DDR3-1600 CAS8 vs. DDR3-2400 CAS11 -- Which is faster/better?

Freddybaby

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I usually buy the lowest timings I can afford.. I never realized that before. I'm not sure of why I do that.

As an example, it would seem like the top one should be a-lot faster memory.... But would what I have now (crucial ballistix) be faster since it's CAS8???

Kingston HyperX Beast
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820104375
DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200)
Cas Latency 11

Crucial Ballistix Low profile
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148658
DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Timing 8-8-8-24
Cas Latency 8
Voltage 1.35V


(Based on the ratings and not the brand... I like Crucial and Kinston equally)


THANKS
 

Freddybaby

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Sorry about that.. the links seem to have been broken after I posted them... Maybe it's because I have very limited experience posting here, I guess maybe I have to wait

I always thought latency was so important... Are you sure the CAS11 DDR2400 will be as fast as the CAS8 DDR1600?

Thanks
 

Freddybaby

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I think I get it, now
So basically I may as well save a few bucks and just get the DDR1600
Especially since it said memory clock speed is more important with high cpu clocks

I think that is what I too from that
 
Hi,

The REASON the low-latency 1600MHz of DDR3 is the best value is that it is fast enough to avoid BOTTLENECKING games.

Put another way, you could buy FASTER memory but since the bottleneck is likely elsewhere (such as the CPU) it won't make much difference. You can easily find benchmarks for this. There are only a FEW games that benefit from greater than 1600MHz.

The (OC) question:
I believe saying (OC) after the RAM under the motherboard specs means that the CPU has to be overclocked for the RAM to achieve this.

*The lowest frequency, 1600MHz, which does NOT have (OC) after it. This apparently means that to utilize 2400MHz you would have to overclock your CPU by 2400/1600 or 50% which is very unlikely.

HOWEVER, in reality this doesn't appear to be the case. My Asus Z77 Sabertooth lists up to 1866MHz only however 2133MHz memory is working WITHOUT the CPU being overclocked.

Summary:
- more than 1600MHz, low-latency generally a waste of money
- the (OC) is supposed to mean "achieve by overclocking the CPU" but in reality the numbers don't always jive (perhaps due to a BIOS update ?)