i7-3770 Z77 Build - G.Skill Ares DDR3 2133 /1866

[inwd]

Motherboard GA-Z77-D3H?

Can you use G.Skill Ares 2133 and 1866 DDR3 RAM on all Z77 motherboards? Do you need to set manually in the BIOS?

Thanks.

 

[Raiddinn]

Why is it you intend to do what you are suggesting?

This RAM really has no benefit over regular 1333 RAM for 99% of the people that have it.

All it does is sound cool unless you spend your days winzipping things all the time.

 

[inwd]

I'm interested with G.Skill Ares range 1866 and 2133 for the price. Are those speeds supported by all Z77 motherboards? Adobe CS5 master suite for graphic design and multimedia work.

 

[photonboy]

Probably.
However, you should simply go to the website for the motherboard you're looking at. It will display the supported memory speeds.

I picked a random Z77 motherboard from Asrock and it supports up to 2800MHz DDR3:
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z77%20Pro3&cat=Specifications

(While the CPU has a memory controller, I think many motherboards do as well and the motherboard chooses the best controller for the job, although I don't know how it decides. All the motherboards mention the top RAM speeds with the abbreviation "overclock" beside it so I'm unclear exactly how that works.)

*I believe Windows 7 Premium 64-bit only supports up to 16GB. You may wish to use 32GB if you do video editing, though you wouldn't need that much for photo editing. But if you do get 32GB go with Windows 7 Pro. You might want to get Windows 8 Pro 64-bit actually which I think comes out in June; I may not like the interface but there are quite a lot of subtle tweaks with memory, security, file system etc.

**Quicker timings are sometimes better than faster RAM. I've actually seen 1866MHz RAM that benchmarked SLOWER than 1600MHz RAM that had good timings (7-8-7-24). I saw a detailed test very recently with the fastest CPU that basically shows no benefit for any tasks above the 1600MHz 7-8-7-24 DDR3 RAM.

 

[photonboy]

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/gaming/gaming-computers/intel-extreme-memory-profile-xmp.html

*BIOS:
I should add that if you buy a really new motherboard it might not yet have the proper profile for all RAM. If not, either the RAM won't run optimally or your system will be unstable and crash.

Very few motherboards list all the compatible RAM (as the list keeps getting updated) but if there's not much difference in price, you may wish to look at the officially supported RAM list at the motherboard site.

For example, look at the Asrock link above in my previous comment and click "Memory Support List"; it's actually quite extensive. I've been increasingly impressed with the value of Asrock motherboards.

The more RAM you have the more important it is that you have the correct timings.

Don't forget to run MEMTEST any time you adjust the CPU or RAM settings. You should run the test overnight at least once:

www.memtest.org OR www.ultimatebootcd.com (I prefer this disc as it contains memtest and much more)

 

[Raiddinn]

Are you sure you actually recover the cost premium you are paying during your CS5 use?

Has 2133 RAM been proven better than 1333 RAM using that program?

Unless by getting it for the price you mean you mean you have extra money and nothing to do with it, then feel free to get as fast as is available.

 

[inwd]

Thanks for the info. G.Skill website reads it does support z77 except doesn't list specific models. GA-Z77-D3H motherboard doesn't list 1866 or 2133 that's why I'm not sure. Cool ASRock Z77 Pro3 supports 1866, 2133.

 

[inwd]

Best answer selected by inwd.

 

[nikorr]

This topic has been closed by Nikorr