I read the RAM guide but still can't decide which

Shinyo · Mar 16, 2017

Hi! I read the RAM guide
http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-1722156/ram-guide.html
and what I am confused about freq vs. CL. Is it better within a range to have a bit lower freq with a lower CL or vice versa?
For example:
PNY XLR8 1866 CL9
vs.
G.Skill Ares 2133 CL11
Any other recommendations? My MOBO has four slots up to 8GB ea. I am planning on getting two 8GB sticks so as to make it easier to add more later.
MOBO: MSI Z97 Gaming 5 MS-7917
CPU: Intel i7 @4GHz
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

geofelt · Mar 16, 2017

Do not sweat the cas vs speed question.
If the ram runs faster, it requires higher latency negating most of the speed bump.
It makes very little difference to real app performance or fps.
Here is a study:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7364/memory-scaling-on-haswell

Do not count on adding ram later.
Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
A motherboard must manage all the ram using the same specs of voltage, cas and speed.
Ram from the same vendor and part number can be made up of differing manufacturing components over time.
Some motherboards can be very sensitive to this.
This is more difficult when 4 sticks are involved.
That is why ram vendors will NOT support ram that is not bought in one kit.
It is safer to get what you need in one kit.
But, it is a bit more expensive because of the added matching of all the sticks to insure compatibility.

Shinyo · Mar 17, 2017

geofelt :

Do not sweat the cas vs speed question.
If the ram runs faster, it requires higher latency negating most of the speed bump.
It makes very little difference to real app performance or fps.
Here is a study:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7364/memory-scaling-on-haswell

Do not count on adding ram later.
Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
A motherboard must manage all the ram using the same specs of voltage, cas and speed.
Ram from the same vendor and part number can be made up of differing manufacturing components over time.
Some motherboards can be very sensitive to this.
This is more difficult when 4 sticks are involved.
That is why ram vendors will NOT support ram that is not bought in one kit.
It is safer to get what you need in one kit.
But, it is a bit more expensive because of the added matching of all the sticks to insure compatibility.

Thank you very much for your input. Would you ever buy used RAM?

geofelt · Mar 17, 2017

Shinyo :

My initial reaction would be no.

But, if the price was right, and the price was important to you then why not?
If the ram comes from a reputable company, it will have a lifetime warranty.
You can test ram using memtest86+ to verify that it is working properly.

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I read the RAM guide but still can't decide which

Shinyo

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geofelt

geofelt

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Shinyo

Commendable

geofelt

Titan

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