DDR3 sandy bridge RAM upgrade

freestyla

hiyee

1. does it matter if going for 2x4GB or 4x2GB ?

1600mhz or 1866hmz sticks

2. what about 1.5V or 1.65 which is better? going for slight overclock just over 4ghz..

deconduo

freestyla wrote: »

hiyee

1. does it matter if going for 2x4GB or 4x2GB ?

1600mhz or 1866hmz sticks

2. what about 1.5V or 1.65 which is better? going for slight overclock just over 4ghz..

Get the cheapest 2x4GB 1.5V kit really. Speed and CL doesn't matter for sandy bridge, the extra performance isn't really noticeable. Something like this:

http://www.memoryc.ie/products/description/8GB_G_Skill_DDR3_PC3_10600_1333MHz_CL9_NT_Series_Desktop_dual_channel_memory_kit-2x4GB_/index.html

freestyla

deconduo wrote: »

Get the cheapest 2x4GB 1.5V kit really. Speed and CL doesn't matter for sandy bridge, the extra performance isn't really noticeable. Something like this:

http://www.memoryc.ie/products/description/8GB_G_Skill_DDR3_PC3_10600_1333MHz_CL9_NT_Series_Desktop_dual_channel_memory_kit-2x4GB_/index.html

All right thanks but heat spreaders are must, and preferably in black/red

I was going for some of these, what's confusing me is voltage in relation with OC.. isn't it better to buy ones with lower volts so when OC'ing you have more room for increasing voltage?

1.25V @ 1600mhz BUT in specs it says "designed for Intel P67 and P55 Series" - shouldn't it work on Z68 anyway?
8GB_G_Skill_DDR3_PC3_12800_1600MHz_Sniper_Series-9_9_9_24-Dual_Channel_Low_voltage_1_25V

1.5V @ 1600mhz
8GB_G_Skill_DDR3_PC3_12800_RipjawsX_Series_for_Sandy_Bridge-9_9_9_24

1.65V @ 1600mhz
kingston-8gb--2-x-4gb--hyperx-ddr3-1600mhz-dimm-240-pin-cl9-xmp-grey

deconduo

freestyla wrote: »

All right thanks but heat spreaders are must, and preferably in black/red

I was going for some of these, what's confusing me is voltage in relation with OC.. isn't it better to buy ones with lower volts so when OC'ing you have more room for increasing voltage?

1.25V @ 1600mhz BUT in specs it says "designed for Intel P67 and P55 Series" - shouldn't it work on Z68 anyway?
8GB_G_Skill_DDR3_PC3_12800_1600MHz_Sniper_Series-9_9_9_24-Dual_Channel_Low_voltage_1_25V

1.5V @ 1600mhz
8GB_G_Skill_DDR3_PC3_12800_RipjawsX_Series_for_Sandy_Bridge-9_9_9_24

1.65V @ 1600mhz
kingston-8gb--2-x-4gb--hyperx-ddr3-1600mhz-dimm-240-pin-cl9-xmp-grey

You want 1.5V or lower for SandyBridge, anything higher has a chance to cause problems. If you are trying to do some overclocking on your RAM, then lower voltages are better. However overclocking RAM does little to nothing for SandyBridge systems, the same way higher RAM speeds have almost no effect.

If you want the heatsinks then get this:
http://www.memoryc.ie/products/description/8GB_G_Skill_DDR3_PC3_10666_RipjawsX_Series_for_Sandy_Bridge-9_9_9_24-Dual_Channel_kit/index.html

But you really are paying €5 for a piece of metal that looks nice :P

freestyla

deconduo wrote: »

You want 1.5V or lower for SandyBridge, anything higher has a chance to cause problems. If you are trying to do some overclocking on your RAM, then lower voltages are better. However overclocking RAM does little to nothing for SandyBridge systems, the same way higher RAM speeds have almost no effect.

If you want the heatsinks then get this:
http://www.memoryc.ie/products/description/8GB_G_Skill_DDR3_PC3_10666_RipjawsX_Series_for_Sandy_Bridge-9_9_9_24-Dual_Channel_kit/index.html

But you really are paying €5 for a piece of metal that looks nice :P

Yea 1.5V or less should do it, not going to OC particularly RAM but when increasing CPU multiplier it's also increasing RAM frequency and voltage...

