Difference between cheap and expensive ram

Jult · Jul 3, 2014

Hello everyone,
I was trying to find a reliable set of 8gb ram (2x4gb) when I realised that there was a large price difference between certain types even though their specs were essentially the same. I am curious to know why exactly there is a large price difference between Corsair CMP8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 and G.Skill Sniper F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3. Both of these ram modules operate at 1600mhz and have exactly the same timing (9-9-9-24).
Thanks

ingtar33 · Jul 3, 2014

mostly the look.

no other reason.

same with the heat spreaders on ram... unless you're doing some insane ram overclocking, it's highly unlikely you even need a heat-spreader on your ram. Yet all gaming ram comes with monstrous heat spreaders, even though it will work just fine without one. Mostly so you can tell yourself you have something "fast" and "powerful" i think. mostly those heatspreaders are for looks.

from time to time we'll get people asking about clearence from their ram heat-spreader and their cpu cooler... and my answer is typically the same every time. "get some low profile ram without a heat-spreader and call it a day"... i've been overclocking ram and systems most of my life. never had ram overheat on me from lack of a heat-spreader. in fact some of the best ddr3 ram ever made (known by the nickname samsung magic ram) came without a heat-spreader. didn't prevent countless enthusiasts from buying it and overclocking the snot out of it.

kajjot · Jul 3, 2014

Pretty much no difference.
Expensive ram gives you:
bigger e-peen
possibly better warranty (depending on manufacturer)
Nice to look at if you have a windowed case.

ss202sl · Jul 3, 2014

Cheap. Reliable. Fast.

Pick 2. Ram is either cheap and fast(but not reliable), or cheap and reliable(but slow). In order to get fast and reliable, it won't be cheap.

Tradesman1 · Jul 3, 2014

In this case, w/ Corsair vs GSkill, Corsair adds a bit of a premium just for their name and simply isn't worth it

Jult · Jul 3, 2014

ingtar33 :

Does overclocking have a large impact on the performance of the ram and does it change the mhz of the ram or the timings. Let's say if I did want to overclock a set of ram modules, would it be better to choose a set that works at a lower voltage at its usual performance. And after its been overclocked, will it produce the same amount of heat as another set of ram at 1.5V if you overclocked it to 1.5V

Sorry about the questions, I'm kinda clueless when it comes to this topic

Tradesman1 · Jul 3, 2014

For the most part these days, most DRAM up through 1866 should run fine at the designated 1.5 standard originally set by JEDEC, exceptions possibly being high performance sticks like some 1600 (with CL7 or 8) and many of them still run at 1.5, and some 1866/8 or better, from 2133 on up 1.6 and 1.65 is fine. As far as OCing, if you have a good set of sticks and can OCthem reasonably ( i.e. add one step of CL or less to 1 step in freq, you will get a performance gain from the additional bandwidth (using more DRAM per action), though if you have say 1600/9 sticks and to run 1866 you need two steps of CL (11) then you would be better off performance wise staying at 1600....also if this is the case you still can pick up a slight performance gain most of the time by dropping the CR from the normal 2T or 2N to 1T or 1N, which may require a tad more voltage to the sticks

ingtar33 · Jul 3, 2014

Jult :

depends... understand that ram affects your system differently depending what you're doing with it. An apu or the igpu on an intel chip will love fast (mhz) ram. the faster the better... latency timings don't affect it too much. That's mostly because video ram tends to have some high latency... vram is all about bandwidth, so the higher clock speed you can get for your system ram the better those on chips graphics work.

However, your cpu tends to like both high speeds AND low latency... to a point. Intel cpus are much less demanding of high speed high performance ram, because intel cpus have incredible L3 cache. AMD cpus have a poor, slow, and barely functional L3 cache... so they love high speed ram... but again. only to a point. There is only so much you can sqeeze out of ram before there are other bottlenecks that will stop it's effectiveness.

the end result is Intel AND AMD cpus tend to hit their limits around ddr3 1866 memory speeds. Higher speeds can help a little, in some ways... for example, it can help with SLi and Xfire scaling. but in single gpu setups, you probably won't see much benefit beyond 1866.

Tradesman1 · Jul 3, 2014

I beg to differ, AMD CPUs don't love fast DRAM, their MCs can just get by at 1866, this is due to their poor/weak MCs which haven't really changed in years, they strain to run at higher freqs....on the other hand most Intel CPUs handily run run 1866 and in large quantities, the K models even more so, and if multi-tasking or using apps for imaging, video, CAD, VMs, etc or anything using large data sets, performance is greatly enhanced, which is why most that do these types of work as a profession use the higher freq DRAM. And as far as single GPUs it can help with iGPUs, but is of little to no effect w/discrete GPUs or SLI/XFire....Another thing, w/ APUs, you still want a tight CL, while the iGPU of the APU benefits from the DRAM bandwidth, you drag down the overall system performance both from a high CL and the fact the iGPU is wanting your DRAM so there is less for the system itself to utilize

Jult · Jul 3, 2014

I highly doubt that I am going to end up overclocking my ram as it doesn't seem as if it will actually improve the performance for what I have in mind (gaming, general use). Which set of ram modules would you guys advise me to buy if I'm looking for 8gb of ram that operates at 1600mhz. I am currently not too sure what timings to look for but I want it to be around 9-9-9-24.

Tradesman1 · Jul 3, 2014

GSkill Snipers, great sticks!

Jult · Jul 3, 2014

Tradesman1 :

Yeah, these were the ones that I was going to buy. Something that I wasn't sure about was the voltage of the sticks. Should I go for a higher voltage or lower voltage?

Tradesman1 · Jul 3, 2014

Get the 1.5 set, there's a fair amoount of low voltage sticks out there, though not all mobos are set to work with them, they primarily came in small numbers as the DRAM manufacturers used them to sort of experiment with lower voltages in prep for their designs for DDR4

Jult · Jul 3, 2014

Tradesman1 :

Ahh thanks. I was considering getting the 1.25V and overclocking it to 1.5V. Guess I'll just stick with the 1.5V set then

Tradesman1 · Jul 3, 2014

They'll be fine and if you desire to OC, they normally run 1866 quite easily

Jult · Jul 3, 2014

Tradesman1 :

Alright thanks

Tradesman1 · Jul 3, 2014

No worries, glad to help

lewyh81 · Jul 4, 2014

Branded RAM is better: http://www.itsupportforum.net/topic/whats-the-difference-between-generic-and-branded-ram/

The question, I guess is: What's a brand and whats the name of a generic?!

Personally, I like the advice in the article link, that says you should use the models that your mobo brand recommends to use with their mobo!

Tradesman1 · Jul 4, 2014

What's on the QVL is nothing more than sticks they have laying around in their testing 'lab', you might often see sticks that have been out of production for years...More on QVLs here:

http://www.gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=10566

Difference between cheap and expensive ram

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