i7-5960X and Memory Types

DarvinKManwah · Feb 2, 2015

Hey guys, I'm building my new rig and was checking out the high-end i7-5960X for my MSI Gaming 9 ACK MOBO and was wondering about the memory types.

The specs of the i7 says it only supports DDR4-1333/1600/2133, does that mean speeds over 2133 will be based lined to just 2133? I'm sure this is not true ... right?

Nextg_Rival · Feb 2, 2015

My advice would be that if you are creating a gaming machine, go for the i7 5930K - it's twice cheaper AND outperforms the 5960X with about 10% because it's more optimised. Also it's easier to overclock because of the fewer cores.

DarvinKManwah · Feb 2, 2015

Thanks, and what about the RAM Types?

Nextg_Rival · Feb 2, 2015

I think that the 5960X and the 5930K use different motherboards, so you'll get a different range of RAM sticks as well. It should help a bit with that problem as well.

-Lone- · Feb 2, 2015

You can use all kinds of different DDR4 RAMs with the i7 5820k, 5930k, and 5960x. As long as they are DDR4, they will work. As for the speeds, I don't think there is a DDR4 RAM that's lower than 2133MHz, but yes those CPUs can support from 2133MHz without OC and up to 3000+ MHz if you OC your CPU. I didn't OC my CPU really but I got my RAM to 2400MHz because it's their maximum and I like the number better

But my CPU is still the same, doesn't seem to be OC'ed, but I still achieved it, lol. As for the motherboard part, as long as it is x99 like the RAM and CPU, it will work.

Tradesman1 · Feb 2, 2015

2133 is the entry level for the X99s, what will you be doing with the rig? If simply primarily gaming then 2133 is plenty, if it's to be more of a WS type rig might consider higher 2400-2666 or more

JakeAlmighty · Feb 3, 2015

The RAM is going to default to that 2133 speed when you first install it - all you will need to do is enable the XMP profile for the ram in your BIOS and it will clock up to whatever speed it has been rated for.

What speed you actually want to buy is up to you - personally I say that if you're going to build an X99 system with ddr4, then you may as well use the darn stuff and get some fairly fast ram.

That said, you will see very little actual benefit from getting faster RAM in most applications. I usually go middle of the range - paying extra for the fancy 3300Mhz ddr4 is fairly pointless in the grand scheme of things unless you happen to be a memory overclocker enthusiast.

Also agree with the 5930k as recommended above - I'm not sure why people just automatically assume the biggest price cpu is the strongest for stuff but you'll get more performance in gaming from the 5930k for sure. Only having 6 cores means it runs cooler at any given point than the 8 core variant, meaning you have more thermal headroom to get a bigger overclock. (ie. good samples of the 5960x tend to easily reach 4.6Ghz on air/water, the 5930k would reach around 4.8Ghz at the same temperature.) (see link below)

http://s10.postimg.org/9hoxddwdl/screenshot_270.png

DarvinKManwah · Feb 3, 2015

Nextg_Rival :

O, I didn't know they use different motherboards, I'll check that out. I thought the x99 series would work will all the i7s.

DarvinKManwah · Feb 3, 2015

-Lone- :

So higher speeds is better but then when do you decide upon the latency? I'm seeing 2400MHz at around 13. Where do you find the sweet spot for MHz and latency?

Also what about my SSD? Since I'll have faster read and write abilities using the SSD, would that then allow for higher speeds of RAM without impacting performance since it's able to read and write faster than a regular HD?

Nextg_Rival · Feb 3, 2015

DarvinKManwah :

Nevermind that... I was mistaken. They both use the LGA2011 socket which means a x99 motherboard. I thought that the 5930K was cross-compatible but it seems that I was wrong about it.

DarvinKManwah · Feb 3, 2015

Tradesman1 :

It's definitely Workstation first then Gaming - 51% Workstation and 49% Gaming. It's that close. What RAM would you recommend?

How do you decide where the sweet spot for speed and latency would be? I'm having trouble figuring out if I should go with higher speeds or latency or just finding a sweet spot.

Tradesman1 · Feb 3, 2015

DarvinKManwah :

___________________

Both the 5960X and the 5930K run on the X99 mobos - and use the same DRAM

DarvinKManwah · Feb 3, 2015

Nextg_Rival :

Ah ok, I was just looking into the sockets and realized the same thing. Thanks for updating.

DarvinKManwah · Feb 3, 2015

Tradesman1 :

So what RAM would you recommend based on my requirements?

-Lone- · Feb 3, 2015

DarvinKManwah :

Well, which ever frequency you get, get G.Skill

They're not super expensive like corsair for the same performance and reliability.

