More RAM @ 1600MHzC9 or Less RAM @ 1866MHzC9 or 2133MHzC9

[WDakhane]

Hi,
I'm getting confused over which Corsair Dominator Platinums to buy from the following
[BTW I know everything about Timings and Speeds but still I want some suggestions from this community]

1]Corsair Dominator Platinum 1600MHzC9 [4 x 8GB]
2]Corsair Dominator Platinum 1866MHzC9 [4 x 4GB]
3]Corsair Dominator Platinum 2133MHzC9 [4 x 4GB]

Here are my (to be) system specs

1]ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe with Single ASUS GeForece GTX 690
OR
1]ASUS P8Z77-V Premium with ASUS GeForece GTX 680 DirectCUII TOP in SLI
2]Corsair AX850 PSU
3]Corsair Obsidian 650D
4]Corsair H100
5]Corsair Force Series GS 240GB with Deluxe MOBO
OR
5]Corsair Neutron Series GTX 240GB with Premium MOBO
6]Intel Core-i7 3770K

I'm building a Mid to High End HTPC as I'm a software developer and I want to play games in 3D with full TXAA or FXAA or atleast 4xMSAA on a single display i.e ASUS VG278H
Also,I want to fill all available memory slots......nothing to be left for future upgrade.
And my budget is approx 410$ max for memory if necessary.

Q: 32GB 1600MHzC9 Dominator Platinum is good enough or 16GB 1866MHzC9/2133MHzC9 Dominator Platinum is better/best?
Every help is appreciated.

 

[mubin]

As you are developer, go with option 3, 4x4 @ 2133. If you need more than 16gb ram then add later.

Gaming doesn't need more ram and higher frequency. 4gb with 1600 speed is enough for gaming. For you developing work, you may need more ram with high speed.

 

[WDakhane]

I see!
Gaming doesn't need that much of RAM......cause I was indeed planning on option 1 i.e 32GB 1600MHzC9 but later I thought whats that much of RAM gonna be used for....!
I'm better off with less RAM with higher frequencies like the 1866MHz or 2133MHz.

I think 1866MHzC9 [4 x 4GB] would be good too as it costs much less and I could save the remaining cash to add it to another component.....!
Whats your opinion? Still the 2133MHzC9 or 1866MHzC9?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

I'm better off with less RAM with higher frequencies like the 1866MHz or 2133MHz.

Less RAM and lower frequency is more like like it. Anything over 1600 just doesn't give you any appreciable performance boost in games. It's measurable, but just barely (1-3 FPS or so).

8GB of 1600 RAM is plenty. 16GB of 1600 RAM is overkill, but if you feel that you absolutely can't live without 16GB, it won't hurt anything, either (although I'd personally go with a 8GBx2 kit in that case).

Don't worry yourself with anything faster than 1600, though. If you can find faster RAM for the same price or cheaper, I suppose that's ok, but otherwise, stick to 1600.

 

[WDakhane]

Still I want better overall system performance than what I'll get with a 1600MHz as I would not only be playing games but doing software developement work as well.
Nothing's decided yet....hence the post.
After some more suggestions I'll make the final decision whether to go with 1600MHz or 1866MHz or 2133MHz RAM

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Hell, if you have the cash, max it out with 2800 RAM, then.

The problem with just going up to 2133 is that there just isn't that much difference between 1600 and 2133. 2800 would actually be enough faster to make a difference.

 

[WDakhane]

You're absolutely right but unfortunately I'm tight on budget for my HTPC.......so I've to make do with available cash i.e 5000-6000$ approx India-US exchange rate 1$=55 INR

Lets see.....
2 votes for 2133MHz [Considering what I can get as Max.]
0 for 1866MHz
1 for 1600MHz

 

[jaquith]

All of this completely depends on what exactly you mean by a 'Developer'? I run SQL coding & testing at home and 32GB is not much RAM so I have to slice-up my data into 'smaller' pieces plus I use a small RAM Drive to cut the time down.

Also, in these situations it's preferred to have more than one PC. Gaming and in general you'll have less errors with 4GB/stick density in non-ECC, and high frequency/high CAS memory adds too many errors per period of time using 8GB/stick density RAM. Therefore, 4x4GB DDR3-1600 to DDR3-1866 (one step up rated).

