What RAM to get

[ICIT2LOL]

Have a new build on he boil at the moment and am using an Asus P8Z77-V board.

Now my local supplier has these
G.Skill Ripjaws Z F3-2400C10Q-16GZH 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 [GS-F3-2400C10Q-16GZH] - $149.00 : PC Case Gear &

G.Skill Trident X F3-2400C10Q-16GTX 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 [GS-F3-2400C10Q-16GTX] - $159.00 : PC Case Gear

both of which quote every Asus board except the one I have. Supplier says they will probably work but when juggling the dollars a bit at the moment I don't want to end up with useless RAM.

The Asus site lists quite a few "certified" memory modules none of which I can source locally so any help appreciated

 

[bigmck]

Check out this link. P8Z77-V Asus Intel Socket 1155 ATX Motherboard Z77 Chipset Support Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs Dual Channel DDR3 SATA RAID PCIe 3.0 USB 3.0 Gigabit LAN Wi-Fi 8ch Audio-Best Computer Online Store - Buy with Discount Prices from Houston Texas-Directron.com It is your motherboard and all the parts that fit it, including RAM.

 

[kbrady1979]

Anandtech did thorough testing and found out for the money, 1866MHz RAM was the sweet spot for Z77 motherboards. From 1333MHz.....it takes roughly $5 to step up to 1600MHz, and you see a good increase in performance. For roughly $20 more than 1333MHz, you can step up to 1866MHz and see a bigger increase in performance. 2133MHz is roughly $55 more but not that much difference in performance than 1866MHz....same with 2400MHz.

If you do the math(I will give you a link to what I'm referring to) a good set of 1866MHz with a good latency will mathematically give you the best overall performance at a good price point.

Here is a good set at a great price(I have this same set, but I paid about $120, now it's $92) Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4X1866C9

If you want something a little flashier, there is this...Newegg.com - CORSAIR DOMINATOR 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 Desktop Memory Model CMP16GX3M4X1866C9

Notice the frequency, 1866MHz.....now, look at the timings.....9-10-9-27! In my opinion, with how Z77 boards utilize memory, for the money it's hard to beat 1600/1866MHz RAM with low latency.

Here is the link to the Anandtech testing.....AnandTech - Memory Performance: 16GB DDR3-1333 to DDR3-2400 on Ivy Bridge IGP with G.Skill

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Thanks KB and BigMCK those refs are really handy.

Well looks as if I might as well go the 1866MHz if there is not that much difference in speed. My supplier unfortunately doesn't supply a lot of other brands apart from Corsair and G Skill both of which I have used in the past and like.

Our prices out here are also way over what is paid in the US so to get what I want I am looking at $220 minimum for 16GB unless I suppose I go 8GB to start with eh?

 

[kbrady1979]

How is 1866MHz RAM higher than what you have linked in your first post?

 

[ICIT2LOL]

How is 1866MHz RAM higher than what you have linked in your first post?

Huh KB where did I say that? I was saying in my last post if it was a bit ambiguous that your suggestion to go with 1866MHz was probably the best alternative to the 2133MHz I ref'd in the first post and that I would go with the 1866MHz.

The supplier I use out here does have a limited choice of brands and our prices lag well behind anything that Newegg can churn out. A shame for me as they don't ship overseas.

 

[beret21]

I think one should go for x MHz RAM where x=Cpu FSB , As MHz greater than x would be almost useless

 

[kbrady1979]

How is 1866MHz RAM higher than what you have linked in your first post?

Huh KB where did I say that? I was saying in my last post if it was a bit ambiguous that your suggestion to go with 1866MHz was probably the best alternative to the 2133MHz I ref'd in the first post and that I would go with the 1866MHz.

The supplier I use out here does have a limited choice of brands and our prices lag well behind anything that Newegg can churn out. A shame for me as they don't ship overseas.

I'm sorry, I read that wrong.....I thought you were saying you had decided on 1866 but it was over $200, which is higher than the RAM in your first post.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

How is 1866MHz RAM higher than what you have linked in your first post?

Huh KB where did I say that? I was saying in my last post if it was a bit ambiguous that your suggestion to go with 1866MHz was probably the best alternative to the 2133MHz I ref'd in the first post and that I would go with the 1866MHz.

The supplier I use out here does have a limited choice of brands and our prices lag well behind anything that Newegg can churn out. A shame for me as they don't ship overseas.

I'm sorry, I read that wrong.....I thought you were saying you had decided on 1866 but it was over $200, which is higher than the RAM in your first post.

