Help in choosing RAM!

[imakuzim]

Hello guys! Please help me in this. I have narrowed the search in newegg and I came up with this list

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007611%204802%20600006050%20600006076&IsNodeId=1&name=6GB%20%283%20x%202GB%29

my processor is i7 950.
Im not sure with my mobo yet.

Im still thinking if i go with

Gigabyte GA-X58-UD3R
or
Asus Sabertooth X58
or
Asus P6X58D-E

So yeah that is my possible mobos. But if you guys can give better idea @ $200 more or less price range then I would appreciate that.

Back to my question.. which could be the best ram among the list at best price?
And you can ignore the OCZ rams coz I read topics that they really get hot too much and has lots of problems.
Im really lost in these part, I just don't know whats good memory -.-

 

[treefrog07]

G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 has the best latencies and voltage requirement at 1600MHz and at a reasonable price.

 

[jaquith]

I would choose the Asus P6X58D-E and use CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Model TR3X6G1600C8 it OC better.

RAM Mfg's Corsair, G.SKILL, Mushkin, & Kingston in that order, or Crucial on a budget.

Tested DDR Corsair - http://www.corsair.com/configurator/product_results.aspx?id=1522755

Good Luck!

 

[tecmo34]

I have to lend my vote with treefrog07 & G.SKILL PI along with the ASUS Sabertooth X58.

 

[jaquith]

1000 words.

 

[treefrog07]

Hard to argue with a picture
Both the Corsair Dominator and G. Skill have excellent user reviews. I still like the voltage on the G. Skill.
edited: And the G. Skill latencies.

 

[imakuzim]

Thanks guys, seems like I realized that the best way to choose a RAM is to 1st choose the mother board. I had to finalize 1st the motherboard between ga-x58-ud3r, p6x58d-e or sabertooth x58. But I guess I have to make another topic for it. Ill be back here when I figure out which board is really better. xD

 

[jaquith]

RAM:
If the OP was water cooling then my suggestion would be Kingston HyperX H2O. Also, I know 100% that the Corsiars will work with 2 of the 3 MOBO 1st hand {I assume they'd be fine with the Sabertooth}. I too like the Mushkin Enhanced Blackline, but I've had some 'fun' times getting them to work stable with OC.

MOBOS:
The UD3R sucks, and the Asus P6X58D-E is a better MOBO than the Asus Sabertooth X58.

 

[imakuzim]

Hard to argue with a picture
Both the Corsair Dominator and G. Skill have excellent user reviews. I still like the voltage on the G. Skill.
edited: And the G. Skill latencies.

I believe the rated timings is its stock timing @ 1600Mhz right? so is it right to assume it still can be OCed with tighter timings when ran at 1600MHz? coz for me, it seems like already OCed with those rated timings Unlike corsairs 8-8-8-24 timing, I'm pretty sure this can still be OCed at 1600MHz.

 

[imakuzim]

RAM:
If the OP was water cooling then my suggestion would be Kingston HyperX H2O. Also, I know 100% that the Corsiars will work with 2 of the 3 MOBO 1st hand {I assume they'd be fine with the Sabertooth}. I too like the Mushkin Enhanced Blackline, but I've had some 'fun' times getting them to work stable with OC.

MOBOS:
The UD3R sucks, and the Asus P6X58D-E is a better MOBO than the Asus Sabertooth X58.

I am not using water cooling, just some air cooling. I also love corsairs for theyre quality products! But that g.skill ram's timings and voltage are soo eyecandy to my eyes

May I know why ud3r sucks when lots of tom articles praises it?

 

[treefrog07]

I believe the rated timings is its stock timing @ 1600Mhz right? so is it right to assume it still can be OCed with tighter timings when ran at 1600MHz? coz for me, it seems like already OCed with those rated timings Unlike corsairs 8-8-8-24 timing, I'm pretty sure this can still be OCed at 1600MHz.