I like and don't like the GTX 690's in that except for one unreleased model they're all 2GB (2GB + 2GB internal SLI) and then you have to consider vRAM in certain resolutions and ultra high details:
1920x1080 = 2GB, 4GB 3D
2560x1600 = 2GB or 4GB, 4GB 3D
5760x1080 = 4GB

So assuming 3D Vision then SLI GTX 680 4GB.

Further, if you're considering the ASUS P8Z77-V PREMIUM then my best advice in the big picture is to consider going the LGA 2011 route with an i7-3930K. The Corsair 650D you'll also need a USB 3.0 20-pin Y adapter - http://www.amazon.com/HDE®-Port-USB-Female-Cable/dp/B00695M56M/

None of the above is considered an 'HTPC' by any stretch. TXAA is great but there's only one game I can think of the uses it (last I heard Crysis 3 will support TXAA), but it's not an AMD form of AA; AA success is measured by it being cross platform. In contrast e.g. PhysX isn't so very few games supports it to keep both sides happy - AMD & nVidia. My preference is High FXAA or a combination of both FXAA and MSAA.

 

[WDakhane]

Well sorry to differ you on one point i.e in my opinion I would want my system to be an overall solution to everything as far as possible even if it can be HTPC to some extent would be fine.
Also, I wanted to have everything latest generation, hence the Z77 platform and Ivy bridge CPU.
As far as I've heard....Corsair released newer version of Obsidian 650D with internal 19-pin header,if not I would have to purchase that internal USB 3.0 header.
Not decided about the GTX 690 with Z77 Deluxe or 680 DC2T SLI with Z77 Premium,
depends on the availability here,hence.

Well....I'm an android application developer as well as I work on PHP,JAVA and to some point on SQL & Oracle too.......I'm newcomer to the developer world so don't know much about it but would love to know as much as I can.
BTW I got to know much more from your post....anything more would you like to share on the memory?

 

[mubin]

If you use memory intensive software for developing, then go for high speed with more capacity ram. You will see improvement.

But for gaming more than 8gb with 1600, you will see no difference.

 

[raytseng]

if you are a developer then your priorities should be

1) more ram is more important than speed. If you want to be flexible u should get 2x8 of whatever is relatively at the same price point. then add more later. It's sooo cheap these days.

2) you should go for more SSD hard drive if not already on your list. Disk speed will be your demise well before ram speed.

3) only after you satisfied (1) and (2) then consider improving other things. If you need to do heavy processing, then cpu might even come before ram speed.

 

[WDakhane]

@mubin : Yes, I intend to use memory intensive software for developing but I'm on a limited budget for RAM i.e 410$ max. I think 2133MHzC9 [4 x 4GB] would suffice considering budget.

@raytseng : Conflicting to what mubin said......more ram is more important that speed was my first option with 32GB 1600MHzC9 but later I thought mid-high processing might require high speed ram so 16GB 2133MHzC9 would be good for both developing and gaming.

Well,I'm going to get either Force Series GS 240GB or Neutron Series GTX 240GB with 500GB WD Caviar Black for storage.
As far as CPU is concerned,Intel core-i7 3770K is the best [in my budget] I think.

Wow.....there is so much to memory than what I previously thought.

 

[mubin]

With high speed memory, you will get a marginal improvement and capacity is more important. For amd fx cpu, dd4-2133 will be good.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/bulldozer-ddr3-overclocking,3209-13.html

As you are choose i7, at least go with 1866 speed 16gb. if need more ram then, you can upgrade it later. Try to get 600gb WD velociraptor for better performance. Storage is the most important.

 

[WDakhane]

If more RAM is important then I'd have to go with 32GB 1600MHzC9 [4 x 8GB] and if high speed is important then 16GB 1866MHzC9 [4 x 4GB] or even 16GB 2133MHzC9 [4 x 4GB].

As for storage, I'd consider WD Caviar Black 500GB or 1TB as the VelociRaptor is too expensive for me......anyways I intend to use onboard 32GB mSATA on the Z77-V Premium as a cache for the caviar black for improved performance.

I think the 1866MHzC9 [4 x 4GB] is in the middle as far as price to performance goes
and the 2133MHzC9 is a very high performance ram in this case then.

 

[mubin]

More ram is important, but i am not sure how much ram do you require. Thats why i said 16gb @ 1866 speed. I dont think you can use all 32gb ram.

