Memory for APU

[Nicholas Chorny]

So i'm getting an AMD A8 6600k and so I was wondering what speed of RAM would be best to get.
I don't want to spend too much so the options I've narrowed it down to are:
4gb single stick of DDR3 2133mhz
4gb dual channel of DDR3 1866mhz
or
8gb dual channel of DDR3 1600mhz RAM

I'm thinking the 8gb one, but I know APUs rely on RAM speed. But with that i'm not sure overall on which one of these I should get. There are no specific brands or specific products i've picked out yet, but I was wondering on the speed and size of the DIMMs first

Please say which one I should get and why please
Thanks

 

[Suztera]

8gb dual stick of DDR3 2133mhz is a good choice.
But
if budget can't make it, 8gb dual channel of DDR3 1866mhz. You want 8GB ram rather than 4GB.
Good brands are :G skill, Corsair and Kingston HyperX and Fury series.

 

[tsuneo6]

2x4GB dd3 1600MHz should be prices pretty much the same as 1866, so just go for 1866 speed, if you go higher, you'll probably have to pay more. but go for a set of 2 dimms, that way yu'll have optimal compability and you'll benefit from dual channel.

will you notice much difference between 1600MHz and 2133MHz? not realy
also, I got myself a pair of G.Skill ripjaws. they perform well, cant compain about them

 

[Tradesman1]

If you're going to be using the iGPU of the APU look to 8GB min in a 2x4GB set (the iGPU will be using a chunk of your DRAM) and the faster the better, most look to at least 2133 w/ the AMD APUs...Would suggest GSkill Snipers or Ripjaws X sets in 2133/9, great sticks!

 

[photonboy]

1) I agree on a 2x4GB 2133MHz CAS9 kit, or minimum 1866MHz CAS9.

I don't have results for all APU's, I just know that the faster models were slightly bottlenecked even at 2133MHz CAS9. It MAY be slight overkill but for the price difference why risk it unless you can find solid information.

2) Maybe don't get an APU?
If you're building a new system for light gaming then you might consider something different like:

G3258 CPU + dedicated graphics card (i.e. R7-260X)
X4-860K + dedicated graphics card

You can save a couple dollars on the DDR3 memory (i.e. 1600MHz C9) and get a much better system. I can't give exact recommendations without a total budget.

Other:
I generally dislike APU's. They make no sense above a certain price point, and for non-gaming I'd probably go with a G3258 since it does have basic graphics as well but it's price and fast single-core performance makes more sense in my opinion than more slower cores.

As for "light gaming" I find a couple dollars more gets you far better performance such as what I recommended above with an R7-260X dedicated card. Most people who want to game on a low-end APU complain about performance.

So... for most people I don't see the benefit of a low-end APU, or any APU I guess.