Which RAM should I get?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
G

Gladii

Reputable
Apr 3, 2014
33
0
4,530
I'll be buying a GA-Z87X-UD7 TH motherboard from Gigabyte (http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4781#sp) and the specs show a lot of different clock speeds for RAM. Should I stick with the 1600 MHz or buy something faster? Will that even make much of a difference? I'll be getting 16 gigs btw
 
Solution
G
16 GB is overkill for a gaming machine (in most cases, I know a few games like Star Citizen and Titanfall ask you to have 8 GB minimum, but those are the exception rather than the rule). Now if your doing a lot of virtual boxing or heavy on rendering (video or photo) I could see it as being an asset. I would start off with 8GB of 1866 CL9 and see how things work out. The nice thing about RAM, it's easy and relatively inexpensive to add more. Just make sure if you do you go with the same specs (not necessarily the same vendor, but that's a personal choice.)

Also make sure whatever you get is on the Qualified Vendors List. Sometimes motherboards can be very picky!

Edit: FWIW 1866 is good and as long as its rated for 1.5V using a...
Sort by date Sort by votes
G

Gladii

Reputable
Apr 3, 2014
33
0
4,530


But does 1866MHz make much of a difference compared to 1800MHz in terms of performance? And I imagine any overclocked memory can run hotter than the 1800? I'm looking to build a quiet machine so heat is one of my main concerns
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
G

Guest

Guest
16 GB is overkill for a gaming machine (in most cases, I know a few games like Star Citizen and Titanfall ask you to have 8 GB minimum, but those are the exception rather than the rule). Now if your doing a lot of virtual boxing or heavy on rendering (video or photo) I could see it as being an asset. I would start off with 8GB of 1866 CL9 and see how things work out. The nice thing about RAM, it's easy and relatively inexpensive to add more. Just make sure if you do you go with the same specs (not necessarily the same vendor, but that's a personal choice.)

Also make sure whatever you get is on the Qualified Vendors List. Sometimes motherboards can be very picky!

Edit: FWIW 1866 is good and as long as its rated for 1.5V using a XMP you should have no issues with heat. (I've been using some Crucial BallistX stuff for a few years, it never gets warm.)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
Ahmadjon

Ahmadjon

Splendid
Oct 16, 2013
4,351
0
26,960


Edit: It wont make much heat also!
1866MHz is a bit faster RAM and costs nearly same as 1600MHz but in day to day usage you want notice any performance boost between 1600MHz and 1866MHz RAM. Also 1866MHz RAM doesn't need overclock all you have to do just enable XMP in BIOS and then you'll have 1866MHz RAM, If you don't enable XMP it would work at 1333MHz RAM!
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
G

Gladii

Reputable
Apr 3, 2014
33
0
4,530


Thanks, that's very helpful. My PC will most likely be running Virtualbox 24/7 so that's why I'm opting for the 16 gigs
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
G

Gladii

Reputable
Apr 3, 2014
33
0
4,530


Thanks! I wasn't aware that this was just a flag you could set. I'll be sure to read my manual when I get my motherboard :p
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
chris987

chris987

Judicious
Jun 10, 2013
4,467
0
33,760
since you aim for a z87 mobo i suppose overclocking is on your mind and a unlocked (k) version of i5/i7 . if so depending your budget a 2133mhz cl9 would make a great pair http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f317000cl9q16gbxm. you shouldnt look anything below 1866mhz cl9 though!
 
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