Reading Memory Specifications

[wpphili]

Hello,

I'm looking to build a budget PC and I am trying to figure what intel memory specifications are in regards to memory speed.

For the Processor i5 3450 they state the following:

DDR3 1333/1600

I know 1333 and 1600 are the actual speed of the memory but since they state two differents speed which one should I take? And why stating two different speed?

Further, I'm looking to the correct mother board for the CPU, currently looking at Gigabyte Z77-D3H, what would you recommend?

Thank you for your insights

 

[akxpckwb]

It means both speeds are supported so you could buy any. However if you buy sticks of different speeds the faster one will be SLOWED down to match the slowest one so it is recommended to buy the same speed for all sticks.
Regarding motherboards you can read reviews/comparisons online or even here on Tomshardware but as long as it has a Z77 chipset it will do