[SOLVED] Need Advice on CL for New RAM

[Paulie D in AZ]

Hey All, I'm building a new PC for MIDI Orchestration, not gaming, so that means 128GB RAM, a lot of NVMe drives and a decent video card for 3-4 monitors. I'm trying to sort out how important the CL value is for the ram. I ordered the i9-13900KF and when it's released I'll order the MSI Z790 Mobo (not flexing, just info for the question... my wallet is severely bruised!). For music and Video editing, I don't OC, just run the max standard on CPU and RAM. The 4x32GB DDR5 RAM native speed is 5600, and I've narrowed it to Corsair Platinum Dominator (40-40-40-77, 1.25v) or G.Skill's Z5 (28-34-34-89, 1.35v), both same price roughly. Timings are an area I'm not any kind of expert, is the G.Skill the better way to go at CL28 or at this level is it not that noticeable? What's confusing is that G.Skill also has a CL30 version for a little cheaper, so is CL28 better to invest in? And does that make Corsair's CL40 way too slow? Why don't they make a CL28, or did G.Skill simply beat them to it?

In fact, there are three G.Skill versions, with a 100-dollar price difference, and these are the only differences in the spec, they are all RGB 5600... is the cheapest version a bad way to go?

CAS Latency	36	30	28
Timing	36-36-36-89	30-36-36-89	28-34-34-89
Voltage	1.25V	1.25V	1.35V
Price​	$319	$380	$420

Sorry for the boatload of questions, not really finding this info out on Google! Thanks!

 

[Darkbreeze]

The lower the CL latency, the lower the true latency will be and the lower the true latency is, to a point, the faster the memory will be. Too low of a true latency, as can happen when manually lowering timings, can result in unstable memory configurations.

If the CL latency is the defined timing for the DIMM from the factory then that is not an issue and you generally always want kits with a lower CL latency although they will usually tend to be more expensive.

Personally, I like the G.Skill Trident Z sticks better than Corsair's Dominator kits, but both are very high quality memory. The CL28 kit will be much snappier than the CL40 kit if they are the same frequency/speed regardless of what that speed is. Often, kits with a fairly low CL latency may end up being faster than kits that are significantly higher speed but have a higher CL latency. Other timing speeds affect this as well but usually kits with a lower CL latency also have other favorable timings as well.

Whether the difference in price is worth it, is something only you can decide.

For me, on a professional or work/mission critical system, the extra hundred bucks for a kit with a latency that is 12 points lower would be well worth it, but, that's me.

 

[Paulie D in AZ]

The lower the CL latency, the lower the true latency will be and the lower the true latency is, to a point, the faster the memory will be. Too low of a true latency, as can happen when manually lowering timings, can result in unstable memory configurations.

If the CL latency is the defined timing for the DIMM from the factory that that is not an issue and you generally always want kits with a lower CL latency although they will usually tend to be more expensive.

Personally, I like the G.Skill Trident Z sticks better than Corsair's Dominator kits, but both are very high quality memory. The CL28 kit will be much snappier than the CL40 kit if they are the same frequency/speed regardless of what that speed is. Often, kits with a fairly low CL latency may end up being faster than kits that are significantly higher speed but have a CL latency. Other timing speeds affect this as well but usually kits with a lower CL latency also have other favorable timings as well.

Whether the difference in price is worth it, is something only you can decide.

For me, on a professional or work/mission critical system, the extra hundred bucks for a kit with a latency that is 12 points lower would be well worth it, but, that's me.

Absolutely perfect answer, I get it now, and thank you for the detail!

So I'll be in nearly 5 grand for this rig, and I'm going all in, not settling... 200 bucks more for CL28 is an absolute no-brainer. G.Skill it is. Thanks again!