How much is added performance worth?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
D

DiverDave

Distinguished
Sep 15, 2006
147
0
18,690
I searched but didn't find something similar so excuse me if it has been asked before. I know with memory there isn't a big difference between setting but there is some small one I assume. My question is at what price difference does it make sense to pay the extra (assuming money isn't a major issue). For example
Is CL9 worth paying $5 more for than CL10?..$10..more less?
Is 1866MHz worth $5 more...less etc

The other assumption is that the memory is a known brand (GSkill, Corsair, Crucial etc) so the quality is a relative non consideration
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
D

DiverDave

Distinguished
Sep 15, 2006
147
0
18,690


That's where I struggle to understand what is worthwhile. For example I see that I can get CL9, 1600Mhz for $133 for one ram, CL10, 1866Mhz for $149 for another and CL9, 1866 Mhz for 158 for a third (last two are the same Ram family Gskill Ripjaw the 1st is Adata V1 for some reason the equivalent Ripjaw at CL9 1600 is more than CL9, 1866)

So even if I ignore the Adata is CL9, 1866 worth an extra $9?

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
D

DiverDave

Distinguished
Sep 15, 2006
147
0
18,690


I may have solved my own question since I found this G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200) Desktop Memory Model F3-2400C11D-16GXM for $144

Seems like a good deal CL11 2400MHZ cheaper than CL10 1866. I read that Haswell's are better with higher speeds as you mention, a couple of articles suggest 1866 as the target
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
D

DiverDave

Distinguished
Sep 15, 2006
147
0
18,690


This isn't the Trident version but the Ripjaw X but it is going to be paired with a 4770K which just arrived at the house today :D

Now I got the CPU now the other stuff needs to come together...I need to start jumping on deals
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
D

DiverDave

Distinguished
Sep 15, 2006
147
0
18,690
Thats one of the places that I used as a reference.

I just put an order in for the RAM (Ripjaw X above) as well as an EVO 120B, 1TB HD, PSU, Cooler (EVO212) and DVD to go with my 4770K. Still need a MB, case and GPU so will continue to look for deals. Might be a while before I get everything but the dam has official burst and the flood to a new computer is underway
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Tradesman1

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum
Jun 5, 2013
67,883
40
126,960
That's a good kind of flood...might look at and consider the Hero mobo, it's the best overall Z87 I've built on so far and the one I picked for my 4770K, case wise I like the HAF cases and GPU will in part depend on budget and what you want to do with it, here again, love the Hero as I've had a wide variety of GPUs in it for testing and for my own use (started the build with a 660TI, then got a 280X when they were released and just last week went to a pair of 780s (though will prob drop to just one and stick the second in my IB build.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
D

DiverDave

Distinguished
Sep 15, 2006
147
0
18,690
Casewise I'm looking at a Nanoxia DS2 as the primary. This build is a general build but will also be for recording so sound damping is a good plus. MB wise I'm leaning ASrock either Fatal1ly or Extreme4 but am looking for sales at the moment for something that will be good quality. Same thing with GPU, leaning 760 but watching for a good deal
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

Recycled

Honorable
Oct 31, 2013
422
1
10,960
Here's what I do: I look at the speed the RAM will run at in MHz, and divide by the latency (CAS.) That gives me an effective MHz.

For example: 1600MHz DDR3 RAM with a CAS of 10 has an effective speed of 160MHz.

Doing this for enough different RAM modules will show You that (for example) buying 2100MHz RAM and running it at 1333MHz is a waste of money. They have the same effective MHz, so there is no difference in performance. (Sometimes the faster-rated RAM will run cooler, if that is a concern.)

You will not understand the paragraph above this one until You do a spreadsheet with at least 20 DIMMs in it and do the math yourself.

Now, as for the question of how much one CAS drop is worth, in dollars? I can not answer that. I suspect it depends on how high end Your other components are. If You put super-fast-RAM in a slow system it will not speed it up by any noticeable amount. On the other hand, slow RAM in a high-end system will be a bottleneck. To make it more complicated, a lot of cache on Your processor can counter-balance slow RAM. Running more channels can counter-balance slow RAM.

For example: I do not worry about slow DDR2 RAM when I'm running it in a Dell Precision T7400. It's running in a quad-channel configuration, and each processor has 12MB of cache. The limitation/bottleneck in that system is the PCIe 1.1 bus, which is really beginning to affect the video performance.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom