Phenom II X6 1100T plus WHICH Memory?

corniger

Distinguished
May 13, 2009
70
0
18,630
Hi guys, I'm buiding a new rig and I'm a bit unsure about the memory I should use.

ComponentsI've got so far:
Phenom II X6 1100T
ASUS M4N98TD EVO, nForce 980a SLI

16GB of either:

Kingston HyperX DIMM XMP Kit 16GB PC3-12800U CL9-9-9-27 (DDR3-1600) (no lifelong warranty)
G.Skill RipJaws DIMM Kit 16GB PC3-12800U CL9-9-9-24 (DDR3-1600)
GeIL Black Dragon DIMM Kit 16GB PC3-12800U CL9-9-9-28 (DDR3-1600)
Corsair Vengeance DIMM Kit 16GB PC3-12800U CL9-9-9-24 (DDR3-1600) (no lifelong warranty)
G.Skill Trident DIMM Kit 16GB PC3-12800U CL7-8-7-24 (DDR3-1600)

Now I got a list which memory types are supported with this board, but the titles are all different :( Or I just can' figure it out.
I'll use this for 3D rendering, Graphics and video, I don't plan on overclocking as I've read stabilizing 16GB on 2000MHz is quite impossible and I have no clue about OCing in general ;)
The GSkill Trident kit is almost 600€, but the CL looks quite good. I'm not that much of a crack to be able to tell if this will make a huge difference, so I'm asking you guys here :)
Elsewhere the Kingston chips were recommended, but they don't have lifelong warranty like GSkill or GEIL.

Please give me advice! Thank you!
 
Asus should have a "qvL" listing for each board available as a pdf file. Check your board webpage on their site. Most of those brands should work; I use gskill ripjaws 1600, and it works well with my msi board.
 

corniger

Distinguished
May 13, 2009
70
0
18,630

The problem is - I checked this chart, as stated above, but they just list some Serial numbers or so... Maybe those are easy to find out. So you can recommend the Ripjaws? They seem quite well-priced, I've read a lot about them...
 

corniger

Distinguished
May 13, 2009
70
0
18,630
wait.
why in the world do you need 16GB of RAM.?
what exactly are your tasks with this unit.?

Liquid- and smoke simulations (mainly the latter, I had one with 15GB of scratch disk space...) consume that easily. If you don't have the RAM, you'll get the disk and 3D is time consuming enough ;) And I was pretty disappointed how quickly I maxed out my current 8GB. So I'm getting the maximum possible.

Tasks:

3D
image manipulation (a LOT of
video editing
sound editing (up to 120 tracks, multi-layer sampling etc.)

So I need an affordable workstation for multi-threaded applications. RAM is my last obstacle, besides a smaller SSD Raid which I'll implement in case the 16GB still are not enough. I don't max it out just because I can or my size is too small :D I just want reasonable quality that lasts and it should save my time. So if you say the Ripjaws are fine, then I believe you. If you advise me to spend € 600 on the Tridents because it would be crucial to my photo editing to have RAM that reacts quickly, I will get those. But really, I can't tell if CL 9 will be much worse than CL 7. Honestly, I don't have an effin' clue so I ask :)
 
The Corsair Dominator CMP16GX3M4A1600C9 as a Fully Matched 4X4GB set, since the RAM is not listed as QVL {NO 2X4GB or 4X4GB are listed} I would encourage your to submit a ticket at Corsair or any RAM Mfg before purchasing high density kits http://www.corsair.com/support/technicalsupport Fully matched 4X_GB or 6X_GB are indeed worth the difference in cost, and are the least problematic from their BIN Sorting match; example 2X4GB Kit1+ 2X4GBKit2 could be from BIN1 to BIN6 sort.

Corsair is the least problematic RAM in this forum, and I am confident the CMP16GX3M4A1600C9 Kit will indeed work. The quality of RAM is primarily from the IC's used {e.g. 9-9-9-24 is often faster than 7-8-7-24 with CAS disparity}.

Corsair Tested -> http://www2.corsair.com/configurator/product_results.aspx?id=1449452
Corsair Phenom II -> http://www.corsair.com/memory-3/amd-memory-solutions/phenom-ii.html
 

corniger

Distinguished
May 13, 2009
70
0
18,630


OK, that was already very useful info! The disparity hint made it a very logical point, thanks! I'll submit a ticket and see what they say, I'll just copy and paste what you wrote so I don't make an ass out of myself :lol: I worry about availability... The ones I listed are all 16GB kits, shouldn't they be matched or are the probably just packed in a box of 4?
 

corniger

Distinguished
May 13, 2009
70
0
18,630
OK, I just checked specs at ASUS and AMD - and it's a little weird. First I read it supports 2000Mhz, but only in overclocked mode. Then I read about 1600 Mhz. Now both Asus AND AMD say its 1333? WTF?

