said they DON't support overclocking their CPUs - YET...they go out of their way to make K models (unlocked) of many CPUs, and in some instances mention/tout the OC ability.. They also say no DRAM over 1600 or 1.65, yet they go out of their way to test and certify DRAM for their CPUs clear up to 3000 sticks and 1.65, they're almost getting as bad as AMD with the say something then turn and look the other way

 

[Ron Lacy]

It's simply the amount of the DRAM, there was a suggestion for 12GB above, which makes no sense, so was clarifying either 8GB or 16GB....I favor higher amounts of DRAM which can speed up overall system, but if for strictly gaming, 8GB is more than sufficient for most....if you do go with the Hero (that's what I built my Haswell on (in sig), it loves high freq and large amounts, know whenever I drop to 8GB or 1600 sticks, it starts to feel like it's crawling 😉 High freq sticks definitely make a difference if one really uses their rig

Hi Tradesman, I ALWAYS appreciate 'experience' over theory and I see that you have built a system with the Haswell 4770k so appreciate your advise.

I posted an entry about a system I built 2.5 years where a tech guy from Intel told me to make SURE I used RAM that was 1.5v and NOT 1.6-1.65 voltage. So I commented that going by the mobo specs alone is not enough, because my motherboard could have used ANY RAM from 1.5v to 1.65v, but NOT according to Intel

Intel on this chip recommends DDR3-1333/1600 but makes no mention of the voltage. Since most RAM today is 1.5v that is what I am going with. However, it seems you went as high as 2666 on yours and said that 8GB and 1600 seems like it is crawling. I was wondering have you done any benchmarking on the different RAMs?

I was planning on starting with 8GB, 1600, 1.5v, dual channel and then adding another 8GB later, since my income is limited (retired). However, with your suggestion I may well go much higher in speed. I bought a MSi GD65 Gaming board and it can use any RAM from 1333 all the way up to 3000.

I considered the Rampage VI but it would not fit into my budge. The MSi GD65 is geared for overclocking and has numerous extra features for doing so and even for testing your setup like an Onboard Power Switch, a 2 digit LED POST reader, a 1 Button OC Genie, Dual Bios, Audio Boost, Killer Ethernet, and more.

Any way bottom line, do you still consider the G.Skill Trident 2666 the best for the 4770k, Thanks Ron

 

[Tradesman1]

You can go even higher if the pockets are full, mine aren't 😉 When I got my 2666 set they were right at $900, and the 2800 set was running about $1,700... I think they are great sticks, right now prices are great on the 2400/10 Tridents and again I think well worth it, as far as people being able to tell a difference (and a lot of clients will ask) one thing I love to do is have a client sit at a rig (sometimes the same exact one and do his/her thing - open a bunch of Windows, apps, maybe do some rendering with video, imaging, CAD, whatever they do, then I'll swap out DRAM with another set - may be the faster sticks or may be down to whatever they originally wanted (1866 is most common) then ask which they way they liked the system better - while they never know what I've done (changes wise) over 85% of the time they pick the setup that had the higher freq DRAM and more often than not might ask how high I OCed the CPU, when they find it was just the DRAM - they want the faster DRAM....

As far as Intel goes - it would be nice if any of them paid attention to what the rest of Intel is doing - they say they don't support OCing - yet specifically make CPUs that are made to be OCed - i.e. why have a 4770K with and unlocked CPU if you 'DON'T SUPPORT OCing???? Liek with you their CS folks tell people all the time - DON'T USE HIGHER THAN 1600 RAM and HIGHER that 1.5 - yet they test and certify DRAM for their CPUs at up to 3000 and 1.65 (and they charge the DRAM makers to test/certify said DRAM

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/gaming/xmp-for-core-processors.html

 

[Ron Lacy]

As far as Intel goes - it would be nice if any of them paid attention to what the rest of Intel is doing - they say they don't support OCing - yet specifically make CPUs that are made to be OCed - i.e. why have a 4770K with and unlocked CPU if you 'DON'T SUPPORT OCing???? Liek with you their CS folks tell people all the time - DON'T USE HIGHER THAN 1600 RAM and HIGHER that 1.5 - yet they test and certify DRAM for their CPUs at up to 3000 and 1.65 (and they charge the DRAM makers to test/certify said DRAM

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/gaming/xmp-for-core-processors.html

Hi Tradesman, I agree with your assessment, "if any of them paid attention to what the rest of Intel is doing..." I kind of thought that was the problem when I got my information from them 2.5 years ago, that the guy was JUST telling me their "PUBLIC" policy and not the whole truth. Based on what everyone else was saying 1.6-1.65 should have worked out fine.