I don't mind some extra euros because 8GB will be final RAM investment here so I want it a bit better than bottom line.

deconduo

freestyla wrote: »

Yea 1.5V or less should do it, not going to OC particularly RAM but when increasing CPU multiplier it's also increasing RAM frequency and voltage...

I don't mind some extra euros because 8GB will be final RAM investment here so I want it a bit better than bottom line.

Nope, that happens when you overclock using the baseclock. If you overclock using the muliplier like with SandyBridge the RAM isn't affected at all. Thats why RAM speed and timings don't matter for an i5-2500k system.

Genghiz Cohen

deconduo wrote: »

Nope, that happens when you overclock using the baseclock. If you overclock using the muliplier like with SandyBridge the RAM isn't affected at all. Thats why RAM speed and timings don't matter for an i5-2500k system.

How do you know so much?!

I was also wondering about this too.
Is there a noticeable difference between 1333MHz and 1600Mhz on SandyBridge?

Serephucus

Virtually none.

Genghiz Cohen

Serephucus wrote: »

Virtually none.

If you were buying, what would you get?
(Ignoring the thrill we nerds get from having the best.)

Serephucus

I would get the cheapest set from a decent brand that has a headspreader. While most RAM doesn't need it, I tend to like builds as quiet as possible, meaning very little airflow, so I like the idea of my RAM running that bit cooler.

Something like this probably.

http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=48886&agid=1193

deconduo

Serephucus wrote: »

I would get the cheapest set from a decent brand that has a headspreader. While most RAM doesn't need it, I tend to like builds as quiet as possible, meaning very little airflow, so I like the idea of my RAM running that bit cooler.

Something like this probably.

http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=48886&agid=1193

Thats a 1.65V kit btw :P

I would just get the cheapest 8GB kit which would be this:
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=44315&agid=1192

If I really wanted heatspreaders I would get this:
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=38502&agid=1192



The kit I actually have is this one, which was the cheapest at the time I ordered it:
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=44319&agid=1192

Serephucus

Meh. Most 1.65V kits can run at 1.5V if you loosen the CAS by one anyway. Nice find with the GIEL heatspreadery ones though.

deconduo

Serephucus wrote: »

Meh. Most 1.65V kits can run at 1.5V if you loosen the CAS by one anyway. Nice find with the GIEL heatspreadery ones though.

Yeah I think I the GEIL heatspreaders look the nicest of all them too. Them or these:
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=44317&agid=1192

Serephucus

I actually really like the Dominator ones (holy crap these thing have gotten cheap; I paid double that for them this time last year)

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=38034&agid=1193

The new Vengeance ones... meh. (Though they'd probably be better for near-passive systems.)

Tea_Bag

id get (and have done) 1600mhz ones for the sheer knowledge that if i ever moved back to AMD (doubtful now with dozers flop) i could move the RAM without a hitch. AMD still depends on base clock frequencies to OC so 1600mhz helps alot.

in my server PC (AMD phenom based) i originally had generic 1333mhz but got a free upgrade to corsair vengeance 1600mhz ram and could swear i noticed a performance increase....maybe in my head.

aaaaaanyway, get G.skill ripjaw/ripjawX 8gb kits. 1600mhz, 1.5v, cheap as chips now ...happy days.


ive had too much to drink.

freestyla

I m on the same line with having silent PC so heatsink fetish here

Ordered these
http://komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_01COM/08_MEMINT/03_DDR3/productdetails/20089276/Corsair_DIMM_Low_Profile_8GB_1600MHz_PC3_12800/CML8GX3M2A1600C9/default.aspx

- vengeance excelent scaling ram
- low heatsinks if got need to fit it under noctua cpu cooler or next ITX build
- particular model officially qualified for my mobo
- 1600@1.5V
-very good price 53eur
- free shipping easy shopping

But it took me good while to decide between these vengeance or same specs ripjaws from Memoryc for 50eur.

Btw i just run Aida64 mem tests with my present Exceleram sticks and difference is 10-15% between 1333-cl9-1.55V and 1600-cl6-1.65V