Recommended RAM for Asrock z77 extreme 4 with i5-3570k

bruno0920

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Hi,

Finally I spent my hard earned cash to buy a new mobo and ram,hdd and PSU, for my 1yr old GPU.

Current specs:
PSU: Corsair TX650
HDD: 1TB Hitachi Deskstar
Mobo: Asrock z77 extreme 4
CPU: i5-3570k
GPU: Sapphire Radeon 6570 2G

Now,all I need is RAM. Could you give me a not suggestion but a recommendation on w/c RAM to buy (NOTE: As much as possible kindly include the SKU/Part/Model# so I can check if it's listed here: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z77%20Extreme4/?cat=Memory)

The store near me has G.SKills only
F3-10666CL9S-8GBXL
F3-12800CL10D-16GBXL
F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
F3-10666CL9S-4GBXL
f3-12800CL9D-4GBXL

I did some research on the net but reviews on a specific SKU provides limited and some of that SKU has a bad review when comparing it to it's competitor RAM.

Btw, my friend recommends that since I'm using an Ivy Bridge CPU it's best to buy any RAM as long as the specs are: CL9, 1.5V, 1600 Mhz since that's the compatible RAM setting for an Ivy Bridge. Is that true? If it's, then what's the best RAM that has this spec?

I'm planning to OC the rig. Thanks for the reply
 

willard

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You're overthinking this. Do you know how many times I've checked memory compatibility lists before buying memory? Not once, and I've been building computers for more than a decade. Memory is memory, compatibility issues are nearly nonexistent and not worth thinking about.


Those specs largely determine the speed. This is like asking "What's the best quad core 3.4 GHz Ivy Bridge processor without hyperthreading?" Any two kits with those same specs can be expected to be effectively identical in stock performance.

Also, you don't need any specific frequency, latency or voltage. Memory is memory, your computer knows what to do with it. That said, 1.5v memory should be preferred. That is the standard voltage and memory that requires a higher voltage will severely limit your overclocking because there's nowhere left to go with your memory voltage. This is typically a hallmark of lower quality modules that needed the higher voltage just to be stable at stock speeds. Stay away.

I'm planning to OC the rig
How much? Like, push it to its limit, go for broke on benchmark scores? If you're just looking for a little performance boost, then just get any old DDR3-1600 kit. You'll probably be able to overclock the memory a little, but not too much (it has little impact on performance anyway, these days at least).

If you're just looking for ludicrous speed (see my sig for examples), then you're going to want to spend a bit more and get something better than DDR3-1600. Something like DDR3-2200 is probably about as high as you can go before you need to worry about whether or not your motherboard can actually go that fast (pretty sure it can, I have your board's big brother, the Extreme6) and beyond that you're looking at rapidly increasing cost with little benefit.
 

Kiowa789

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Wrong, absolutely wrong.
Latency, Voltage, Speed, Amount.
IT IS WORTH THINKING ABOUT.
AND IT IS IMPORTANT.

Lower latency = faster speeds, some motherboards don't support those higher speeds.
Voltage, Again, motherboards have some issues with it, which is why buying patriot RAM is a bad idea, most of it comes at 1.65V +
Speed, again, some motherboards support 8 gig's of 1600 MHZ, but can't go any higher Gigabyte wise, but it CAN support 16 gigabytes of 1333.
Oh, and more motherboards (more than often) Don't support RAM above 8 gigabytes, no matter the speed.
Learn2Thinkconsiderably.
 

bruno0920

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Thanks for the feedback.

If the list is not important, so for what purpose that they created the list?

Next, yup after doing some research on the internet, nowadays getting higher frequency doesn't really give much real world benefit. Though they do give higher output in benchmarks, in real world it gives not really noticeable results.


So if you were to recommend, w/c RAM that is CL9, 1.5v, 1600 Mhz would you recommend?
 

willard

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Thanks for memory 101. I'm well aware of what attributes determine the speed of memory. If you read my post fully, you'd see that I said:

Those specs largely determine the speed.
I was stating that he didn't need any particular latency, speed or voltage, and that it's not worth checking memory compatibility lists for standard memory.

You should probably read the post fully before responding.

Voltage, Again, motherboards have some issues with it, which is why buying patriot RAM is a bad idea, most of it comes at 1.65V +
Wrong on both counts. Any quality motherboard can take memory up to 1.65V. Twenty seconds on Newegg shows that the overwhelming majority of Patriot's modules are 1.5V, as you'd expect. It is the standard after all. This is a truly bizarre fabrication, I must say.

Speed, again, some motherboards support 8 gig's of 1600 MHZ, but can't go any higher Gigabyte wise, but it CAN support 16 gigabytes of 1333.
His motherboard is an ASRock Z77 Extreme4, as stated in the first post. Please do read posts before you do this again, you look quite silly.

Also, I'm pretty sure mid range desktop motherboard have supported in excess of 8GB of DDR3-1600 for a while. At any rate, his board supports 32GB.

Oh, and more motherboards (more than often) Don't support RAM above 8 gigabytes, no matter the speed.
Yeah, five year old *** boards in OEM machines. We're talking about modern mid range boards, which you could see support a wide range of memory speed, capacity and voltage if you'd bothered to look.

Learn2Thinkconsiderably.
Why don't you learn a little bit about what you're saying before you start attacking people who actually do know what they're talking about?
 

bruno0920

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Sorry if I may have misused the term "compatibility" when i refer to the SPECS that was recommended by my friend.

What he meant was the Ivy bridge CPU is "made"/ gives optimum performance for any RAM that is
> 1600Mhz (since getting higher frequency doesn't really offer much in real world application
> CL9 (since they are cheaper)
> 1.5v (since it's the "standard" and headroom for OC)

Well you may say I'm just being paranoid, making sure that the RAM is on the list (thinking... what is the list for);

Bottomline, is there such thing as the "best"/recommended RAM that has thing setting. I have ordered F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL since this was the concrete answer that was given to me. Though I can order a new RAM if you have anything to recommend, then I'll try to ask the shop if they can order it from their suppliers