RAM recommendation

adocholiday · 27-05-2015 12:22pm #1

I am building a new PC and the motherboard I have is an ASRock Z97 Pro4. It supports RAM up to 3100MHz. I need to buy some RAM and my budget is a max of €80.

I am looking at the following 2 x 4GB kits:

G.Skill TridentX Series PC3-19200 2400MHz CL10 (10-12-12-31)

Kingston HyperX FURY PC3-14900 1866 MHz CL10 (10-10-10-30)

Crucial Ballistix Sport XT PC3-12800 1600 MHz CL9 (9-9-9-24)

Which of those would be recommended? Or indeed if you know of any others that would be better I would appreciate the recommendation.

CruelCoin · 27-05-2015 12:45pm

For the majority of cases, the quantity of ram is more important than the speed of ram.

Being able to fit the entire task on 1600mhz will give you more speed than if you fit only half the job on 2400mhz.

I would suggest first sticking at 1600mhz up untill 16gb, and only then increasing the speed if you have the budget.

adocholiday · 27-05-2015 1:29pm

Thanks for the reply. So essentially the only figures worth worrying about are the capactity (GB) and speed (MHz)? The other numbers like 9-9-9-24 aren't really of any consequence?

In my case there isn't much between the cost of each of them so I might just go for the fastest set. I can't really afford 16GB now so I should probably make the most of the 8GB I can afford.

CruelCoin · 27-05-2015 2:53pm

adocholiday wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. So essentially the only figures worth worrying about are the capactity (GB) and speed (MHz)? The other numbers like 9-9-9-24 aren't really of any consequence?

In my case there isn't much between the cost of each of them so I might just go for the fastest set. I can't really afford 16GB now so I should probably make the most of the 8GB I can afford.

My knowledge of RAM is really limited unfortunately.

Those other numbers are called the "timings" and lower numbers are better.

Better quality RAM will have faster timings than cheaper brands.

The very best RAM will have a fast main speed and fast timings.

My advice is to go for the fastest you can afford if you are staying at 8gb. So the 2400 in this case.

wotzgoingon · 27-05-2015 3:10pm

Don't you have to check what speed you processor can handle as well. What is your CPU?

adocholiday · 27-05-2015 3:25pm

I have the i5 4460. Just checked there that it only supports 1600 MHz...

CruelCoin · 27-05-2015 6:10pm

adocholiday wrote: »

I have the i5 4460. Just checked there that it only supports 1600 MHz...

Fugg...

I forgot to mention that...You also have to check if your motherboard will support different speeds.

adocholiday · 27-05-2015 7:46pm

CruelCoin wrote: »

Fugg...

I forgot to mention that...You also have to check if your motherboard will support different speeds.

The mobo supported it alright but the CPU didn't. No harm done anyway I bought the RAM from memoryc.ie and they cancelled my original order with no penalty so I could get compatible RAM. Went with G.Skill Sniper 1600MHz CL9 so it should do the job nicely

Tony · 28-05-2015 9:49am

Thanks for this info guys, was just about to order memory and had not thought to check cpu compatibility.

Johnboy1951 · 30-05-2015 12:23pm

Is the ram not automatically stepped down in speed to be compatible?

IIRC faster RAM would run at the slower speed if mixed with slower RAM stick.

Thought the same applies regarding CPU ..... but it is not something I have even read about for years so probably wrong ....

RAM recommendation

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