DDR3 1600 not enough?

SiriusLeo86 · Dec 19, 2014

I'm putting together a new machine and I'd like to make a better investment in the memory department. I'm currently running 16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 CAS 10-10-10-27 and I'm wondering if it would be a noticeable difference in gaming to bump up to something with more bandwidth? The CPU is an i7 4790k. I'm also running 2x GTX 970's. I haven't decided on a motherboard yet. I don't plan on Overclocking the CPU - and if I decide to it will be mild. Thanks!

Undying89 · Dec 19, 2014

Not really, gaming wise memory bandwidth does not make a difference. Try 9-9-9-24 1600mhz, tight that timings a little bit.

Guest · Dec 19, 2014

cas 10 at 1600mhz is certainly not ideal.

if you multi task, run a couple monitors than it will be seen most there and some games do get memory intensive.

gytisxp · Dec 19, 2014

The speed in memory doesn`t matter in gaming. The timings also aren`t that important but generally people prefer lower latency vs faster speed. So do not upgrade the ram, it would give you about a 1-2 fps bonus and it would not be worth the money.

A_Goat · Dec 19, 2014

Do you already have these parts, or do they still need to be ordered?

Whether or not it is noticeable will be entirely dependent on what you do with the computer.
If it's for gaming, it would be pointless to drop any more money on RAM if you already have the parts. If you don't have the parts yet, I'd recommend downgrading to 8GB RAM.

Even if you do have the parts now, upgrading to a higher speed RAM is not worth the $200+ you're going to spend. The difference will be negligible.

SiriusLeo86 · Dec 19, 2014

Undying89 :

I set the RAM to... 9 / 9 / 9 / 23 / 1T / 23 / 33 / 10 / AUTO / 4 / 5 / 5 / 20 / 1.5v

These were settings in my Bios.

HEXiT · Dec 19, 2014

for gaming get the lowest latency ddr3 1600 you can afford, if most of your time is doing productivity (media encoding, video or 3d render) then get ddr3 2400 with what ever cas latency is cheapest. but honestly in the real world the advantages of 1 over the other is pretty negligible less than 3% in most cases.

SiriusLeo86 · Dec 19, 2014

A_Goat :

I ordered the CPU through an accommodations and it will arrive sometime in the next few weeks. I was running 8GB of DDR3-1600 XMS Corsair RAM that was CAS Latency 8 / 8 / 8 / 24 in my current / soon to be old setup. The only reason I replaced them was because I got this 16GB Corsair Vengeance memory for $99. The only item I'm missing is the motherboard - I'm waiting on the CPU to arrive before I jump on that. I'm using the time till CPU arrival to decide on which I want.

SiriusLeo86 · Dec 19, 2014

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145263 X4 sticks, is my old RAM.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233246 x2 sticks, is my new RAM. Currently running at 9-9-9-23 1.5v though.

HEXiT · Dec 19, 2014

perfectly decent for gaming. although the older ram is a teeny bit faster in its response times it wont be noticeable. its less than 0.1% different.

gytisxp · Dec 19, 2014

Tbh i think your old ram was better xD ( but not overclockable )

SiriusLeo86 · Dec 19, 2014

Thanks for all the responses. I'd have never invested in my new RAM if it weren't for the savings. They were practically free after selling the old RAM and it's 16GB for the future I guess.

AnonymousAndy · Dec 19, 2014

Your old ram will give you better gaming performance.

DougLYX · Dec 23, 2014

have fun with the new ram, my corsair vengeance died 1.1yrs after i got it..and most of the time it was in non-xmp mode. whats even worse is it's a 8x8gig matched quad channel set..so i'm out 600+ usd on that set, planning to get replacements at 16gig set this time. wondering if i should go quad channel or dual channel.(9 months without a gaming pc and i got 16 games i want to try out).

HEXiT · Dec 24, 2014

vengance has a 5 year warranty mate. email em and see if they will do a replacement.

DougLYX · Dec 24, 2014

on another thread line i talked to a moderator on memory selections, i put in the "paperwork" at corsair site, even talked to a "live chat" person about it..had to do a screen shot of my order history from newegg to prove i'm the original owner and i actually paid for it, also to prove it's less than 5yrs old...currently it's about 2yrs old, with only 1.2 yrs of usage. even told them the history of the dimm set and which motherboards i used it in and how i keep my pc clean(air compressor with hepa filters and adjustable valve for 20 psi to blow out components,hold down fans on components while using compressed air to keep them from burning up the motors for spinning too fast, also use reverse flow direction on the fan equip'd models like vid card and chipsets, case/motherboard and such, tooth brush to clean case fans, rubbing alcohol to clean contact points on ram/video/cpu and any other pcie card i have install at the moment.

DougLYX · Dec 24, 2014

only in rare cases do u need contact cleaner...and thats only for the pcie slots and ports, plus u have to flush out the contact cleaner afterwards
spray once, then blow it out, then spray again..then blow it out again, wipe up anything left with q-tips or small sterile cloth.
cheap motherboards don't even bother with contact cleaner...in some cases the contact cleaner will erode the plastic, high end motherboards use better quality plastic that is resistant to even using contact cleaner.

DDR3 1600 not enough?

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