GA-Z77X-UD3H new build memory

[geo101]

I'm building a new gaming/work rig, which I plan to OC (or try to). It'll run an Intel i7 3770K on a Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H motherboard.

What would folks recommend memory wise? The UD3H supports up to DDR3 1600, but up to 2800 with OCing. What are folks experience with OCing their memory and the limits of what they achieve?

I was thinking of getting some GSkill RipjawsZ DDR3 2133 16Gb (4Gb×4)
http://www.360buy.com/product/541358.html
http://www.gskill.com/products.php?index=438

Any thoughts? I'll use a Corsairs H100i for cooling, so RAM clearance will not be an issue.

I'm based in China so shopping options are not necessarily limited, but can be challenging!

Cheers

 

[SPEED94]

I'm building a new gaming/work rig, which I plan to OC (or try to). It'll run an Intel i7 3770K on a Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H motherboard.

What would folks recommend memory wise? The UD3H supports up to DDR3 1600, but up to 2800 with OCing. What are folks experience with OCing their memory and the limits of what they achieve?

I was thinking of getting some GSkill RipjawsZ DDR3 2133 16Gb (4Gb×4)
http://www.360buy.com/product/541358.html
http://www.gskill.com/products.php?index=438

Any thoughts? I'll use a Corsairs H100i for cooling, so RAM clearance will not be an issue.

I'm based in China so shopping options are not necessarily limited, but can be challenging!

Cheers

Here Gigabyte says it does not in this official link http://www.gigabyte.in/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4153#sp ......So I would not recommend it though you and I both know that it may work. But its always safe to buy something that is prescribed .....And yeah about the overclocking fact you will never get the actual frequency of most of DDR3 SDRAM unless you overclock. Like a 1600 Mhz RAM will work at around 1333 Mhz or so. But truely speaking such overclocking will give you negligible premiums over games.

 

[geo101]

Here Gigabyte says it does not in this official link http://www.gigabyte.in/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4153#sp ......So I would not recommend it though you and I both know that it may work. But its always safe to buy something that is prescribed .....And yeah about the overclocking fact you will never get the actual frequency of most of DDR3 SDRAM unless you overclock. Like a 1600 Mhz RAM will work at around 1333 Mhz or so. But truely speaking such overclocking will give you negligible premiums over games.

Thanks for replying. The official spec says

Support for DDR3 2800(OC)/1600/1333/1066 MHz memory modules

and the above GSkill kit I'm thinking about is listed in the supported memory.

In the case of running DDR3 2133, as standard it will clock @ 1600 (give or take) and it is about OCing the memory controller and not the actual memory (at least up to ~2133), correct?

 

[SPEED94]

Thanks for replying. The official spec says

Support for DDR3 2800(OC)/1600/1333/1066 MHz memory modules

and the above GSkill kit I'm thinking about is listed in the supported memory.

In the case of running DDR3 2133, as standard it will clock @ 1600 (give or take) and it is about OCing the memory controller and not the actual memory (at least up to ~2133), correct?

Yeah , but necessarily 1600 . Depending on chipset and processer may be up or down. bUT YEAH THE QUOTE is true.BTW the kit is listed in the support - I did not notice it. Since particularly the 2133 mhz is not supported a 2133 Mhz ram will always work on the lower mentioned - the 1600 Mhz. If your 2133 mhz had been mentioned - the actual frequency should have been at least 80-100 Mhz up. But as I said this all does not matters whether you work - just be sure to plug in a powerful i7 as you did and a nice gpu ( overclock that if you feel necessary ) and a set of 16 gb RAM of any FREQUENCY and you are off.......

-One more thing....I do not know what you meant by 'I'm based in China so shopping options are not necessarily limited, but can be challenging! ' but do not put your hands on high density rams for their attractive prices.

 

[geo101]

They pushed a set of DDR3-2200 (G.Skill F3-17600CL9Q-16GBXLD (16 GB)) to ~2700 on the UD3H (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z77-extreme6-z77a-gd65-z77h2-a2x,3187-21.html). Does anyone else have similar OC gains?

For most games you won;t see much of a performance difference, but would other applications benefit? For example, numerical applications dealing with large arrays? I guess now this is more of a memory thread than a GB mobo thread.


As for China, it is straightforward to get high density RAM, but not always easy to find specific branded kits. If you look hard enough you can usually find most things, but it can take time (and my Chinese skills are not too hot). The price of branded hardware is not always cheaper. The GSkill kit I linked to sells for ~1000 RMB, which works out as ~160 USD, it sells on newegg for 130 USD. There are some big markets where I hope to get it all cheaper, but specific stock is not always guarenteed.

 

[SPEED94]

They pushed a set of DDR3-2200 (G.Skill F3-17600CL9Q-16GBXLD (16 GB)) to ~2700 on the UD3H (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z77-extreme6-z77a-gd65-z77h2-a2x,3187-21.html). Does anyone else have similar OC gains?

For most games you won;t see much of a performance difference, but would other applications benefit? For example, numerical applications dealing with large arrays? I guess now this is more of a memory thread than a GB mobo thread.


As for China, it is straightforward to get high density RAM, but not always easy to find specific branded kits. If you look hard enough you can usually find most things, but it can take time (and my Chinese skills are not too hot). The price of branded hardware is not always cheaper. The GSkill kit I linked to sells for ~1000 RMB, which works out as ~160 USD, it sells on newegg for 130 USD. There are some big markets where I hope to get it all cheaper, but specific stock is not always guarenteed.

Generally I have not seen anything except intense video decoding taking upto 16 gb ram and no application needing as much as 32 gb. In games or 3D application or studios the CPU does the calculation work like drawing the distances / processing the frames drawn by the GPU and all those PhysX works related. The GPU is the sole player in 3D application or mapping software - even the new basic google map feature requires a DirectX 9.0c compatible SM 3.0 + CAPABLE card.
So basically I do not think that one would benefit much from the RAM - as 8 gb would be enough for smooth gaming and 16 gb for heavy multitasking.Indeed one should invest on the GPU/CPU.

 

[geo101]

Generally I have not seen anything except intense video decoding taking upto 16 gb ram and no application needing as much as 32 gb...
...So basically I do not think that one would benefit much from the RAM - as 8 gb would be enough for smooth gaming and 16 gb for heavy multitasking.Indeed one should invest on the GPU/CPU.

Oh yeah, I don't need more than 16 Gb. What I mean is, will intensive numerical operations on large arrays benefit from higher clocks on the RAM?

 

[SPEED94]

Oh yeah, I don't need more than 16 Gb. What I mean is, will intensive numerical operations on large arrays benefit from higher clocks on the RAM?

above 16 gb I do not think so. As I told intensive numericaL operations will benefit from a powerful cpu and more individual cores.

 

[geo101]

Thanks for your comments