Good RAM for APU?

[PANZER4]

Ok, the forum just wiped my post, so I'm going to be quick cause I can't be stuffed typing it all over again
1. High frequency or low latency RAM for APU's. which is better?
2. If you want can you help me pick some? Budget is $70 for RAM
sites...
http://www.mwave.com.au
http://www.pccasegear.com

 

[mubin]

Look for this memory. Its enough for you.
http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-37140930-Corsair_Vengeance_Red_8GB_2x4GB_Dual_Channel_DDR3_Memory_Kit_240_pin_DIMM_PC3_12

And remember, high frequency and latency will do nothing in performance. If there is then its ignorable for gaming.

 

[nbelote]

When it comes to APUs, generally, it's about quantity. Latency and speed won't count as much as APUs aren't the fastest anyway.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

^ Both wrong. An APU is one of the few situations you want the fastest, lowest latency RAM you can afford.

This is $4 over budget but very fast and with a low cas latency for it's speed and should give you a nice boost over DDR3 1600.

http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-37140932-GSkill_Ripjaws_X_8GB2x_4GB_Memory_Kit_PC3_17000_DDR3_2133_240pin_DIMM_CL_9_11_10

 

[abekl]

Agree with Anort. People need to read up on APU architecture.

 

[PANZER4]

Thanks for the advice
I like your recommendation, but will it run natively at that speed? Or will I have to do some tweaking to get it to run at its rated speed? I'm willing to dig around in the BIOS, but I can't seem to find any recent guides on how to tweak memory.

 

[abekl]

You might have to do some tweaking. The memory will liley default to 1600MHz, and you will have to enter the 1700MHz value manually.

 

[PANZER4]

By the way, i was under the apprehension that the APU's were powerful enough to be bottlenecked by low speed DDR4 memory, though I'm not sure about latencies

 

[Deleted member 217926]

^ Yep. Nothing to it. You just have to go in the memory section of the BIOS and manually set the speed to 2133, the voltage to 1.65v and the timings. It's no big deal and there will step by step guides online and even on youtube on how to do it.

 

[PANZER4]

The memory that anort suggested can run at 2133 MHZ. if I run it like that on the APU can it damage it? Or will it run ok at 2133?

 

[Deleted member 217926]

DDR4 is not being used yet.

Higher speed is better and lower latency is better.

A standard Intel or AMD CPU has an integrated memor controller ( IMC ) that just does not need RAM faster than DDR3 1600. There are a few exceptions such as professional video editing that a relatively small increase in performance ( like 1-5% tops ) will pay for itself over time. In gaming there is even less of a performance boost it literally is ~1%.

Unlike a traditional CPU an APU will take advantage of the faster RAM.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

The memory that anort suggested can run at 2133 MHZ. if I run it like that on the APU can it damage it? Or will it run ok at 2133?

What motherboard are you using?

 

[PANZER4]

Not sure yet, I was just picking the RAM, and was going to work up from there cause' I thought that the A10 was bandwidth limited.
Also, the DDR4 part was a typo >_<

 

[PANZER4]

The motherboard is a bit hard to pick because there are so many different things you have to consider. I don't really want to spend past $100, and I like ASRock, so I was considering their FM2 pro4 motherboard

 

[Deleted member 217926]

This one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157333

Supports up to DDR3 2600. It will work fine with DDR3 2133.

 

[PANZER4]

Yeah that was what I was thinking of getting. It looks like it has everything I could possibly used.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Looks like a pretty good board for the price.

 

[PANZER4]

Well, here comes the really hard part of choosing a case, PSU etc.
Thanks for you help

 

[PANZER4]

Damned forums, not registering my best answer

 

[PANZER4]

Best answer selected by PANZER4.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Well, here comes the really hard part of choosing a case, PSU etc.
Thanks for you help

Case is up to you, you are the one that has to live with it.

As to a PSU if you are only running the APU and no discreet graphics then a 250-300w power supply would be fine. It's hard to find a quality unit under 350 watts though. Antec has some good units in that range. Stick with Corsair, Seasonic, PC Power and Cooling, XFX, Silverstone, Enermax, OCZ and Antec for quality brands.

Glad I could help!

 

[JJ1217]

^ Yep. Nothing to it. You just have to go in the memory section of the BIOS and manually set the speed to 2133, the voltage to 1.65v and the timings. It's no big deal and there will step by step guides online and even on youtube on how to do it.

Does the 1.65V damaging Intel CPU's also apply to AMD cpus? Not sure about that.

 

[PANZER4]

I read somewhere that the X58 i7s were the ones that were sensitive to higher voltages, not the other more modern chips

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Does the 1.65V damaging Intel CPU's also apply to AMD cpus? Not sure about that.

Nope that only applies to Sandy and Ivy Bridge CPUs.

I read somewhere that the X58 i7s were the ones that were sensitive to higher voltages, not the other more modern chips

No, it's the newest ones. The first gen Core i series was designed to use with first gen DDR3 and the old stuff was almost all 1.65v.