Which RAM is best

[clewis09]

Hey all, Read through the sticky at the top of the page, not sure if it needs updating, not a lot of info about DDR3 RAM up there.
Anyway, My questions are,

Will having 4x 2gb affect me in anyway over 2x 4gb sticks
Is there a major performance affect from 1333Mhz to 1600Mhz
What is the impact of the numbers (sorry not sure what they're called) (7-8-7-24) & (9-9-9-24)
Does Voltage affect performance (assuming it does but in what way)

Based upon those answers, which RAM would be best? Off topic, will a Scythe Mugen 1155 cooler fit with this RAM in my case?

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?q=g+skill&x=0&y=0

I chose G Skill because they're well recommended, feel free to suggest alternatives though

Thanks for dealing with my Newbiness! :lol:

 

[davcon]

Yeah you're better off buying a 2x4GB kit.
1600Mhz with lower timings is faster and a good choice.
8GB G.Skill Ripjaws-X F3-12800CL7D-8GBXH 1600MHz
http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?product_id=68694&category_id=1&manufacturer_id=431&tid=f3-12800cl7d-8gbxh

 

[clarkjd]

Hey all, Read through the sticky at the top of the page, not sure if it needs updating, not a lot of info about DDR3 RAM up there.
Anyway, My questions are,

Will having 4x 2gb affect me in anyway over 2x 4gb sticks
Is there a major performance affect from 1333Mhz to 1600Mhz
What is the impact of the numbers (sorry not sure what they're called) (7-8-7-24) & (9-9-9-24)
Does Voltage affect performance (assuming it does but in what way)

Based upon those answers, which RAM would be best? Off topic, will a Scythe Mugen 1155 cooler fit with this RAM in my case?

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?q=g+skill&x=0&y=0

I chose G Skill because they're well recommended, feel free to suggest alternatives though

Thanks for dealing with my Newbiness! :lol:

Having fewer sticks of memory is better(you have an upgrade path without having to take out existing memory). Having more than two sticks( Three for triple channel) generally requires that you run with a 2T command rate(slower)

1600MHz is faster than 1333Mhz (speed...higher is better)
7-8-7-24 is faster than 9-9-9-24 (timings... lower is better)
you may need to raise the voltage with 4 sticks of ram for stability.

The best RAM? Why, the kind that works with your motherboard!

 

[RetiredChief]

Concur 2 x 4 the better choice (as stated above allows increasing amount of ram - more cost effective as if you went wit 4 x 2 and later wanted to go to 12 Gigs you would have wasted the money on one pair of 2 x 2.

Also concur that the 1600 CL7-8-7-24 as a great choice. How much of a perforance boost may be tied to what you are doing as some application are benifited more than other on speed and timings.

Love the G-skill Ripjaws.
went with DDR3 1600 CL7 Ripjaws 2 x 2 (4 gigs)-> 4 x 2 (8 gigs) - 2 x 4 + 2 X 2 (12 Gigs). Two days ago swapped out the 2 x 2 for 2 x 4 for 16 Gigs. The ripjaws are slightly lower voltage than the norm 1.60 vs 1.65 V. Also going from 4 gigs to 16 gigs I did not have to lower the timings or increase the voltage.

Note the 7-8-7-24 use to be 7-7-7-24 Why I don't know - no real diff.