AMD: Dual Channel PC3-10667U (DDR3-1333)
ASUS: 4 x DIMM, 16 GB, DDR3 2000*/1333/1066 ECC,Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory

As I truly AM able to read, why the heck was I reading about 1600 everywhere? And: that means I'll have to stick with 1333, right? :(
 

corniger

Distinguished
May 13, 2009
70
0
18,630
And one more thing: the QVL lists only 12GB modules, but the board, according to Asus, should be able to use 16 - so what the hell?
 

corniger

Distinguished
May 13, 2009
70
0
18,630
:pfff: I don't know anything about overclocking and I never did it. That completely throws me out of whack.
Why, if neither MoBo nor CPU support more than 1333, do they list 1600 up to 1866? But no 2000, although it says on their own website? And only 12GB, although it say 16 on their own website? Man, that's weird...
 
IF you can order from newegg, get the gskill sniper for $75 shipped. It's (2) 4 gb sticks at 1333 fsb, which is all you need. This is an email promo which expires soon. So two sets of this ram will only cost you $150. I use gskill, and it works fine.
 

corniger

Distinguished
May 13, 2009
70
0
18,630
Jaquith up there posted about matched sets, so I'll dive into that. PLUS I still don't know if it can take 16 or only 12 GB, as website and QVL contradict each other!
Newegg seems US based, so I'll pay an arm and a leg for customs and wait half a year or 2 weeks or so :p
 

corniger

Distinguished
May 13, 2009
70
0
18,630
Austria, Europe, and Newegg won't ship internationally, I checked. I don't use the german boards.
Yes, seems like, hopefully it'll catch his eye again :)
 

corniger

Distinguished
May 13, 2009
70
0
18,630
I hate Amazon. You shop for an hour and then they tell you "sorry we don't ship to you", NOT upfront. Doesn't even work from Germany sometimes, then you have to go in, contact sellers, negotiate and so on. BS.
 

corniger

Distinguished
May 13, 2009
70
0
18,630
No, Austria :) Shipping from Germany often won't work, that's what I meant. I have a great resource for comparison shopping here, but I need to know about that 16/12GB dilemma first :( And which freaking modules are REALLY gonna work... So problematic, never had such problems before..
 

corniger

Distinguished
May 13, 2009
70
0
18,630
And that is exactly the problem: inside the QVL, there is no talk of 16GB at all...
So should I just try to get SOME 4x4GB kit at 1333 and hope it'll work? Or get some that seem most similar to the ones specified?
 
No. Your board is dual channel, not tripple or quad channel. Simply get two matching kits of 2x4 gb 1333 or 1600 ddr3, whichever is cheaper at your vender. You'll then have 4 matching sticks of 4 gb ddr3 for a total of 16gb. Your board should have 4 ram slots to fill with a max of 4 gb each. The $150 price from newegg is a benchmark price; you may not find any that cheap in europe, but it will give you some idea when converting to euros.
 

corniger

Distinguished
May 13, 2009
70
0
18,630
I understand Dual Channel, and I know the 3,6,9,12 etc G Ram from the Corei7 specs, so why on earth would they put 3, 6 & 12 GB kits on the QVL?
It won'tbe detrimental on performance if I use 1600 instead of 1333?
 
I'm also looking at the qvl list. Samsung chipset is listed most often as compatable with 4 gb sticks. Kingston also uses samsung (hynix) chips on some of it's ram. Find one of the 4 gb sticks listed on the qvl and see if your vender carries it, and simply order 4 of those sticks so they're all the same. They should work fine.
 

corniger

Distinguished
May 13, 2009
70
0
18,630
According to Kingston they don't :( They don't even list the chip brand in most places. KVR1333D3N9/4Gsports Samsung chips, but in the spec sheets on their website there's nothing to find. Also those are "Value" RAMS without heatsink, so I'm not entirely enthusiastic :(
 

Where do you shop?? If you list a site then I'll see what they have listed, and pick out a few that I KNOW will work <or> that I'll show you how to verify.

Somewhere I glanced at 2X_GB being the 'same' as 4X_GB - they're not. Ideally the 'best' is to get RAM from the same BIN Sort 'if' possible. However, YES 2X(2X_GB) Kit(s) will work together, but 'I' prefer BIN2 not to be mixed with BIN6 sets if I have a choice; the channels are separated -- I'm willing to pay a little more for the luxury and confidence of a 4X_GB set.
 
My final recommendation is to find a vender that will allow you to exchange the ram if it doesn't work. Newegg charges a 15% restocking fee for returned items (for comparison only). Also, if you get a matched set of 4 sticks that won't post, try just two of the sticks. At the post screen, go into the bios and be sure the "memory mapping" setting is enabled. Some boards have this setting in the memory section of the bios; some don't.
 

corniger

Distinguished
May 13, 2009
70
0
18,630


I shop here! And I'll be more than thankful if you manage to blow those stormclouds off my head :D



You speak a very specialized language but I trust you understand it :D

@oldie: my problem is: this system needs to work as quickly as possible, because I'll have to finish a major job a.s.a.p., and my work schedule has no tolerance for standing in the Post office for between 4-40 minutes (no joke) - so I'd prefer, if possible, safety :) The board has a "RAM compatibility button", but I don't know if I can trust that...