Tradesman1 · Feb 3, 2015

With a rig like that I'd go the GSkill Ripjaws 2400/14 F4-2400C14Q-16GRK (it's a 4x4GB (16GB total) which is the minimum and should suffice for a primarily gaming rig) though might give thought to 32GB if you plan to do much other than gaming so not to worry about upgrading down the road) could also go faster

-Lone- · Feb 3, 2015

But just stick with GRK, which is the black one, it has the best reviews, the blue one seems to have repetitive issues, I saw a thread with a guy sending them like 4 times and it still has the same problem. The red is not too bad but have some other issue, so far my blacks haven't had any issues yet. Black looks cooler anyways

JakeAlmighty · Feb 3, 2015

-Lone- :

But what about the fancy lightbox thingies???!!

http://www.legitreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Dominator_Airflow_Platinum.png

*ahem* I mean "specialty heat spreading cooler thing that is totally necessary for RAM to function" of course

in all seriousness though, yes G.Skill is totally solid and much more affordable.

DarvinKManwah · Feb 3, 2015

JakeAlmighty :

Thanks for that info JakeAlmighty. Seems like I'm looking at around the 2400 to 3000 speeds. I guess latency around 14-16 should be OK?

And as for the reasoning for the 5930k, that would certainly work well for gaming but what about a work station. My usual open programs would be Photoshop (texturing and painting backgrounds), Maya (for exporting geometry or creating renders), Nuke (compositing the renders together or importing geometry for camera projections and then rendering) and then finally After Effects or Premiere for final effects and editing.

That's my usual work programs all running at the same time. Also might have Mari open to push the camera projection or make quick edits from exiting projects and/or Vue Xstream for element renders for painting in Photoshop. So just based on this, I'm leaning towards the 5960x simply for those added threads to multi-task.

Do you think the 5930k would be able to handle that sort of work load?

Nextg_Rival · Feb 3, 2015

DarvinKManwah :

JakeAlmighty :

Thanks for that info JakeAlmighty. Seems like I'm looking at around the 2400 to 3000 speeds. I guess latency around 14-16 should be OK?

And as for the reasoning for the 5930k, that would certainly work well for gaming but what about a work station. My usual open programs would be Photoshop (texturing and painting backgrounds), Maya (for exporting geometry or creating renders), Nuke (compositing the renders together or importing geometry for camera projections and then rendering) and then finally After Effects or Premiere for final effects and editing.

That's my usual work programs all running at the same time. Also might have Mari open to push the camera projection or make quick edits from exiting projects and/or Vue Xstream for element renders for painting in Photoshop. So just based on this, I'm leaning towards the 5960x simply for those added threads to multi-task.

Do you think the 5930k would be able to handle that sort of work load?

Generally the question is not "will it" but "how long will it take" when it comes to editing, rendering and so on. The 5960X has 33% more threads which means approximately 33% more speed when it comes down to editing. That additional speed will become very noticeable when render time is like 4 hours, for example.

DarvinKManwah · Feb 3, 2015

Tradesman1 :

I was thinking of going straight to 32GB just because I know I'll be assigning memory usage per program in most cases. Seems like G.Skill will be the one I'm going with. I guess I'll grab 4x8GB sticks. My theme is actually red and black interior with a white outside finish. I'm trying to check the G.Skill website but it looks like it's down at the moment. I'm getting:

Fatal error: Incompatible file format: The encoded file has format major ID 3, whereas the Loader expects 5 in /home/gskillc1/public_html/lib/class.smarttemplate.php on line 0

Just for the hell of asking, 4x8GB or 8x4GB sticks? Performance difference if any?

Also for latency, will there be a noticeable difference between DDR4 2400/CL15 and DDR4 2666/CL15

Tradesman1 · Feb 3, 2015

Good choice on the 32GB - you'll love, you can normally check out their new lines of DRAM at NewEgg if their site is down (it's Taiwan based), and when they release new lines or higher end sticks, the Egg tends to get them in stock and available before other re/e-tailers

Pinhedd · Feb 3, 2015

DarvinKManwah :

Sort of, it just means that DDR4-2133 is the highest natively supported DDR4-SDRAM data rate. This is the highest data rate that the firmware will configure automatically based on the DIMM's SPD data, this is done to ensure baseline compatibility between the memory controller and the memory modules. It is possible to manually configure higher data rates such as DDR4-2400 and DDR4-2666 but this does overclock the memory controller and carries all of the usual problems and challenges associated with overclocking

DarvinKManwah · Feb 4, 2015

Tradesman1 :

Awesome, I didn't know that. I'll keep that in mind next time.

DarvinKManwah · Feb 4, 2015

Pinhedd :

Ok thanks for that info, didn't know that. Here is the RAM I've decided to get:

http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f4-2666c15q-32grkb

http://www.ncix.com/detail/g-skill-ripjaws-4-32gb-8gbx4-03-104550.htm

It's a good speed and latency.

i7-5960X and Memory Types

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