RAM 1333 or 1600

[coder5555]

Hi guys,

I'm making a new system. Here is what I'll get
I5 760
GA-P55A-UD3
ELite 430 case
gt 240 512mb


I'm going to be upgrading my gpu and screen soon, but first I need ram.

Is there a difference between 1333 and 1600. I'm not a overclocker so which ram would suit me? I would like to run new games. I would get 2 2gb sticks of ram. the 1333 is a cheaper option but I'm not sure.

 

[davcon]

Not really too much of a difference between the two in real world applications.
Also not really much of a difference price wise either these days since 1600Mhz is very popular.
Just look for the best bargain with low latency.
G.Skills offers very good ram price/performance wise.
Here's an example of two very good kits where i live.
G.SKILL F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM Ripjaws PC3-12800 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1600 CL8-8-8-24 Core i5 Memory Kit - $79.99
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=42746&vpn=F3%2D12800CL8D%2D4GBRM&manufacture=G.Skill&promoid=1101
G.SKILL F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH Ripjaws PC3-10666 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL7-7-7-21 Core i5 1.5V Memory Kit -$72.98
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15380BD1255&vpn=F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH&manufacture=G.SKILL

Either kit would match very well with your set-up.
Shop around.

 

[coder5555]

Not really too much of a difference between the two in real world applications.
Also not really much of a difference price wise either these days since 1600Mhz is very popular.
Just look for the best bargain with low latency.
G.Skills offers very good ram price/performance wise.
Here's an example of two very good kits where i live.
G.SKILL F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM Ripjaws PC3-12800 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1600 CL8-8-8-24 Core i5 Memory Kit - $79.99
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=42746&vpn=F3%2D12800CL8D%2D4GBRM&manufacture=G.Skill&promoid=1101
G.SKILL F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH Ripjaws PC3-10666 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL7-7-7-21 Core i5 1.5V Memory Kit -$72.98
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15380BD1255&vpn=F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH&manufacture=G.SKILL

Either kit would match very well with your set-up.
Shop around.

Thanks so what your saying is that both could run a lot of apps?

 

[davcon]

Thanks so what your saying is that both could run a lot of apps?

The amount of apps you can run is more dependent on the cpu then ram.
Although it doesn't hurt having quick ram.
Here's some good ram kits for the money in your parts.
Corsair DDR3 1600MHz 4Gb kit of 2x240 pin DIMM's, Unbuffered, 7-8-7-20, XMS3 - £64.78 inc. VAT
http://www.lambda-tek.com/componentshop/index.pl?prodID=1913674

G-Skill 4 GB DDR3 PC10666 1333Mhz Kit CAS 8 Ripjaws Kit - £61.10 inc VAT
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/42924/G-Skill-4-GB-DDR3-PC10666-1333Mhz-Kit-CAS-8

The Corsair kit is a really good price and is 33mm tall so it's compatible with any aftermarket cpu cooler.

 

[jaquith]

My recommendations:

My Preferences in order are {Corsair, G.SKILL, Mushkin, Kingston and Curcial - budget RAM}.

Certified GA - http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3439#memory%20support%20list
Tested Corsair - http://www.corsair.com/configurator/product_results.aspx?id=1330346

Good 1333 $62 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145278&Tpk=CMV4GX3M2A1333C9

Excellent 1600 $105 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145297&Tpk=CMP4GX3M2A1600C8

Difference between the 1600 vs 1333 ~ 4-8 FPS.

Stock:

Overclock:

 

[ekoostik]

With an i5 7xx you can't run faster than 1333 MHz unless you OC or make other trade-offs. Some people recommend turning on XMP, but this gives you a very slight OC and disables Turbo and speed step, power saving features.

That being said, you can still run 1600 RAM at 1333 and sometimes there are good reasons to get 1600 RAM. For example:
You might OC in the future
You might re-use the RAM in a future build that allows 1600
And (best reason of all) sometimes you can find RAM that is the same other than frequency and the 1600 RAM is CHEAPER than the 1333 RAM.

There is very little performance difference between 1333 and 1600. Check out this article for performance comparisons: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-870-1156,2482.html

I recommend looking for 2 x 2GB 1333 with the lowest timings you can afford (where CL 7 is better than CL 8 which is better than CL 9). Also, the lower the Vs required the better (and don't go above 1.65V). Then if you can find comparable 1600 RAM for the same price or better, go for it.