No probs KB and just as matter of interest I was given this ref - good read if you can understand most of ti. I can get the gist in tiny bits but not the lot

AnandTech - Memory Performance: 16GB DDR3-1333 to DDR3-2400 on Ivy Bridge IGP with G.Skill

 

[kbrady1979]

Huh KB where did I say that? I was saying in my last post if it was a bit ambiguous that your suggestion to go with 1866MHz was probably the best alternative to the 2133MHz I ref'd in the first post and that I would go with the 1866MHz.

The supplier I use out here does have a limited choice of brands and our prices lag well behind anything that Newegg can churn out. A shame for me as they don't ship overseas.

I'm sorry, I read that wrong.....I thought you were saying you had decided on 1866 but it was over $200, which is higher than the RAM in your first post.

No probs KB and just as matter of interest I was given this ref - good read if you can understand most of ti. I can get the gist in tiny bits but not the lot

AnandTech - Memory Performance: 16GB DDR3-1333 to DDR3-2400 on Ivy Bridge IGP with G.Skill

Yeah, that's the article I linked in my first post.....I did some of the math and figured a low latency 1866MHz kit is pound for pound the best you can get.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Oops yep KB sorry mate missed that and while I am here (off to work in a tick) I found the G Skill site was more helpful re sorting this out than the Asus one as most of the stuff I can afford at the moment are listed as suitable for the Z77 chipset.



Sorry wrong board

 

[Britton30]

I think one should go for x MHz RAM where x=Cpu FSB , As MHz greater than x would be almost useless

Whut?
Intel FSB is 100MHz on Sandy and Ivy Bridges.

 

[beret21]

I meant cpu fsb . .
like
that are for e.g
800mhz for e5700
1066mhz for e7500
1333mhz for e8400

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Sorry beret but still don't know what you mean as there is no ref to the bus speed in this ARK | Intel® Core

plus I see it states 1333/1600 memory speeds so am even more confused now.

Plus this has me thinking I ought to reconsider my options re the CPU if 1600MHz is the top speed that I can put in - it's all getting a bit too complicated now

Intel I5 3570k bus speed questions. Please help

 

[beret21]

I aint expert but i studied in computer architecture that fsb " front side bus" is the main link of ram to cpu so best choice is to match their speeds . . . . .

For example

If a one worker has to carry one brick at time to a room i.e. your CPU and there are 160 bricks and 133 workers
some workers have to do double work (WORK BEING SLOWED)
If a one worker has to carry one brick at time to a room i.e. your CPU and there are 133 bricks and 160 workers
some worker have nothing to do (WASTE OF HIRING more)
So the best way will be to have equal number of bricks and workers . . .

Same way send data to your cpu which it can accept and work at efficiently ..........

Might be a boing story but i think it will help

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yes beret I sort of get it from looking at this Front-side bus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia the bus you are speaking of is the total of the caches being channeled to the chipset and then to the RAM.

But if the FSB is set at 100MHz unless clocked higher somehow then the transfer rate to the RAM from the chipset will also have to be held at the same rate? Now taking that I want to use 1866MHz RAM how am I going to achieve that speed from the chipset to the CPU? if the transfer rate (1866MHz) is achievable (as it is confirmed by the Asus site specs) from RAM to chipset?

That is a lot of speed difference my friend

 

[beret21]

Yes beret I sort of get it from looking at this Front-side bus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia the bus you are speaking of is the total of the caches being channeled to the chipset and then to the RAM.

But if the FSB is set at 100MHz unless clocked higher somehow then the transfer rate to the RAM from the chipset will also have to be held at the same rate? Now taking that I want to use 1866MHz RAM how am I going to achieve that speed from the chipset to the CPU? if the transfer rate (1866MHz) is achievable (as it is confirmed by the Asus site specs) from RAM to chipset?

That is a lot of speed difference my friend

wHATS ur processor .........?

 

[ICIT2LOL]

It is going to be an i5 3570K on an Asus P8Z77-V board. The problem all along has been that any RAM I can get reasonably easily and at a reasonable price does not have my Asus board compatibility - listing it as certified to run on that board. Z77-V PRO, Premium, LE, L etc etc do but as you can see my board is a plain -V.

 

[beret21]

If i am not wrong !
i5 3570K processor memory specs show that it can give max performance with 1600mhz DDR3 .. . . .
Any thing above that will work for sure but wont give the performance it is made for !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[kbrady1979]

The Jedec standard for Ivy Bridge is 1600MHz, not max performance. They don't go by FSB anymore like they did back in the day.

As for the RAM being compatible with that board........that is one of the most popular Z77 boards around, find some GSkill or Corsair and it will be compatible.

I think there has been a disconnect somewhere so I will attempt to fix it.......Get the Corsair 16gb 1866MHz 9-10-9-27 kit for less than $100, you can decide whether you want it in blue or black.

The End