[Solved] Corsair Dominator GT worth the money? Is it possible to...

[s74r1]

I really like how the Dominator GT's look and they would match my Red/Black theme perfectly, but they're really expensive!

$287 6GB 1600MHz 7-7-7-20
$399 6GB 1600MHz 6-6-6-20
$319 6GB 1866MHz 9-9-9-24
$392 6GB 2000MHz 8-8-8-24

Here's my setup sofar:

Lian-Li PC-P50R Armorsuit
EVGA X58 Classified Motherboard
Intel Core i7 930

I plan to overclock water cooled to 4.4ghz-4.6ghz if I can get it stable.

ANYWAYS - My question: Is it hard to run memory at 2000MHz on a highly overclocked i7? does it make the overclock unstable? or require a ton more voltage? Would I only be expecting to get around 1600MHz memory at such a high overclock anyways? Or is it possible?

I really have my heart set on this Corsair RAM even though it's about double the price of other brands, but I can't quite justify $400 for the 2000mhz. I could justify $287 for the 1600 though.

But do you think with a i7 at 4.4GHz-4.6GHz it's possible to have RAM really high like 1800-2000? If so, then I should probably go with some other brand 2000mhz ddr3 for $200-$250... which would be a shame, 'cause I really like the way this stuff looks!

Thanks for reading... I'm really torn up about this decision.

P.S. BTW how can they charge such a HUGE price premium for this ram? what the heck makes it so special besides some tighter timings? Does anyone have any other suggestions for sexy ram that would fit my case? preferably 1800-2000 and red with black? Black PCB is a plus, I hate green PCB.

 

[saaiello]

Well the performance gain from 1600 to 2000 is something you will not see besides in benchmarks IMO go with a good sett of 1600 ram with the tightest timings you can find.

I like these

G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 179.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231335

 

[s74r1]

Well the performance gain from 1600 to 2000 is something you will not see besides in benchmarks IMO go with a good sett of 1600 ram with the tightest timings you can find.

I like these

G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 179.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231335

Thanks, yeah I know there probably won't be a huge real world difference, but I'd still like to have as much memory bandwidth as possible. (without spending over $300) I do a lot of memory intensive stuff. (compiling software, video/audio studio work, and gaming.)

Those PI are nice nice but still nowhere near as sexy as the Corsair Dominator GT.

I've been considering these, but they aren't as sexy either and they are green PCB. I bet they'd also do CAS7 @1600 just like those PI too.

G.SKILL Trident 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 $209.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231254

I'm also concerned about reliability... I don't want to skimp on RAM, afterall these are going in a $400 motherboard!!! (but I'd like to not break the bank either) I wish those Corsair Dominator GT's weren't so expensive

 

[s74r1]

bump...

to summarize here for TL;DR people

-I want Dominator GT's cause they're sexy as hell, but can't afford the 2ghz model

-Wondering If high OC'd i7's (4.4ghz-4.6ghz) can even have memory that high and be stable, if not then I don't need 2ghz mem and i can buy the cheaper Dominator GT's

-If i7's can have both, I'm looking for 2ghz RAM recommendations that match the red/black theme (I wish the 2ghz corsairs were affordable )

 

[overshocked]

You can have an i7 at 4.4-4.6 ghz and have the ram at 2000 mhz as long as you keep the VTT high and the Uncore as slow as possible.

But no, the 1600 cant overclock to 2000mhz. TBH, going from 1600 to 2000mhz will not give you any kind of FPS improvement in games.

I would go for some G.skill dude, they are so much cheaper and they have some red and black models.

 

[s74r1]

Also, just read this review on newegg from a mushkin review. not sure how accurate this is, maybe people trying to shoot corsair down... do Dominators really have problems in the X58 Classified? I thought they were on the compatibility list, I'll have to check with EVGA.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226050
Mushkin Enhanced Redline 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Best DDR3 Memory for Evga x58 Sli
Reviewed By: Comps on 2/23/2010
Tech Level: high - Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
Pros: This has got to be the best memory for this board. I was having all kinds of problems with Corsair Dominator Ram which i found out later that it doesnt work well with the board. Alot of people have the Evga board and if you one of those people, I would definitely recommend this memory for you. Works perfect at 6-7-6 18 at 1.65 volts. Perfect ram 5+ Eggs.
Cons: The cost is a little high.

 

[s74r1]

You can have an i7 at 4.4-4.6 ghz and have the ram at 2000 mhz as long as you keep the VTT high and the Uncore as slow as possible.

But no, the 1600 cant overclock to 2000mhz. TBH, going from 1600 to 2000mhz will not give you any kind of FPS improvement in games.

I would go for some G.skill dude, they are so much cheaper and they have some red and black models.

Thanks for the reply, I may end up going with some of the cheaper stuff. I wasn't gonna try to OC 1600->2000 that's too much.

But now I'm starting to think maybe some 6-7-6-18 1600mhz would be faster than some higher latency 2000mhz... hmm.... sucks none of these match my motherboard as well as the corsair

buuuut then there's this... 8-8-7-24 latency @ 2000mhz. $279 is better than $392 corsair. but more than the G.skill, but the G.skill at $209 is 9-9-9-something. too bad this mushin has green PCB, ugly

Mushkin Enhanced Redline 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226117


Edit: I just realized i have 143 browser tabs open

 

[s74r1]

You can have an i7 at 4.4-4.6 ghz and have the ram at 2000 mhz as long as you keep the VTT high and the Uncore as slow as possible

Does lowering the Uncore effect performance? Maybe some lower latency 1600mhz with high uncore would net more performance than slow uncore but fast memory? Or with low latency 1600 would I have to lower the uncore also?

 

[s74r1]

*faints*

 

[overshocked]

Sorry, forgot about this thread...

The thing is, the only reason to buy high speed ram is if you are overclocking to a point where the ram would run out of spec unless you had kick ass 2000mhz ram.

It really doesnt effect performance very much at all. I doubt it will even give you a 2 fps increase in games going from 1600mhz to 2000mhz.

 

[XMSYellowbeard]

There is absolutely no issue with our memory and the EVGA boards. We have sent quite a bit to Shamino in Taiwan over the past year and it's all fully tested and compatible by them and us. Newegg reviews are 100% worthless.

You can easily up to or beyond a 200BClock with the 1600 or 1866 models if you don't want to go for the faster versions.

 

[overshocked]

Yes, yellow beard.

He is saying that when you go with higher bclks then you will need faster ram. You wont need anything higher than 1600 though unless you are planning on going over 5ghz.

 

[s74r1]

Thanks for all the replies, after seeing some real world benchmarks I may just end up going with some low latency 1600's.

Not corsair though, that stuff is up to $306 now!!!! it was $287 a few days ago which was already a bit high... /sigh

 

[overshocked]

^Thats what i would do.

 

[s74r1]

I ended up getting these. They're not too sexy, but if I can manage to get 2000mhz with the rated 8-8-7-24 they should be FAST. (Or run them at 1600mhz CL6, they are flexible)

Mushkin Enhanced Redline 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Desktop Memory Model 998750 - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226117

Thanks for all the help everyone.