Advice on Which DDR3 RAM for serious OC'ing/ Benchmark/ Gaming

[Hooptymobile]

*****My setup(below)*****

Case : Coolermaster HAF-X

Heatsink Fan: Noctua NH-D14

CPU : Intel Core i7 2600K

GPU : Zotac GTX 470 (debating on selling 470 and buying 580 &
or buying a 2nd 470;SLI)

Motherboard : Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD7

PSU : Thermaltake Tr2 RX-850watt

Capture Card: AverMedia AVerTV HD DVR (for streaming Hi-def gaming
from game console to pc onto website for viewing)

I'm looking to purchase DDR3 memory and Im under the assumption that higher is better (in terms of speed ; 1866 & 2133). The two mentioned settings are the 'sweet spot ' in regards to the motherboards preference not causing a loss in speed.

In short Im wondering what RAM is excellent while OC'ing my cpu with my setup.

Just as a reference of gaming: I play Starcraft 2, Final Fantasy XIV, Fallout3...looking forward to Diablo 3 as well.

 

[Concillian]

Ram speed is really not too big a factor on actual performance. Many "overclockers" use pretty basic 1333 or 1600.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/memory/2011/01/11/the-best-memory-for-sandy-bridge/6

Given the incredibly small benefit of faster RAM, I use these DDR3 1600 CAS9: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-314-_-Product Which are in a pretty good place in terms of price, only like $10 more than 8GB of 1333 CAS9. Going much faster than that shoots the price up really quick for very little benefit.

If you want to spend money for the sake of spending money and going nuts on OC, then just get something high speed and low latency. Just don't expect much real world performance benefit. RAM overclocking hasn't seen much in the way of real world performance benefits for about the last 5 years. The old AthlonXP and Pentium 4 responded pretty well to RAM OCs... since then... not so much.

None of the games you listed should require crazy memory. A 2600K at stock speeds should play them really well. maybe Starcraft 2 will benefit in large battles from some overclocking. Diablo III I'm pretty confident will not require a super serious system, but it's not out yet, so who knows. Blizz has designed those kinds of games for pretty mediocre systems though. Fallout 3 has no performance issues at all on a modern CPU.

 

[Hooptymobile]

Fallout 3 has no performance issues at all on a modern CPU.

Oh I meant New Vegas but have both!

None of the games you listed should require crazy memory.

You're right! I'm currently using 4gig of ram @ 1066 (think latency is 9-9-9-28 or 7-7-7-21 etc.) It can handle all the mentioned games but my brother seems to think I'm getting bottleneck from cpu being 775 and trying to play FFXIV on ultra high graphics w/ all the advanced settings turned up; slows game down immensely. One game that I use to play that really slowed down alot w/ medium to high settings was Aion (in large scale 100+ players fighting in game my pc just didnt like it very much and had to scale back but i was using 2x 250gts cards SLI at the time too.

 

[flexcore]

I like, and know few @ XS too, Gskill ECO and Hypers. What you looking to spend? Some of these kits are way over $300 for 2x2GB.
Personally Gskill ECO 1600 CAS7 or Ripjaw 1600 CAS7. Not the ultimate, but very good ram.

 

[Hooptymobile]

I was thinking in the 120.00 to 265.00 range (but willing to flex past 265.00 if its really worth it.

I've been eyeing some G. Skill Ripjaws X 2133 and 1866 (the 1866 being out of stock and waiting for 'in stock' on these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-448-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-433-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-435-_-Product

Part of me wrestles with thought of paying outrageous over pricing for the 2133 and other part of me debates on whether I might be losing chance to provide good OC'ing w/ the 1866's .

Last night I read about the Kingston Hyper X Grey Series ; and the review reads like its a great set of memory but with some sublte catches.

See what you think?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820104237

Heres review link: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1490/1/
(with the Hyper X Im only getting 2x2gb sticks ); not sure if I should stay w/ 2x4gb instead)

Pretty much G. Skill Kingston are my selections for quality ram at this time that I see suitable for my heatsink and board.

