What's ram is better

[theunknown18]

I ordered g.skill 2x8gb link1
But now realised that it's optimised for Z170 when I ordered a x99 asus pro, with Intel 5960,
It's planned to be dispatched on 7th March so I can still cancel.
I was looking before to get corsair dominator link2 which is optimised for x99, do you guys think I should cancel and order the corsair, or is there any other ddr4 you think I should get, I only got about £110 to spend on this, I was looking to get 2x8gb then in future get another 2x8gb, for it to be quad channel, so I don't initially want to get 4x4gb. I prefer amazon since I got prime, but don't mind other places.

 

[DeauteratedDog]

I suspect the difference is marketing, but hopefully someone who know for sure will respond.

 

[10tacle]

It's just snake oil marketing. So long as the memory voltage supports your chipset's voltage requirements, it will work fine. G.SKILL is just targeting Z170 gaming builders and claiming that this memory is more compatible across various Z170 motherboards than their competitors (a claim I'd question).

FYI I'm sold on G.SKILL have have been using only that brand for about 8 years now in all my builds and laptop upgrades. But I know when to throw the marketing BS flag when applicable, and this is one of those times. Oh, and that Corsair memory has looser timings than the G.SKILL memory (15-17-17-35 vs. 14-14-14-34) as well as higher Cas latency (15 vs. 14).

 

[Eximo]

G.Skill is slightly better timings wise.

G.Skill: 14-14-14-34-2N
Corsair: 15-15-15-36

Voltages are the same, Corsair memory is pretty tall as well.

 

[theunknown18]

Thanks guys, I'll stick with g.skill I'm hoping it's just marketing, even though I do like corsair brand,

 

[gskill support]

Incorrect, XMP is designed for a specific platform, so Z170 RAM will have the proper XMP Profile for a supported Z170 motherboard. This is important because the profile needs to have the precise voltages for the system to be stable especially at high frequencies. X99 and Z170 CPUs have different characteristics, they require different voltages for the same RAM to be stable, so the same profile may not work. With some kits like DDR4-2400 where the voltage isn't much different, XMP may work on both platforms. But with high frequency kits like DDR4-3000+, manual settings will be necessary to stabilize the RAM. So it's not to say the RAM would not work at all, but it becomes more tricky than just enabling XMP Profile, which is what most builders would prefer. There are many technicalities and reasons why things are the way they are; it can be easily confused or misunderstood, but instead of guessing or assuming, it may be better to ask the manufacturers to see what kind of info they can provide first.