The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Please help me pick the best DDR3 RAM.

    Discussion in 'Desktop Hardware' started by Hauptplatine, Jun 25, 2015.

  1. Hauptplatine

    Hauptplatine Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    119
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Firstly, I know how minuscule the differences are when it comes to comparing RAM speeds and latencies. I've seen probably over 100 separate graphs and the biggest raw fps increase I ever saw graphed out was 1fps extra if an expensive sweet-spot.

    I'm building a new PC and I've already bought a few parts.
    I'm getting a Z97 Mobo and an i5-4690k. I'd like some RAM that matches the Mobo (asthetics isn't seriously the most important thing but for example I don't want some 'blue' RAM or something).

    In short. Everyone seems to be pushing 'frequencies' these days, and saying it's the most important thing for fps. Similarly they state that 'latencies' are more important for multi-tasking in apps.

    Now the way I always understood it was you want the biggest frequency as possible with the lowest latency. No exceptions.

    If it wasn't hard enough to choose already, Intel states that with Haswell the recommended voltage is 1.5V ±5% - There's a lot of speculation over whether or not Intel will try and screw you out of your warranty if they can prove you were running RAM at a voltage over 1.575V etc. Nothing 'solild' has ever really been said, but I would like a bit of stability and I couldn't really remotely see any reasons for going over 1866MHz. Not only that but the prices jumped a LOT if I wanted something like 2400MHz (plus they're rated @ 1.65V)

    I won't be OCing the RAM (again could never find any good reasons to do this except for in benchmarks, which I am not interested in as it wouldn't help in games).
    So I will just be running the RAM in XMP profile.

    So. The kits of RAM I have been looking at are (in order of price):

    #1

    G.Skill RipjawsX 16GB
    1.50V - CL 10-11-10 - 1866MHz
    Price: €123
    Warranty: Lifetime

    #2

    Kingston HyperX Savage 16GB
    1.50V - CL 9-10-11 - 1866MHz
    Price: €123
    Warranty: Lifetime

    #3

    Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB
    1.50V - CL 9-10-9 - 1866MHz
    Price: €127
    Warranty: Limited Lifetime

    #4

    G.Skill Sniper 16GB
    1.50V - CL 9-10-9 - 1866MHz
    Price: €140
    Warranty: Lifetime
    I feel like after looking at these. That number #3 or #4 is the best one to go for. They both have the same stats but #3 is quite cheaper in my country. For an extra €4 I am buying a set that has no CL 11 latencies and only 1 @ 10. The only deal is that I am not sure about their 'warranty' details. All the other kits say "Lifetime" whilst Corsair says "Limited Lifetime".

    At €130 I can't find anything at this speed/voltage/price/latency that is better than #3 or #4 without it costing over €150 in my country.

    What does everyone else think?

    EDIT: Removed links to RAM modules because a Mod complained about linking to sites in another thread :eek:
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2015
  2. killkenny1

    killkenny1 Too weird to live, too rare to die.

    Reputations:
    8,273
    Messages:
    5,258
    Likes Received:
    11,621
    Trophy Points:
    681
    Just get whichever brand you prefer or is cheaper. All of those selections are pretty well known brands, you shouldn't have any troubles with any of them.
     
  3. KLF

    KLF NBR Super Modernator Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    2,844
    Messages:
    2,736
    Likes Received:
    900
    Trophy Points:
    131
    What's wrong with blue? :(

    It was a great offer couple years ago, (2x4GB) 8GB for 29.90e. So I got 16GB :)
     
  4. StormJumper

    StormJumper Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    579
    Messages:
    3,537
    Likes Received:
    488
    Trophy Points:
    151
    Unless your doing the Fashion Model RunWay lineup that should be the least of your concerns. I have a Asrock Extreme6 Z97 with all 4 Crucial 16gig DDR3 1866OC. And my system runs just fine so you should be more concerned with matching all the RAM with one brand to get the best performance out of them.