DDR3 runs at 1333MHz, any speed over that is OC, so if it has no XMP profile, you will likely have to set the freq., timings, and voltage in the BIOS. You MAY be able to squeeze some more speed, but you will likely have to relax the timings to get it stable. You MAY be able to reduce the latencies, but you will have to reduce the freq to get it stable. The RAM mfrs have this stuff figured out pretty well - if you want high-speed and low latencies, you will generally have to pay more for it.

 

[imakuzim]

DDR3 runs at 1333MHz, any speed over that is OC, so if it has no XMP profile, you will likely have to set the freq., timings, and voltage in the BIOS. You MAY be able to squeeze some more speed, but you will likely have to relax the timings to get it stable. You MAY be able to reduce the latencies, but you will have to reduce the freq to get it stable. The RAM mfrs have this stuff figured out pretty well - if you want high-speed and low latencies, you will generally have to pay more for it.

I see, so what does the manufacturer trying to say with their product numbers / description having 1600 or more?

For example,

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Model TR3X6G1600C8

 

[jaquith]

I am not using water cooling, just some air cooling. I also love corsairs for theyre quality products! But that g.skill ram's timings and voltage are soo eyecandy to my eyes

May I know why ud3r sucks when lots of tom articles praises it?

I wish the story was all about CAS, there's more to it there are approximately a dozen different on-board memory controllers and the Corsair simply has a better controller which is why it beats the competition. The benchmarks are not subjective opinions, and it makes no difference to me personally which RAM you choose.

Regarding the UD3R, yes I read Tom's reviews, but like many they don't tell the whole story or hide certain facts. Example, the SSD tests - if you know MOBOs / etc - then you'd note in 1 second the test rig doesn't support SATA3, but the SATA3 SSDs were tested and benched - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-7-ssd-trim,2705.html Similarly, the UD3R has a Hardware flaw in it's implementation of the Intel SATA2 controller which is confirmed. In other words when you attach multiple fast SSD/HDD/HHD the MOBO will render BSOD/unexpected shutdowns/or just be frequently unstable.

I build very high-end and also mid+ PCs, 1-2/month, so before I buy I 'try' to do research and I tend to listen to folks that seem to know what they're talking about and sift through the hyperbole.

BTW - I had near zero doubt about you water cooling which is why I didn't recommend the Kingston HyperX H2O.

Good Luck!

Another RAM test comparison/gaming:

 

[Emperus]

If you need great stock performance and rock hard stability, get the Kingston Hyper-X T1 series RAMs.. The only problem with them is that they are very tall with those heat spreaders and may come in the way of few large aftermarket CPU coolers.. Other than that, they are fantastic.. My second choice/recommendation would be the Corsair modules as suggested by Jaquith

 

[dEAne]

Yes I second on that emperus - I'm using Kingston Hyper X T1 on my intel mobo. Their good but quite big.

 

[paigeinfull]

I wish the story was all about CAS, there's more to it there are approximately a dozen different on-board memory controllers and the Corsair simply has a better controller which is why it beats the competition. The benchmarks are not subjective opinions, and it makes no difference to me personally which RAM you choose.

Regarding the UD3R, yes I read Tom's reviews, but like many they don't tell the whole story or hide certain facts. Example, the SSD tests - if you know MOBOs / etc - then you'd note in 1 second the test rig doesn't support SATA3, but the SATA3 SSDs were tested and benched - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-7-ssd-trim,2705.html Similarly, the UD3R has a Hardware flaw in it's implementation of the Intel SATA2 controller which is confirmed. In other words when you attach multiple fast SSD/HDD/HHD the MOBO will render BSOD/unexpected shutdowns/or just be frequently unstable.

I build very high-end and also mid+ PCs, 1-2/month, so before I buy I 'try' to do research and I tend to listen to folks that seem to know what they're talking about and sift through the hyperbole.

BTW - I had near zero doubt about you water cooling which is why I didn't recommend the Kingston HyperX H2O.