For storage, you can look for 600gb velociRaptor or 300gb.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136554&name=Laptop-Hard-Drives
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136929&name=Internal-Hard-Drives

 

[WDakhane]

Neither am I sure exactly how much RAM I require.
If 32GB 1600MHzC9 cannot be fully utilized then its probably better to go with 16GB 1866MHzC9 or 2133MHzC9 RAM which would be sufficient enough......I think so....!

For storage I have a Seagate GoFlex Portable USB 3.0 1TB external drive but I do want more internal storage at lesser cost hence caviar black.....still I would check out 300-600GB versions of the WD VelociRaptor n see if it fits in my price range.

 

[manofchalk]

^If you want fast storage, look to SSD's instead of Velociraptor drives.
As Raysteng pointed out above. If you are doing a Video Editing type activity that is going to be reading and writing lots of data, your disc speeds are going to be a bigger factor than RAM speeds.

I am also in the camp that more RAM is better than faster RAM.

Though it does get to a point.
On a HTPC, 4GB is plenty. Speed doesn't even really matter.
For gaming , 8GB of 1600Mhz CL9 is all you will need.
For video editing/intensive number crunching, 16GB of 1600Mhz CL9 is standard.
If this machine is going to act like a server or run virtual machines, then 32GB makes more sense.

Also consider that as the frequency rises, so too the CAS Latency, timings and voltages to keep it stable. CAS Latency and timings in a nutshell is how fast the RAM can react to requests for data, higher numbers here isn't good.
Voltage cant be above 1.5v on an Intel system, the memory controller wasn't designed to handle more than that.

Think the fastest frequency you can go without sacrificing Voltage or Latency is 1866Mhz.

Also dont get Corsair Platinum RAM, they are overpriced and pointless. For the price of a Platinum 32GB kit, you could easily get 64GB of RAM that is just as good.
Unless you are going to overclock them quite hard, there is no need for them.

 

[WDakhane]

WD VelociRaptor are quite a bit expensive for me and I want min.500GB storage atleast so, I think WD Caviar Black 500GB would be enough as I'm going to use caching from onboard mSATA 32GB SATA III on ASUS P8Z77-V Premium with that drive for improved performance.

I've read the Intel Core-i7 3770K specs.......it says 1333MHz and 1600MHz is what supported by the Ivy Bridge CPUs and I wouldn't want to do any such thing as to harm my system by high overclocking.
So,16GB 1866MHzC9 [4 x 4GB] would be plenty enough for gaming and for my software development work and I could save some cash by not having unnecessary 32GB 1600MHzC9 [4 x 8GB] which cannot be utilized to its full potential....and no to server & to virtual machine!

 

[manofchalk]

Pretty much.

And if you were doing work that required 32GB+ of RAM, you should be on the 2011 socket. More powerful CPU's and much greater options with RAM, can get up to 128GB.

 

[WDakhane]

Yup......you're right!

I would not be doing that much intensive work else I would be on the 2011 socket route.

Now,reading and analyzing above comments I think that 16GB @ 1866MHzC9 [4 x 4GB] would be very good for mid-high level of performance from my system!
32GB is useless unless I'm doing extreme RAM intensive work which I won't be.

Final Verdict: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB [4 x 4GB] @ 1866MHzC9 is the RAM I would be purchasing.
Thanks everybody for your help cheers

 

[WDakhane]

Best answer selected by WDakhane.

 

[manofchalk]

May I ask why Dominator Platinum RAM?

Recently I have seen a lot of people including it in their rigs, and from what I can tell it is utterly pointless. Given now that RAM no longer plays a part in CPU overclocking, there is just no need for premium RAM anymore.
Especially to the point where it costs double a Vengeance or G.Skill kit of equivalent speed, for no real performance gain.
At the premium you pay for the Platinum kit and its "superior" cooling (though RAM doesn't get hot nowadays), you would almost be better off getting RAM water-blocks or W/C'ed RAM outright.

 

[WDakhane]

I have researched very well about the Corsair RAM and other manufacturers.
From all I had selected two : Corsair & G.Skill and finally Corsair for its good looks and its availability here in India,hence Corsair. And anyways I didn't like the looks of Ripjaws X
Also,Crucial was also on my mind but its not available here.
Aesthetics are important part of my system as the chassis would be Corsair 650D else I would have gone for vengeance modules.