Which Memory for my Build? DDR3 1600 vs DDR3 1866 and Timing

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
A

AtariST

Distinguished
Oct 31, 2013
16
4
18,525
I have read the memory FAQ at the top but I'm not sure about the timing, the value and the tradeoffs.

I plan to build a system using an AMD FX-6300 or FX-8320 processor. I'm leaning toward the GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 motherboard. I may overclock but certainly not to the point of water cooling.

That leaves me deciding on the memory. I see tom's building a lot of systems using CAS9 DDR3/1600 with 9-9-9-24 timing. For the same price I can get DDR3/1866 CAS9 9-10-9.

Assuming brand name, high quality memory in each case.
Is this better, worse, about the same?
How significant is the difference between PC3 14900 and PC3 15000?
Would DDR3 1600 CAS 8 be better than DDR3 1866 CAS9?

What is most important and when?

Thanks in advance.


<rant>Finally. Please get rid of this stupid yellow alert about "Maximizing my chances of being read". I am so sick of seeing it inside my text area every single time I click back in because i AM TRYING TO GET MY FACTS STRAIGHT by switching tabs and getting data! Talk about punishing your customers for trying to do the right thing. </rant>
 
Solution
Tradesman1
No, true DRAM performance is a combination of high freq and low CL - within a given freq look for the lower CL i.e. 1866/8 vs 1866/10 the 8 is much better (the CL is the number of clock cycles to perform an action, so lower is better), with that out of the way to compare across a number of freqs use the simple single step formula - for each step up in freq also take the CL up a step and you will get slightly better performance i.e.

1600/9 1866/10 2133/11 each of theose steps up is a slight increase performance wise a bigger jump would be from that same initial 1600/9 to 1866/9 or 1866/8 or 2133/9 2133/10

for performance DRAM look for 1600/7 1866/8 2133/9 2400/10 2666/11

and don't use a higher CL at a given freq than...
Sort by date Sort by votes
Proteus1

Proteus1

Honorable
Nov 8, 2013
128
0
10,710


With an AMD APU you want the faster ram. In his case hes using the 6300 or 8320 not a APU chip. If you can get the 1866 for the same price then do it but its not a necessity. I dont think you will notice any difference in speed.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

AtariST

Distinguished
Oct 31, 2013
16
4
18,525
I appreciate the answers but they don't address the timing portion of the question. All things are not equal. Are you saying that the faster ram out weights the timing? Is 1866 always better than 1600 even if the CL on the 1600 is 9, 8 or even 7 vs. 10 for the 1866?

I'm just trying to understand all of the aspects of the specs.

Thanks.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Tradesman1

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum
Jun 5, 2013
67,883
40
126,960
No, true DRAM performance is a combination of high freq and low CL - within a given freq look for the lower CL i.e. 1866/8 vs 1866/10 the 8 is much better (the CL is the number of clock cycles to perform an action, so lower is better), with that out of the way to compare across a number of freqs use the simple single step formula - for each step up in freq also take the CL up a step and you will get slightly better performance i.e.

1600/9 1866/10 2133/11 each of theose steps up is a slight increase performance wise a bigger jump would be from that same initial 1600/9 to 1866/9 or 1866/8 or 2133/9 2133/10

for performance DRAM look for 1600/7 1866/8 2133/9 2400/10 2666/11

and don't use a higher CL at a given freq than say 1600/9 i.e don't touch 1600 with 10-11 1866- same-10-11 2133-11 those are sort of a waste of time
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom