[SOLVED] Is G.Skill F3-2400C11D-16GXM compatible with ASUS Z97-E / usb3.1 board?

[Txindoki]

Greetings, I have a pc with ASUS Z97-E / usb3.1 chipset and I want to put a G.Skill F3-2400C11D-16GXM (8x2) ram memory.
Are they compatible?
In the ASUS QVL it appears that the 4x2 is compatible but not the 8x2.
The G. Skills verification website appears to be out of date, as neither 4x2 nor 8x2 is listed as compatible. Nor do many of the ram that come in the QVL appear.
Thanks in advance with the help.

 

[Darkbreeze]

The G.Skill website doesn't even list the USB3.1 version of that board, only the earlier Z97-E, that I can see, so we can't go by that.

The QVL lists generally only show a bare minimum selection of tested models compared to the entirety of what's out there and might actually be available, so we can't go by that.

Most Intel platforms have very good memory compatibility with a broad range of speeds and timings, so I'd be hesitant to say they won't work, and inclined to say they would, but obviously this is a board that was released late in the product cycle for that chipset, probably just shortly before the Z170 chipset was released or even after it was already released. That means it's very likely, and in fact obviously is the case in this case, that the memory manufacturer never tested compatibility against that specific model because they had already done all their Z97 compatibility testing and weren't going to go back and do additional testing for another model that mainly only added USB 3.1 support (Which is really just USB 3.0) even though there might be OTHER significant differences between those boards.

To be honest though, there was a pretty fair amount of testing done on the Z97 platform regarding memory performance and it was fairly convincingly shown that overall performance didn't gain much by going above 1600mhz. Especially if gaming is the primary use case for this machine. If it's being used for scientific or media applications like CAD, folding, encoding, high resolution video editing, etc., then you MIGHT see some benefit from more and faster RAM. But for the most part we had seen little gain going from 1600mhz to 1866 or 2133. I'm not sure that 2400mhz was even used in any of the testing I saw done but whether it's worth it or not probably depends greatly on what you have now and what you are using it FOR, plus, how much the kit is going to cost you?

 

[Txindoki]

Thanks for your reply.
My desktop pc is basically office automation, backup copies of several TB that last hours, I use Calibre as a library manager that uses a lot of ram.
The processor is an intel I5-4460.
I currently use an 8gb ram (799mhz) which is very limited. I was 8x2 but the other ram was damaged.
The G.Skill F3-2400C11D-16GXM I have seen in amazon at US 160 (120 cost + 10 international shipping + 30 taxes)

 

[Third-Eye]

Thanks for your reply.
My desktop pc is basically office automation, backup copies of several TB that last hours, I use Calibre as a library manager that uses a lot of ram.
The processor is an intel I5-4460.
I currently use an 8gb ram (799mhz) which is very limited. I was 8x2 but the other ram was damaged.
The G.Skill F3-2400C11D-16GXM I have seen in amazon at US 160 (120 cost + 10 international shipping + 30 taxes)

How was the ram damaged? How are you reading the ram speed?

 

[Txindoki]

How was the ram damaged? How are you reading the ram speed?

Hello, a liquid cooling burst and the liquid fell on the ram. It was a couple of years ago and I did not replace the damaged module. I only work with the one left with 8gb which is already very limited.

 

[Darkbreeze]

These should work fine in that board. You gain 8GB of additional capacity and you go from 1600mhz to 1866mhz, so a LITTLE gain in speed as well. They are also fairly inexpensive, but are a decent enough memory kit for your use case.

PCPartPicker Part List

Memory: Patriot Viper 3 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR3-1866 CL10 Memory ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $59.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-10-29 17:00 EDT-0400

 

[Third-Eye]

Hello, a liquid cooling burst and the liquid fell on the ram. It was a couple of years ago and I did not replace the damaged module. I only work with the one left with 8gb which is already very limited.

If the module was damaged, are you certain your slot is still ok to use? Did you test all the slots? Also, the kit you want to buy should be compatible, but you might not be able to run it at it's maximum speed and will possibly have to set it to 2133 CL10 1.6v for stability.

I bought a similar G.Skill 2400 kit (F3-2400C11D-16GAB) and found it was never stable on my Z97 motherboard at 2400 CL11 1.65v and ended uip running it at 2133 CL10 1.6v. Honestly, I wouldn't pay extra for 2400MT/s ram over 1600 or 1866, because unless you are doing something that requires fast ram, you won't see much benefit in games or most programs. I gained only 5-7fps in games going from 1600 to 2133.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I agree, I wouldn't pay "extra" for any speed over 1600mhz, but for the most part, many of these kits ranging from DDR3-1866 to DDR3-2400mhz are the same or less expensive than many of the 1600mhz kits these days. Just depends on who is trying to offload their old stock, and how badly they want to get rid of it. Any of them can work, as you say, if you are willing to reduce the frequency and use the appropriate voltage.

These would be fine too, all things considered.

PCPartPicker Part List

Memory: Team Elite 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR3-1600 CL11 Memory ($48.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $48.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-10-29 17:08 EDT-0400

 

[Txindoki]

If the module was damaged, are you certain your slot is still ok to use? Did you test all the slots? Also, the kit you want to buy should be compatible, but you might not be able to run it at it's maximum speed and will possibly have to set it to 2133 CL10 1.6v for stability.

The damage was severe so I had to change the motherboard and processor.
Current configuration is intel I5-4460 with ASUS z97-E / usb3.1

 

[Txindoki]

I bought a similar G.Skill 2400 kit (F3-2400C11D-16GAB) and found it was never stable on my Z97 motherboard at 2400 CL11 1.65v and ended uip running it at 2133 CL10 1.6v. Honestly, I wouldn't pay extra for 2400MT/s ram over 1600 or 1866, because unless you are doing something that requires fast ram, you won't see much benefit in games or most programs. I gained only 5-7fps in games going from 1600 to 2133.

A query ... was your z97 an ASUS Z97-E / usb3.1?

 

[Third-Eye]

A query ... was your z97 an ASUS Z97-E / usb3.1?

It's an Asrock Z97 Fatality Killer. Two years ago it was the only motherboard with the required specs and available for me to buy within the time constraints I was under when searching for a replacement. It's not a bad board but has some issues. https://www.asrock.com/mb/intel/fatal1ty z97 killer/

 

[SamirD]

Generally ddr3 has nearly zero issues ime when run at stock speeds of 1333/1600. If you want to run it at 2400, you may or may not have issues.