DDR3 1600 cas 8 or cas 9?

[sixstring88]

I just wanted to know how big of a difference cas 8 instead of 9 makes and if I should go for 9 if nothing more than to save a few bucks (and they are alot easier to find deals on). Also what kind of memory do you guys recommend, I am looking for 8gb (2X4gb) of DDR3 1600 RAM.

 

[crisan_tiberiu]

only noticeable in benchmarks and your pocket

 

[sixstring88]

Ha, yea that's what I figured I mean if it was a few lower it might be worth it but the more I thought about it I was like it's one off so it can't be that much better. Lower cas also means it's not as stable sometimes too doesn't it?

 

[jaquith]

For the vast majority of tasks and application there's no difference. Large 'renders' or RAM Disk then sure there's some minimal gains. Extreme kits >DDR3-2000 you can see +0~+3FPS but the trade-off is stability and you can get a lot more FPS OC'ing the GPU or CPU in Renders.

Nice article, it pertains to the SB & IB CPU's - http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/memory/2011/01/11/the-best-memory-for-sandy-bridge/1

 

[JackNaylorPE]

The impact on average frame rates isn't that pronounced; however on minimum frame rates, historically the impact has been what one might or might not call significant depending on your PoV. Here's some older tests for CAS 6 vs CAS 8

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2792/12

22.3 % (SLI) increase in minimum frame rates w/ C6 instead of C8 in Far Cry 2
18% (single card) / 5% (SLI) increase in minimum frame rates w/ C6 instead of C8 in Dawn of War
15% (single card) / 5% (SLI) increase in minimum frame rates w/ C6 instead of C8 in World in Conflict

Also see http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/memory/2011/01/11/the-best-memory-for-sandy-bridge/1

Here we see minimum frame rates at 1920 x 1080 w/ DDR3-1600 increase by just 1 fps ...... but that is 5%. Whether that's significant to you depends on ya point of view. A $1 a week raise might not excite ya but I think a 5% raise would