Upgrading from 1600MHz CL9 RAM

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Kaiketsu

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Oct 17, 2015
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Hello,

My mobo is MSI B85-G43, so IIRC I can't go higher than 1600 mhz.

But, I can still buy RAM with less latency (CL7?). Question is: is it worth it.

Because the other options are either to buy a different mobo (z97, perhaps) for a haswell processor and then use 2400 mhz ram, or do nothing at all.

Which would you recommend?

My gear is i5-4690k (slightly OCed), EVGA SC 1060GTX and 8gb of crucial ram, 1600mhz/cl9.
 
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Rabmac
There is a slight performance gain going from Haswell to Skylake but really is not worth the money for the improvement. The CPU you have will last you a good while yet so really no need for an upgrade.

If you are itching to upgrade I would probably get another 8GB of RAM as it is a relatively cheap upgrade and it will help in some games and will become more essential in future games.
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Rabmac

Rabmac

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Nov 29, 2015
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If I had your setup then the two upgrades I would be looking at are as follows:

1. Get another 8 GB of RAM so you have 16GB, CAS latency of 9 is fine.
2. Get a Z97 mobo so you can OC your CPU

Doing either upgrade is unlikely to show a big jump in performance so neither is essential.
 
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Kaiketsu

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thank you. If I moved from my old Mobo to Skylake compatible (assuming the processor would have identical performance for comparison sake), would DDR4 3000mhz+ make a big impact on performance compraed to my current RAM? I'm talking mostly about 1080p and 4K gaming.
 
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Rabmac

Rabmac

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There is a slight performance gain going from Haswell to Skylake but really is not worth the money for the improvement. The CPU you have will last you a good while yet so really no need for an upgrade.

If you are itching to upgrade I would probably get another 8GB of RAM as it is a relatively cheap upgrade and it will help in some games and will become more essential in future games.
 
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Rabmac

Rabmac

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To OC your CPU you should get a Z97 motherboard and faster RAM because using the base clock for overclocking tends to lead to an unstable machine and there is a limit on how far you can go.

I should have also mentioned in last post that when you add new RAM to existing RAM there is no guarantee it will work and it is a bit of a lottery. For that reason it is always best to get it from a vendor with a good returns policy.

If I were in your shoes I'm not sure I would overclock unless you can get a cheap Z97 motherboard and high end cooler because the increase in performance will not be huge for the money you will pay.
 
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Rabmac

Rabmac

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If you are going to overclock it may be good idea to sell your 8GB of RAM and put money towards 16GB of faster RAM as that will improve performance when you overclock. In addition, this will ensure the RAM modules work together.
 
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