Good Luck!

Jaquith I think you may be a little confused. First off memory controllers are integrated into the processor. Memory controllers on intels prior to nahalem were built into the chipset. Brand has almost no effect on the ram except for the heatsinks which could matter less. In fact most of these ram modules are made by the same manufacturer, I believe elpida is currently the standard. Being essentially the same the only reason I would suggest one brand over another is because of failure rates. Just go with the lowest timings at the lowest voltage if you want the best performance. If it is a 1.5v set there is a good chance you could up the voltage to 1.65 and decrease the timing further.

I'm not sure why it matters but in that SSD test anybody that knows simple math could tell you that they used pci sata 6gb/s controller since the crucial drive surpasses 3gb/s in the sequential read tests.

As for the your stated problem with ud3r I have not looked into it but I would have to believe that since they use the same controller as pretty much every other x58 board along with afaik the same drivers that this issue is either blown out of proportion on the ud3r or it is a manufacturing defect with exclusively the ud3r. The latter I highly highly doubt but again I have not looked into it since I am not currently doing any builds nor do I own a ud3r. I can tell you that all the reviews I have seen for it have been great.

I'm sorry my post did not directly answer your question OP but misinformation just bugs me.

 

[jaquith]

No, you're confused do some more research in the DDR IC Micro, KingMax, Hynix, Apacer, Elpida, Nanya, etc. I have a huge splitting headache and don't care to argue today.

Then edit your post.

 

[paigeinfull]

No, you're confused do some more research in the DDR IC Micro, KingMax, Hynix, Apacer, Elpida, Nanya, etc. I have a huge splitting headache and don't care to argue today.

Then edit your post.

Sorry about the headache. I'm not necessarily trying to argue with you just trying to clean up the post. In my post I did make a quick mention of the IC but an integrated circuit is different from a controller. If you do know about the IC you should definitely know that brand of ram does not matter, it's the IC used. Like I said before the last I heard most use the elpida bbse line of ICs. You should also know that manufacturers do not state what IC is used and some use different IC manufacturers so you can't exactly say what brand of ram is best. The only manufacturer that uses the same brand IC 100% of the time is crucial because micron is the owner.

EDIT Just checked it looks like corsair uses 8 different IC brands for ddr3 modules. Traditionally corsair has charged a premium for the better ICs. Corsair does seem to have some great quality control which might be a reason for me to suggest them.

 

[imakuzim]

Thanks people! With much ideas and arguments I came to decide to GO for the CORSAIR! It's my first choice too anyway

As treefrog07 said, It's hard to argue with a picture

My biggest thanks goes to jaquith =]

Just a follow up question though,

Why http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224
instead of http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145286

The latter had better timings with same speed so I assume its a better kit?
And most of all its priced LOWER than the first!

 

[paigeinfull]

Don't forget to select him for best answer

 

[imakuzim]

yes ofcourse

 

[imakuzim]

Best answer selected by imakuzim.

 

[lukewalker]

Is there really a big difference between RAM with CAS latency 9 instead of the ones being discussed on here that have CAS latency 7? What about the idea that one could buy 12gb of RAM with CAS 9 for the same cost of 8gb with CAS 7. Wouldn't overall system performance still be better with 12gb? I'm thinking of, for example, the G.SKILL Ripjaw series.

Thoughts?

 

[jaquith]

^To confuse you even more - If you are going 6X2GB versus 3X4GB then your overall performance will decrease. I would recommend {CMP12GX3M3A1600C9}.

Also, really fast (>1600 MHz) DDR3 can have a ton of compatibility issues, and I would never buy any unless they are Certified and/or Tested for your MOBO.

You might want to start another post.

 

[holyindian]

Mushkin Redline has the best Cas Latency of 6 and a very tight timing of 6-8-6-24
Try it you will never regret. Hardcore PC enthusiasts will recommend you this one!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226121&cm_re=mushkin_redline-_-20-226-121-_-Product