Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Your question
Solved

What type of RAM to use?

Tags:
  • RAM
  • Intel i5
  • Computers
  • Memory
Last response: in Memory
Share
October 12, 2014 3:56:00 PM

Hey guys,
I'm wanting to know what type of RAM to use, 2400 or just 1600 and some things that I should be looking out for. I have no idea about what dual channel or anything is atm. Please help me with any major important concepts before I buy some. I was thinking Kingston HyperX Beast KHX24C11T3K2/8X 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 2400MHz -$109.00

I'm building a computer for about $1400 AUD (~$1200 US) with:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K
GPU: MSI GTX 970
Mobo: ~$130 mobo (no idea what to get yet to overclock for the i5)
RAM: 8GB (upgrade later to 16GB maybe)

Please help.

More about : type ram

Related resources

Best solution

a c 114 } Memory
October 12, 2014 4:30:23 PM

IN truth, it matters little.
Higher speed ram comes with higher cas numbers negating most of the value of higher speeds.

First, buy enough. For most gamers 8gb in a 2 x 4gb kit is enough.
Considering that yours is a high end build, I would spring for a 16gb kit.

Intel cpu's do not depend on fast ram speeds. You are looking at perhaps 2-3% difference in real app performance or fps between 1600 and 2400.
I think for a 4690K, the sweet spot is 1866 1.5v ram. Lower cas numbers are better.
A two stick kit will operate in the faster dual channel mode.
There are drawbacks for 4 stick kits.
Here is a good article on that:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7364/memory-scaling-on-ha...
Look at the discrete graphics card situations, not the igp cases which do benefit from faster ram.

And... buy a low profile kit, fancy heat spreaders are mostly marketing and can interfere with some coolers.
Share
October 12, 2014 8:40:31 PM

anbello262 provided the following in another thread. Please tell me if he is correct.

Actually, the 2133 is better in BOTH aspects.
1- It's frequency is far higher.
2- It's CAS latency is actually smaller.

I know it says CL11, but the meaning of that number depends on the frequency.
(CL in nanoseconds = CL*2/Frequency in GHz)

In nanoseconds:
1600 CL9 means 11.25 nanoseconds.

2133 CL11 means 10.3 nanoseconds

As you probably know, the lower the CAS latency the better.
So, the 2133 kit is better.
m
0
l
!