Selecting ram for amd fx 8300 sabertooth r2.0

HouseOfDIY

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Nov 25, 2013
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I got my hands on an AMD FX-8300 and at this point I'm kind of building a system around it. System will be used primarily as a home office machine but will do weekend duty as a gaming rig and audio / video production studio. Hence, the advantage of the CPU with a lower TDP for "everyday" use but with the capability to push it hard when performance is needed.

Here's where I'm leaning on some of the basic components:
Mobo - ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
Graphics - for the time being, will probably be a single Nvidia GTX 700 series or Radeon R9 series, with the possibility of upgrading to a SLI / Crossfire setup in the future (though I question whether these more expensive cards are going to be underutilized on a board that doesn't support PCI-e 3.0, but that's a topic for another thread).
RAM (*this is where I'm hung up - see below) - Given the audio production I'm looking to go a little overboard with 32GB of RAM. I like the construction of the Mushkin Redline models (with a ridgeback heat spreader screwed to the PCB). In general the Mushkins seem to offer a good combination of low latency and low price.
Cooling - looking at the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

*Question: I'm getting lost in the details of picking out an appropriate RAM for my mobo/CPU. The specs for the Sabertooth imply that it supports a ram clock speed up to 1866, but the Qualified Vendor List from ASUS lists a number of RAM modules for speeds up to 2400. I might get into oc'ing the RAM down the road but for starters I'd like something that will run at the top speed the board will support in "stock" configuration. Overall, the QVL is very limited but I can't imagine that those are the only modules a popular board like the Sabertooth will support.

As you might surmise, I'm admittedly a little out of my depth here despite days of research on these forums trying to gain an understanding of selecting RAM for a modern system (my last full build was 10 years ago). So I'd love to hear some confirmation of what 32GB RAM packages that can be fully utilized by the Sabertooth / FX-83xx combo, along with whatever tender guidance you see fit to offer. Thanks in advance,
 
Solution
You don't have to follow the QVL list because they are no way they will test all the RAM. And most of best name RAMs are G.SKILL, Crucial, some of Kingston and Corsair.

And the best price/performance for you cpu/mb, I will pick the 1866MHz ( CL10) and 2133MHz (CL11). And you are better to get the low profile RAM because the 212evo.
You don't have to follow the QVL list because they are no way they will test all the RAM. And most of best name RAMs are G.SKILL, Crucial, some of Kingston and Corsair.

And the best price/performance for you cpu/mb, I will pick the 1866MHz ( CL10) and 2133MHz (CL11). And you are better to get the low profile RAM because the 212evo.
 
Solution

HouseOfDIY

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Nov 25, 2013
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10,510

Thanks, and yes, after some more digging I've gotten the impression that the QVL lists are pretty much worthless; or, at least, one shouldn't feel limited to whatever they list. I've also found that the better RAM manufacturers provide their own "Qualified Motherboard Lists" which seem a little more useful. But what I'm really looking for is the "Qualified Motherboard / Processor / RAM combo list" which appears to only exist in the distributed knowledge of hardcore DIYers and OCers.



That's where I'm leaning. As much as I like the construction of the Mushkins, looks like I found a G.Skill 1866 MHz chip with a ridiculous CAS 8 latency (and to your point below, the heat spreaders are removable to accomodate bulky CPU coolers:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231624

However, and again this is where I'm a noob, these DIMMS need 1.6V which, to me, is OCing territory. And if I'm going there it seems like I might as well move up to the Tridents running at 2133 with CL9 and running the voltage up to 1.65. But again it's not clear to me that the Sabertooth will support this or that the FX-8300 can do anything with the extra speed. I don't want to just toast my RAM or my mobo for the heck of it.


Yep. The EVO is a big one, although based on the layout of the board it seems like the cooler is horizontally constrained to the cpu mounting area and wouldn't be at risk of obstructing the DIMMs. But at your suggestion I'll take a closer look at this. I hope that is not the case, as I was also thinking of an active cooling system for the RAM as well, along the lines of a Zalman ZM-RC1000 or something like that. I'm open to a closed-loop liquid cooling solution but I can't seem to find anything that integrates CPU and RAM cooling in a closed-loop system.

As an engineer by trade, I'd love a CAD design package that would let me virtually lay all this stuff out ahead of time. Sure would make the process of picking hardware a lot easier. But I suppose that's what makes DIY builds the domain of the dedicated few.

Cheers,
HoDIY