RAM timings, brands, speed

[MasterNewbie]

Now that Newegg is rolling out November specials, I plan to finish up my build. Still in need of GPU (outside the scope of this thread, but looking at 780 vs 290x), SSD (getting an Evo), and RAM.

Since RAM seems to be the only thing consistently going up in price, I am trying to keep an eye out for good deals on it. With that in mind, I'd like to see what you all think what constitutes "good" RAM.

From lurking, I've gathered that 1600MHz is acceptable, but generally the premium for faster RAM isn't justifiable. (Note: I currently plan on buying 1866MHz.) Faster memory helps with AMD APUs, but I won't be using one.

Beyond that, I'm not really sure. My last two set ups used the Corsair XMS series; I'm eyeing the Corsair Vengeance series, but I'm wondering what other brands/series are as good as or better than the Vengeance series. Any insight into timings would also be awesome.

[Deleted]

G-Skill are probably where you're looking for, for lower-budget 1866MHz. The thing is, however, that the RAM, unless you go into silly territory (2400MHz+) isn't really worth the price premium for the performance - the exceptions to this are when a computer is using an IGP (like the Intel HD4xxx series IGP or AMD APUs), and the increases are small enough that it still might not be worth it outside of sales.

[Deleted]

I don't really think brand matters too much though I have the best experience with Corsair and Mushkin. 1600MHz or 1866MHz if they're the same price, they have a few deals sometimes. 1.5v or lower, 9/10 CAS, low profile unless you're running a liquid AIO solution.

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/memory...&n=2&c=90&qq=1

Sort by price and look for low profile, something like this:

Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600

[yurano]

G. Skill is solid, but their RAM carries a bit of a premium, not as much as Corsair though.

Watch out for Kingston RAM because they're almost all 1.65V; all else equal, 1.65V RAM is lower binned than 1.5V, hence the slightly lower price. Intel spec recommends staying with 1.5V, but 1.65V is fine with all current AMD CPUs.

Crucial is pretty good, especially their low voltage and low profile modules. Their 1600 Mhz 1.35V modules can overclock to 1866 Mhz at 1.5V. My Tacticals hits 2000 Mhz C9 @ 1.5V. A few months ago Crucial ran huge discounts on Newegg trying to win back marketshare. Not sure how it is now.

EDIT - If you're looking for 16GB RAM, the 1x 8GB Tacticals I use are currently on sale for $56, a solid price per 8GB.

[MasterNewbie]

I'll be running an H100i, so I can go either way for profile. Appreciate mentioning the voltage, it is definitely something I would have overlooked. Speaking of, if I were to get a 1.35V, would that overclock better than a 1.5V module? I'd imagine not, but figured I'd ask. I'll be using a 4770k, so I don't want to go far beyond the 1.5V spec. (I am aware that HT doesn't provide much gaming benefit, and from lurking I know the general trend is to suggest a 4670k, but I am sticking with the 4770k).

I haven't been using pcpp much to keep an eye on memory overall, I put a Vengeance kit on my saved list to monitor price and it's only been going up. Would prefer to use 8GB modules, since periodically I tax the amount of memory I have (this rig has 12GB) from running computational scripts and unpacking large save game files (thanks Dragon Age) and have actually ran out of space to do that work a few times.

Truth be told, the only other memory I had been looking at was the G.Skill Snipers, will keep an eye out for the others.

yurano, that module is awesomely priced, if only it matched my color scheme. The case I have has a side window, otherwise I wouldn't care.

[Deleted]

If you need more RAM, same recommendations just jump to two 8 GB modules.

[yurano]

Speaking of, if I were to get a 1.35V, would that overclock better than a 1.5V module?

RAM is binned pretty tightly so without modifying voltage, overclocking potential is essentially zilch.

From my limited experience, my rule of thumb for RAM OC is: +0.15V bumps clock speed by a tier (eg. 1600 to 1866 to 2133); bumping CAS up a tier = half a tier bump in clock speed.

OCAholic has a slew of RAM overclocking reviews with response curves for RAM vs. Speed vs. CAS latency. (eg. Crucial Tactical)

TL;DR - 1.35V is better for overclocking. There is no overclocking potential on a 1.5V module if you plan on staying at 1.5V.

Truth be told, the only other memory I had been looking at was the G.Skill Snipers, will keep an eye out for the others.

G. Skill RAM is solid, but G. Skill is middle of the pack in terms of pricing. Just a heads up, Sniper modules come in both 1.35V and 1.5V.

yurano, that module is awesomely priced, if only it matched my color scheme. The case I have has a side window, otherwise I wouldn't care.

Bummer.

I have a gaudy gold ASUS Haswell motherboard so I threw color scheme out the window.