Here is website I rely on heavily and enjoy reading: http://www.overclock3d.net/ but Im not trying to build a setup from someone elses ideas. I chose the Gigabyte UD7 because of the 24 power phase long before reviews started to surface but I definately was inspired by suggestion of Noctua NH-D14 for a substition to watercooling (my brother was in the process of convincing me to buy a Danger Den water cooling setup but I knew that was way too much to spend plus the high maintenance of replacing tubes after pipes obtain buildup etc. )

Anyways heres my rantings and hope people send ideas comments responses my way. Always love it!



2133 & 1866 is 'sweet spot' for my mobo others underlcock on Gigabyte GAP67A-UD7 mobo.

 

[pjkenned]

I've been playing with a i7-2600K for a bit now... MUCH less sensitive to memory than previous generations since you are doing multiplier unlocked overclocks. If you are looking for top futuremark scores or something that is one thing. If not, I would just get decent 2x4GB 1600MHz DDR3 and be done with it. That lets you get to 16GB later very easily.

 

[Zap]

It can handle all the mentioned games but my brother seems to think I'm getting bottleneck from cpu being 775 and trying to play FFXIV on ultra high graphics w/ all the advanced settings turned up; slows game down immensely. One game that I use to play that really slowed down alot w/ medium to high settings was Aion (in large scale 100+ players fighting in game my pc just didnt like it very much and had to scale back but i was using 2x 250gts cards SLI at the time too.

If it is a really busy MMO, a faster CPU might help. Otherwise with MOST games, if the symptom is "turn up eye candy and performance goes down" 99% of the time you are limited by your graphics card. Only time RAM will limit you is if you don't have enough.

Due to the nature of how a Core i7 2600K overclocks, RAM will NEVER... let me repeat, NEVER limit your overclock. Oh, and did I forget to mention that RAM will NEVER limit your 2600K overclock?

Also, why the Gigabyte P67A-UD7 motherboard? Unless you were actually going to do Tri-SLI off the bat (in which case you should probably go socket 1366) you should save $130 and get the UD4. better yet, get the Asus P8P67 Pro for the same amount as the UD4. It just beat the Gigabyte board in AnandTech's review. Besides giving a bit more in features (such as UEFI interface) the Asus board overclocks better than the UD4. HardOCP's review of the Gigabyte UD7 also mentions that Asus boards overclock better than the UD7.

So, get the Asus P8P67 Pro, maybe this G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB RAM (1600, 1.5v) and put the saved money towards better or more graphics cards. You will hands down get better gaming performance for your money.

 

[hclarkjr]

look at this chart, it helped me in my decision

 

[pjkenned]

5.5% improvement for a $100/ 4GB upgrade?

 

[Termie]

I was thinking in the 120.00 to 265.00 range (but willing to flex past 265.00 if its really worth it.

I've been eyeing some G. Skill Ripjaws X 2133 and 1866 (the 1866 being out of stock and waiting for 'in stock' on these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-448-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-433-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-435-_-Product

Part of me wrestles with thought of paying outrageous over pricing for the 2133 and other part of me debates on whether I might be losing chance to provide good OC'ing w/ the 1866's .

look at this chart, it helped me in my decision

So you get a 0.3% jump for the $23 price difference (incl. shipping) between 1866/CL8 and 2133/CL9. You get a 1.4% increase for the $10 difference between 1866/CL9 and 1866/CL8. Obviously, the jump to 2133 is silly, particularly considering this is in a test that actually shows memory differences. I guess if I were in your shoes, I'd get the 1866/CL8.

For the record, I have G.Skill DDR3-1866/CL9 ram and actually underclock it to 1760/CL7, because I don't need 1866 speed for my CPU overclock.

 

[Hooptymobile]

Thanks for advice Termie. As the days pass by and I endlessly await Newegg to restorck their online inventory of 1866/2133 G. Skill Ripjaws X . Ive flip-flopped between the two but I think 1866 is best bet (allows me to OC higher or drop down to 1600 if need be. I've been using 4 sticks of 1Mb memory @ 1066 for almost 3yrs in my 775socket. Anything higher will be much more enjoyable.