Mobo says 2400(O.C.) Should I buy 1600mhz instead??

[cloudnyn3]

So, I'm a little foggy on how memory overclocking or the OC badge on memory works.

My buddy is giving me a Core i7 3970k and a ASrock extreme4 that has quad channel DDR3 support.
The deal was that I had to buy the memory and PSU. The motherboard says its 1600mhz stock, But is capable of up to 2400 overclocked. What exactly does this mean? I want to get the best memory I can for this set up without spending more than $350. I'll be gaming, using autocad, running multiple instances of Server 2012, Apache, I use the adobe suite quite often, and Visual Studios for work. I have two 790's for Graphics already, and 4 SSD's.

So should I just get 1600mhz? Or can I actually utilize 2400? If I can, how exactly would I go about it?

 

[Vexillarius]

Up to 1600MHz is officially supported, anything above that is considered overclocked. This is the case with most Intel CPUs, for AMD it's usually up to 1866MHz.

Higher speed memory almost always comes with an XMP profile though. Basically, the manufacturer verifies that RAM works at a certain speed and latency (say, 2400MHz CL10 like mine) and configures the XMP profile accordingly. Then all you have to do is activate the profile and the system will adjust the memory to the right settings. Technically this is considered overclocking, but it's one-click and is covered by the RAM's warranty.

The max RAM speed with "(O.C.)" behind it is the maximum RAM speed the motherboard can achieve even with an XMP profile.

 

[bootcher]

You can try to overclock the memory controller on the cpu to 2400 mhz, but just because the motherboards supports the setting does not mean it will work. Intel cpu's officially support up to 1600 mhz, so anything above is considered overclock.

Another thing to consider are the memory timings. If you get the memory to work at 2400 mhz but at cas 13 for example, you will get better performance with 1600 mhz with cas 7.

 

[cloudnyn3]

Thanks got it, appreciate it!

 

[bgunner]

One thing to keep in mind is that the max OC is not always obtainable because every part OC's differently. The i7 3970 should have no issues reaching the 2400 MHz ram speed that the board allows. If I'm not mistaken the stock max frequency of the Memory controller in that i7 is 1866 MHz before OCing is needed to obtain a faster speed.

youi asked "The motherboard says its 1600mhz stock, But is capable of up to 2400 overclocked. What exactly does this mean?"

This means that the standard setting for that board is 1600 Mhz. IF you want to go over that you will need to overclock the memory controller in the CPU in order to reach a higher frequency. This is pretty easy in the i7's to do.

you asked "So should I just get 1600mhz? Or can I actually utilize 2400? If I can, how exactly would I go about it?'

I would get a set of 4 ram sticks with the highest frequency I could afford as long as it does not go over the 2400 MHz. Going this way you can set the ram to what ever is able to run stably whether it be the 1600, 2400 or anything in between and play with the settings to get the most out of it.