HTPC RAM speed question

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
T

testudoAubreii

Honorable
Jun 20, 2012
329
0
10,780
Hello everyone,

I am building an HTPC. I am going to be using this set up:

Kingston Value RAM 2x 4GB 1600MHz PC3-12800 DDR3 Non-ECC CL11 DIMM SR x8 Desktop Memory (KVR16N11S8/4)

AMD A6-6400K APU 3.9Ghz

Antec Minuet 350 MicroATX Slim Case Computer Case 350 Watt 80 PLUS Power Supply

Gigabyte FM2+ AMD A78 HDMI Dual-Link DVI D-Sub UEFI BIOS mATX DDR3 2133

I have a SSD and an optical drive, so I won't be needing those.

My question is really about the RAM speed. For an HTPC, is 1600 going to be good enough, or would I benefit for upping the speed to 1866 or something. All that I will be using the HTPC for is XBMC, streaming video and music files (mvk, in particular) from the HTPC to other smart tvs in the house and to run an NES emulator.

Thank you in advance for your help, suggestions and advice.
 
Solution
B
You won't see a notable performance difference in those applications as any RAM you use for them will deliver far more than the minimum performance needed to achieve all of the performance they are ever going to give you. However price is usually the most significant reason not to go with higher speed RAM modules, so if the higher speed modules were not much more, I would personally consider them. About the biggest benefit with the higher bandwidth RAM modules would be in gaming using the APU's integrated graphics. Beyond their integrated graphics, it's been reasonably demonstrated that AMD's CPUs don't benefit significantly from more bandwidth.
Sort by date Sort by votes
B

bigpinkdragon286

Splendid
Oct 3, 2012
4,648
35
28,590
You won't see a notable performance difference in those applications as any RAM you use for them will deliver far more than the minimum performance needed to achieve all of the performance they are ever going to give you. However price is usually the most significant reason not to go with higher speed RAM modules, so if the higher speed modules were not much more, I would personally consider them. About the biggest benefit with the higher bandwidth RAM modules would be in gaming using the APU's integrated graphics. Beyond their integrated graphics, it's been reasonably demonstrated that AMD's CPUs don't benefit significantly from more bandwidth.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
T

testudoAubreii

Honorable
Jun 20, 2012
329
0
10,780


Thank you very much for your response!

I have read that I should get the higher speeds, but I really will not be using this for anything except for what I stated. I have a gaming rig, so I am just looking for a dedicated media center. My wife likes to play the old NES games, like Super Mario Bros., so I want to be able to run an NES emulator and XBMC.

So, if I already ordered 1600, there is no reason to return it, correct?
 
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