3930k vs 4930k Memory

defective turret · Aug 26, 2013

I have the Asus P9X79 PRO MB with
G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory. I am waiting to buy the CPU to see if the 3930 comes down in price or the 4930 comes out sooner than later in Sept. For certain reasons (it complicated) I may not be able to wait for the 4930 past the first week of Sept. unfortunately.

My main question is how much difference..if any..would having the 4930's 1866 memory match my 1866 RAM? Does one even affect the other directly?

Tradesman1 · Aug 26, 2013

Either CPU will be fine with the same DRAM, let us know on your new CPU, will look forward to hearing!

inzone · Aug 26, 2013

I have the i7-3930k and 16gb of 1866ghz ram and it works perfectly with the XMP Profile 1 in the bios. I expect the i7-4930k to work the same way.

When you first install the ram it will show as 1333mhz and you have to set the XMP profile or select the 1866 in the memory level up. If you plan on an overclock then you do that first and then you set the ram.

Tradesman1 · Aug 26, 2013

Pro's and Con's on that, I like to just have the DRAM at full freq, then work on the CPU OC, if you spend a lot of time on the CPU OC - it doesn't take into effect any extra voltage you might need for higher end DRAM, so when that goes up it can often blow the CPU OC and then you have to start all over again

inzone · Aug 26, 2013

Depends on the motherboard.

Tradesman1 · Aug 27, 2013

Could be, not been my experience of things going that way or those I network with, I (we) basically always at least get the DRAM to spec first, if nothing else to make sure the sticks can carry the full freq and amount of the DRAM

inzone · Aug 27, 2013

I wonder if it has something to do with the XMP Profile because I know what your saying but I have the Asus Rampage IV Extreme and when I first went to change my settings I set the XMP first and that set the ram to 1866mhz, then I went to overclock and in making the change to manual for the CPU it knocked the XMP off and the only way I could get the ram to stay was to stay was to change the frequency manually and not use the XMP and then change the CPU to manual. I wanted to use the XMP Profile so I set everything back and did the CPU change first and then set the XMP and this way it stays even when I make further changes to the CPU clock.

defective turret · Aug 27, 2013

Thats good to know guys, but what I'm getting at is the 4930 is listed as 1866 memory and the 3930 only goes up to 1600...wouldnt it be better to have the CPU match the Ram speeds? Or...does it even matter. I know I'm probably not explaining or understanding it right.

Tradesman1 · Aug 27, 2013

It will run 1600 and up, for better system performance I'd suggest an 1866 or better set, 1866 has basically been the entry level point with DRAM on client systems for a few years now on my main three rigs 2133/9 32 GB is the lowest and least I run (in sig)

defective turret · Aug 27, 2013

Tradesman1 :

The 4930 will run 1866 and up or the 3930?

For example...the 3930 is listed as such...Memory Types DDR3-1066/1333/1600
The 4930 so far from what I have read simply states the memory as 1866.

Does that mean the 3930 would run my 1866 memory only at 1600 but the 4930 run it at its rated speed of 1866?

Thats what I'm trying to figure out...does the CPU and RAM speeds matching make any difference?

inzone · Aug 27, 2013

I have the i7-3930k and I have Corsair Dominator 1866mhz ram, when I enable the XMP Profile in the motherboards bios it sets the ram at 1866mhz.
When you first put ram in the motherboard and turn it on it will default to 1333mhz, you then can either manually change it with the memory level up to 1866 or enable the XMP Profile and that will change it to 1866.
I have zero issues with this ram running in my computer at 1866mhz.

There are also other settings that I can use and the ram will run at those settings also, 1333, 1600, 2133.

defective turret · Aug 27, 2013

inzone :

OK...so it really doesnt matter what the CPU memory types states...its more the MB and RAM that determines the speed right?

inzone · Aug 27, 2013

DDR3 2400(O.C.)/2133(O.C.)/1866/1600/1333/1066 This is what my motherboard says.

DDR3 2400(O.C.)/2133(O.C.)/1866/1600/1333/1066 This is what your motherboard says, the speeds with the (O.C.) means overclocked

The 2011 socket and X-79 chipset will support these memory speeds with the Sandy Bridge-E processor i7-3970x , i7-3960x , i7-3930k and i7-3820

defective turret · Aug 27, 2013

inzone :

Thanks for bearing with me on this. I do understand what you guys are saying and thats good. The part I cant figure out still is why they even bother listing the "Memory Types" for a CPU as shown in this link for the 3930 under Memory Specifications. http://ark.intel.com/products/63697

Memory Specifications
Max Memory Size (dependent on memory type) 64 GB
Memory Types DDR3-1066/1333/1600
# of Memory Channels 4
Max Memory Bandwidth 51.2 GB/s
ECC Memory Supported ‡ No

Tradesman1 · Aug 27, 2013

It's simply the default spec for DRAM, while the CPU is actually native to 1600, it's backward compatible to 1333 and 1066 and can run at those lower freqs

defective turret · Aug 31, 2013

Tradesman1 :

Ok...so hypothetically say I have a CPU running at 1600 max and RAM at 1866.......and a CPU capable of running 1866 and beyond and RAM at 1866....which is better? Does it bottleneck with the CPU running a lower freqs than the RAM.

Does the CPU freqs affect the RAM at all?

See I'm just trying to figure out whether having the two matched even makes a difference. Sorry...I know you guys love guys like me.LOL

Tradesman1 · Aug 31, 2013

The 3930K to start at stock will generally run up to 1866 (1600 to be safe to say) when you look at mobo specs you'll normally see the freqs that the mobo supports and next to many of them you'll see an '(OC)' which many believe means that you have to OC the DRAM to that freq, it doesn't - it actually means an OC of the system may be required to run at that freq (i.e. OC the CPU) 1866 or 2133 DRAM is just that it's the rated spec for the set of sticks, OCing the DRAM is if you take a set of 1866 and run it at 2133 or higher. On the X79 platform most any X series CPU as well as the K series can run DRAM to much higher freqs (generally to 2400) up through 32GB, at the 64GB point, most with a proper OC can run through 2133 and some can run 64GB of 2400 (again though, not all are capable of the the 64 at 2400).....in your instance the DRAM is fine and will work with either CPU or you can crank it up to a higher freq or even 32GB or more is you so desire

defective turret · Aug 31, 2013

Tradesman1 :

The 3930K to start at stock will generally run up to 1866 (1600 to be safe to say) when you look at mobo specs you'll normally see the freqs that the mobo supports and next to many of them you'll see an '(OC)' which many believe means that you have to OC the DRAM to that freq, it doesn't - it actually means an OC of the system may be required to run at that freq (i.e. OC the CPU) 1866 or 2133 DRAM is just that it's the rated spec for the set of sticks, OCing the DRAM is if you take a set of 1866 and run it at 2133 or higher. On the X79 platform most any X series CPU as well as the K series can run DRAM to much higher freqs (generally to 2400) up through 32GB, at the 64GB point, most with a proper OC can run through 2133 and some can run 64GB of 2400 (again though, not all are capable of the the 64 at 2400).....in your instance the DRAM is fine and will work with either CPU or you can crank it up to a higher freq or even 32GB or more is you so desire

Ok...I see how that works now.

Many thanks to you and inzone for the help.

Tradesman1 · Aug 31, 2013

No problem, let us know how things go, can prob close the thread then

3930k vs 4930k Memory

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