WHAT DDR for 2500k and strong overclock ???

Mfusick

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Dec 29, 2005
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Hey guys

I have decided on the Asus Z68 LGA1155 and the 2500K Sandy. My mobo with be either the MAXIMUS or the DELUXE both Gen3.

What DDR3 should I get? I want to OC the hell of of this little chip. I will upgrade the cooler, and the case is going to be a COSMO II. Right now I have a Thermaltake Armor 10 bay full tower till the COSMOS II is released.

What speed DDR3 should I get? WHat brand? What model?

I want 16GB I think. 4x4GB probably.

My budget is $200 or less.

I saw some RIPJAWZ and G.SKILL models for about $129 that seemed to fit the bill. Worth it over CORSAIR or MUSHKIN ?
 
i remember Tomhardware made an article awhile back showing for gaming purpose that anything over 1600mhz was a small gain and not worth the extra price but rather get urself a 1600mhz stick with tighter timing.

for size of memory it all depends on what you use the computer for. for heavy graphic editing, video editing, programming with autoCAD, systemworks r any variation of it or heavy calculations then yes 12gb+ is worth it. but if your using it for gaming and everyday stuff or occasional photoshop then 6-8gb is more then enough.

im indifference to the brand. what i care for are price, mem size, timing, speed, profile and maybe colors r design if i want to go with a theme.
 
pick the MoBo, look at the "referenced" RAM on the Support site, and go from there.

Make sure you get a SATA3 SSD as well and a large Data drive to do it right.

I also suggest using a schedule-able imaging software to ensure you can restore the system when the SSD takes a dump on you. I use EASUS's ToDo Backup and have it make a new image of my system weekly...
 
RAM has absolutely nothing to do with overclocking Sandy Bridge processors. All the benchmarking shows that DDR3 1600 cas 8 or 9 is the best memory for these processors. There is very little gain from going over that.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3/8

I would go with GSkill Ripjaws X or Corsair Vengance whatever is cheaper. I do know for a fact that the GSkill fits under the larger air coolers while the Corsair will not. That might be a deciding factor in what you buy depending on your cooler.
 


I have had a Vertex2 120GB for over a year with no issues. It is excellent. I am not afraid of my SSD taking a dump... lol.

My PC if for fun. I would just reinstall if that ever happened anyways. I reinstall clean 1 time a year at least... anyways.

My new SSD is Vertex3 MAX IOPS 120GB. It is Sata III... and quick. No worries there.

Thanks for the advice! It is much appreciated.

I will take a look at the RAM
 


so DDR17000 or DDR18000 or 2133mhz is not worth it ?

Your saying any normal DDR12800 (1600mhz) should be just fine?

What timings should I look for? how tight?

I want to spend under $200. Closer to $100 is best. What is the difference between the G.SKILL sniper, vs RIPJAWZ Z /X/ Y etc... Which one is best?

Better than CORSAIR DOMINATOR ?
 
I have had my Vertex 2 for a year and a half with no problems as well. Not sure where the SSD hate is coming from.

Yeah just Google "memory for Sandy Bridge" and you will see where 6 or 8 review sites, Tom's included did a bunch of benchmarking with different RAM. The integrated controller on the Sandy Bridge chips is great but you get little to no real world performance boost from anything over DDR3 1600.

I got Expensive Cas 7 but I bought mine last January when Sandy was released and before all the benchmarking was done.

I would get cas 8 or 9 if I was buying today. There is a little bit of a benefit from the tighter timings. Like I said above, whatever is cheaper between the GSkill and Corsair. But the GSkill will fit under a big air cooler and the Corsair will not.

The Dominator kits are for overclocking your RAM. Great for pretty much any builds but unnecessary for Sandy Bridge.
 
anything above 1600mhz is not worth the extra money if ur just using it for gaming and everyday stuff. apparently the article that anort3 pointed out states that slow cas timing doesnt provide much benefit over raw transfer speed.

the main diff between any brand/company are timing and speed (sometimes profile of the ram) for the same memory size.

so my advice is to just look for any 8gb ram kit with 1600mhz and CL 9 timing [9-9-9-24] and buy the cheapest one of all da brand/company. also take into consideration the height r profile of the ram kit so it doesnt interfere with ur cpu cooler. i think you can find some 8gb kit for less then 50 bucks b4 tax so two will get u 16gb for about 100 bucks.

good luck and hope ur happy with ur choice
 


What if I did not mind spending another $50 for a very small increase in performance?

Would I look for faster DDR3 Speed? Or should I look for a tighter timing?

What is "tight" timing for Z68 ??
 



Just look at the page I linked you to above....actually read the whole article. It will answer your questions. Make sure you read on to the real world tests. Don't stop on the synthetic benchmarks. They don't mean squat compared to the real world stuff.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3/6
 
da ram u selected are for quad channel which da z67 does not support

not to sure about the voltage (think da voltage doesnt have any impact on speed. just for ppl who want to save on electric bill) and i think some ram only work @ 1.5v
 



Seriously, if you have no idea what you are talking about why bother posting?

Chipset is P67/Z68 there is no Z67.

4 x 4GB is still dual channel.......sets of 2...........

I'm not even going into how voltage effects speed. :heink:
 
ur seriously goin 2 be anal about a legit mistake about the chipset?

i never said it didnt support dual channel. i was referring to the ram he link which was for quad channel and the 4 mem bank does not make it quad channel. quad channel is on the newer x79 chipset with 8 bank slot, 4 on each side. dont assume b4 u make an ass of urself.
 
Id say get a 2133 speed ram and lower the speed down to 1600mhz and tighten the timings down to cl 7
or better yet benchmark the ram to see whether it performs better in your system with the faster speed or tighter timings
 



First, learn to talk like you are older than 12 and texting your friends. This is a legitimate help forum not a chan. And when your entire post is WRONG you deserve to be corrected so someone does not come along and think you know what the hell you are talking about.

Second, that RAM is listed as quad channel FOR MARKETING PURPOSES ONLY. It will work as DUAL channel on everything EXCEPT LGA 2011 and LGA 1366. Sets of 2 = DUAL channel. 4 Sticks = 2 x 2. Yes it is MARKETED to LGA 2011 and yes it will ALSO work as QUAD channel in those boards.
 
lollies.

This thread has them.

Back to the subject though..

Are you suggesting that a faster speed DDR will allow me to slow it down and tighten the timings vs a normal 1600mhz speed with 9 timing