[SOLVED] CL17 vs CL19

[velocci]

Hi all, I'm deciding between HyperX Kingston 32gb 2933mhz CL17 for $226 or Vengeance Performance 32gb 2933mhz CL19 for $185. is the difference in the CL work the extra money? the laptop is being used mainly for my son in school, my photo editing, email and browsing

 

[Darkbreeze]

Are you doing professional studio level photo and video editing? Because if you're not, and unless you're running something very demanding that you didn't list, there is absolutely ZERO reason why you'd need 32GB of memory for any of the things you listed. 16GB is MORE than enough for any of those things, including the photo editing, unless you are doing very high level work with extremely large resolutions and MANY layers.

And no, for your purposes, on a laptop, the difference in CL latency isn't something I'd probably pay an extra 41 dollars for, although both of them are rather high for a 2933mhz kit. Generally you'd want to see something more like CL14 or 16 for a 2933mhz kit, on desktop systems, if performance was the key, but in truth you will probably never even notice the difference between CL 17 and CL19 unless you are running synthetic benchmarks.

 

[velocci]

you be the judge on whether I do professional level photo editing (not video). 😀 www.johnvelocci.com

this memory is for a laptop. if you think its over priced, then show me another 16x2 kit. i want 32 cause I don't want to have to open the laptop again for several years.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Nice man. Yes, I'd say that's professional level photography, and also, you might want to mention that upfront in the future because it's definitely relevant when asking these kinds of questions. I fully get where you're coming from and I agree, that in your circumstance, 32GB is definitely not overkill for the long term.


PCPartPicker Part List

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL18 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $149.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-11-25 21:18 EST-0500

 

[velocci]

Thanks for the suggestion but the laptop takes 2933 MHz memory. dell told me other memory won’t work. Maybe they are wrong but I don’t want to take a chance. Plus I’m in Canada so the prices I gave were in Canadian dollars

 

[Darkbreeze]

Other memory won't work at it's rated speed, but it will CERTAINLY work at at it's maximum speed. So if that is 2933mhz, then that's what it will run at. But if you are unwilling to deviate from what Dell tells you, and a lot of people are, then just go with what they say. That will likely mean not using ANY brand other than Dell, Crucial or Samsung branded memory though.

What is the ACTUAL model of your laptop?

 

[velocci]

I have the XPS 15 9500. it has a 10th gen i7. I was told this one should work fine.

 

[Darkbreeze]

The problem with that is, you are leaving a significant amount of performance on the table by using a single DIMM than you would be using a dual DIMM configuration because with that single DIMM you will not have dual channel performance, which effectively doubles the bandwidth of the memory bus.

On ANY system that supports dual channel memory architecture, it SHOULD be employed if at all possible. The only possible reason for going with a single DIMM would be if it was a platform that didn't support dual channel memory architecture OR if you had plans to add another 32GB later on down the road, and even then it wouldn't be a very good, or wise plan, because there would be no guarantees that adding a second unmatched stick (Unmatched meaning ANY memory that did not come together in a single kit, regardless of model number or brand.) later would work with the existing stick, or work without issues.

Your laptop supports dual channel memory architecture, and a matched set of two DIMMs should be used in order to ensure that it operates in dual channel.