I went to the link that you included but it was certainly lacking for the mobo I bought? They had RAM certified for this board but ONLY the GD65 using the LGA 2011 and LGA 1155 processors! NOTHING for the Z87 LGA 1150?
Any idea where else I can go to get information about WHICH RAM has been certified for the MSi Z87-GD65?
I tried G.Skill but their website seems OVER the top. They showed me LOTS of RAM that WOULD work but did not say if any were certified, nor did they suggest which would be the best?

I have everything to start my build except the RAM! THANKS in Advance, Ron

 

[Tradesman1]

Intel charges to certify the DRAM, both mobo manufacturers and DRAM manufacturers test, basically on a time available basis and there's little gotcha's from the Mobo makers, see here:

http://www.gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=10566

Glad you mentioned GSkill, have worked closely w/ them for a few years now, and they actually test the compatibility at the rated spec of the DRAM, it's not just boot to the mobos default of 1333 or 1600 and if it boots OK they say these are fine. GSKill enables XMP, DOSCP, EOCP, etc and makes sure it works at full freq on the given mobo, it's normally done with a high end CPU, so still need to be aware the CPU plays a lot into whether DRAM can run at full freq or not and how much the rig will be able to handle - just because the mobo (we'll use the MSI Z87-GD65 as an example since you mention it) - now it advertises 32GB and 2800 as tops (not that many will rush out and buy 32GB of 2800 at $1,200, but there are some with pockets deep enough) , but I digress, realistically a 4670K should be able to run 32GB of 2400, maybe 2666, or should run 16GB of 2666 and 8 GB of 2800 (maybe 16), the 4770K on the other hand can generally handle 32GB of 2666 and possibly 2800, or 16GB of 2800 and might even be able to push 8 or 16GB of 3000 (though at 3000, you'll want to be good (probably very good) with DRAM, since they only show support to 2800, the BIOS prob won't be ready to set up 3000 sticks, so will need to be able to set up the advanced/secondary timings in addition the the base timings (and with MSI, may even have to be able to do that with 2800 sticks)......mobo makers are constantly updating the BIOS's and the buldk of most updates (though seldom ever advertised) are generally made up of updates for various DRAM compatibility problems.

 

[coultasa]

what you guys think of this for my build, (its my first PC build)
Asus sabertooth Z87
i7 4770K
Gskill Trident X Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 2800MHz C11-13-13-35 @ 1.65v

 

[coultasa]

or should i go with this since its my first build

[RipjawsX] F3-14900CL10D-16GBXL
DDR3-1866 (PC3-14900)
16GB (8GBx2)
CL10-11-10-30
1.50 Volt

 

[Tradesman1]

What will you be using the rig for?

 

[Ron Lacy]

Tradesman, I can not figure HOW to write you so I am putting this in a thread, where we discussed this before??

I went with your recommendation of G.Skill Trident. I got the Trident X in 2400 MHz and in 2 sticks of 8 GB each, for a total of 16 GB. At first they were reported at 1333 MHz but then I changed to bios to XMP and then they showed 2400 MHz. And everything went perfect for almost 6 weeks.

Yesterday I started getting freezes and BSODs. The freezes would last only a few seconds and then reboot. The third time it happened my bios was reset. It said something like, 'due to an error your overclocking was reset to default'. Well I had not done ANY overclocking, unless setting the dram to XMP is considered overclocking??

So now my RAM is being reported as 1333 MHz, and I CANNOT find WHERE I set the RAM to XMP. I have an MSi Z87-GD65 has overclocking features and I know that it was in the OVERCLOCKING section that I changed it to XMP, but I do NOT FIND IT NOW?? Is it possible the ability to set XPM would be disabled?

Also this Trident was also originally at 1.65 volts and now it is reporting it at 1.5- something volts?

Thanks, Ron

*********************************

Basicall for gaming 1600/1866 is fine, and 8GB is sufficient, look for 1600/8 or 1866/9 (either in 1.5 volt) or better in 2x4GB so can use dual channel - as far what DRAM, basically any, QVLs from mobo manufacturers are pretty worthess, they 'test' at the mobo default, generally 1333/1600 regardless of DRAM spec, so if you see 2400 on the list, yes it may work, but only at 1333 or 1600 (more on QVLs here:

http://www.gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=10566

MHz is the effective freq of the DRAM or how fast it runs, I say effective because the true freq is half of what's advertised since this is DDR - DOUBLE DATA RATE you take the true freq (say 800) times 2 to get the effective of advertised freq of 1600.

With the Haswell CPUs, I've found the GSkill Tridents to be best, followed by the GSkill Snipers

What will you be using the rig for?

 

[Tradesman1]

Should be in the advanced section, under Extreme Memory Profile, on page 3-18 of the manual - options are DISABLE - Profile1 or Profile2 select Profile1