RAM compatibility in future upgrade

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TallestJon96

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Dec 27, 2014
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Hey everyone,
I want to know what 8gb RAM I can buy that will still be compatible with future builds.

I'm currently in the middle of very slowly upgrading from a somewhat weak gaming system to a more modern system. Right now it's a weird mismatch of different products:

i3-2120
4gb 1333 ddr3
h61 mobo
gtx 970
600w PSU
256gb 850 Pro SSD
1tb 7200rpm HDD
Windows 7 64 bit

I'm going to upgrade to either a haswell, broddwell, or skylake system with a new cpu and mobo, and keep my harddrive, ssd, psu, gpu. I am not sure what to do about the ram. I am most interested in Skylake because of the new chipset, which will most likely support DDR4. If it does support DDR4 and DDR3, then I can use some cheap 8gb DDR3 for now, then upgrade to 16gb of fast DDR4 later on when prices are better.
Right now, I am considering buying 8gb of 1600 DDR3, because 4gb isnt enough for evolve, BF4, etc. to run the way i want them too. My mobo supports 1033 ram and 1333 ram, up to 8gb.

My questions are:
What is the best ram to buy that would be compatible with my current system and a newer system?
Can buy 1600 ram and run it at 1333 to be compatible with my mobo?
If I buy 1600 ram, and skylake supports 1866 DDR3 (as I heard in a rumor) will the 1600 still be usable?
Basically, what 8gb of ram should I buy?
Thanks for all your help.
 
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1600 ram would be compatible with skylake and also with intel Pentium/H61/H81 chipsets that supports 1333mhz. I believe 1600 mhz is what you should go for now also the ram speed doesn't do that much in gaming almost 5 percent different
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Bigwood daddy

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1600 ram would be compatible with skylake and also with intel Pentium/H61/H81 chipsets that supports 1333mhz. I believe 1600 mhz is what you should go for now also the ram speed doesn't do that much in gaming almost 5 percent different
 
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vagrantsoul

vagrantsoul

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DDR 4 is still not the defacto standard in the industry, i think you're safe with ddr3 for now, that being said, you should look into your motherboard if it is able to support anything above 1333, you can usually get 1600 ram and it will downclock to the 1333, i've had good luck with this on older builds with gskill, corsair, kingston ram dimms. that being said if you even just get 1333mhz the impact from that to 1600 isnt HUGE.

am i missing the point?
 
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TallestJon96

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It's an Corsair cx600m. With a haswell i5 and a 970 it has more than enough power and efficiency.

Thanks for your replies about the RAM.

So I understand that 1600 will downclock to 1333, but what happens if there is a minimum for skylake, like 1866 or 2133?
 
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Bigwood daddy

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it will run at 1600mhz with skylake 1866 or 2133
 
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gskill support

gskill support

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There will not be a minimum, but bandwidth will be limited if DRAM frequency is not high enough. For high end gaming, you will want DDR3-2400 for maximum results. But if you are like many that don't worry about maximum, then any 1333/1600 can work fine. Though how does it sound to use top CPU, motherboard, GPU, but normal standard RAM?
 
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