Need 1600 vs 1866 RAM Advice

[cyberia]

I am gathering parts for my first build in 10 years, so be gentle. I am doing an Ivy Bridge Z77/i7-3770K build. I am planning to do some overclocking but nothing extreme. I don't plan to tweek the rig after I finish building it, so I just want to get it right the first time. At the end, I want to end up with a stable machine that is a good value. It won't be cheap, but I am looking for good deals and am not going all out getting premium components either.

So: I jumped on a deal on a 32GB kit of DDR3 1600 memory last week for $136. Today, I am seeing the 1866 flavor of the same brand of memory on sale for $150. I don't mind paying the extra $14, so should I bother going for the faster kit? Will it be anymore stable when I overclock the CPU? Or does it even matter?

Like I said, I will gladly pay the extra $14 if there are any benefits. On the other hand, I am not sure if Newegg will charge a restocking fee on the original kit - anyone with an experience?).

Here is the Newegg comparison of the RAM I am talking about:
1600 vs. 1866

 

[Zxian]

Will benchmarks show higher numbers? Yes.

Are you likely to notice any difference? Probably not.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Go for Samsung 30nm. OCs past 2ghz

 

[Zxian]

The Samsung kits don't come in 8GB DIMMS. He's comparing two 32GB kits.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

For $14 extra I would buy 1866

 

[felang]

No noticeable difference, not worth it to exchange the set you already bought.

Just out of curiosity why would you need 32GB of RAM? I still think 16gb is overkill for mostly everything.

 

[cyberia]

For $14 extra I would buy 1866

That's what I am leaning toward to. But is it worth dealing with the hassle of returning the 1600 kit? Does Newegg charge restocking fee on RAM? How much?

 

[aaksheytalwar]

That's what I am leaning toward to. But is it worth dealing with the hassle of returning the 1600 kit? Does Newegg charge restocking fee on RAM? How much?

Not worth it if already bought

 

[v3par]

I don't know if you'll see any benefits of 1866MHz RAM, but I'd go for 1866.

 

[thelastjuju]

you will NEVER notice the nanoseconds of real world performance difference between the two.

Most people just blindly assume that if the # on the spec is higher, it must be superior though. Easily one of the most effective marketing strategies around.

$150 on RAM alone is just outrageous though. Unless you are a professional editor or designer, nobody even needs to spend more than $40 on an 8gb set of RAM. I'd save the money and get something that actually matters.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

It is $150 for 32gb ram not 8gb ram

 

[lehtv]

$136 for 32GB of 1600 is quite good, only $4.25/GB whereas a typical 2x4GB 1600 kit is more than $5/GB.

You will not notice a difference to 1866, you're fine with the RAM you bought. Assuming you actually need 32GB and you're not using Home Premium.

 

[cyberia]

Thank you for all the replies. I chatted with a Newegg CSR, and she said it was fine to refuse/return the original 1600 set of RAM. So, I jumped on this deal. I totally agree that I won't see any performance difference, but I figured I can "splurge" an extra $14 for my first build in a while. I am already dealing with a lot of hassles with rebates and mishandled deliveries, so might as well just "persevere" and get through it.

I am using Windows Ultimate and am planning to run some VMs and make a RAMdrive. Just for the heck of it. That's why I am not getting a Dell this time. :biggrin:

 

[Makaveli]

No noticeable difference, not worth it to exchange the set you already bought.

Just out of curiosity why would you need 32GB of RAM? I still think 16gb is overkill for mostly everything.

This!

 

[TemjinGold]

Let's put it this way: If I swapped the labels on the two kits, you wouldn't be able to tell.

This is akin to me writing the word "Turbocharged!" on one of the kits and charging you more for it.

 

[Smoblikat]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3

Its on SB, but it should be almost identical.

 

[JOEKNOCKZ]

This is an older thread but I thought i better clarify something.. I thought the 3770K doesn't support 1866 memory. Or am I wrong there? I thought something like the AMD FX9370 would require 1866 memory and doesn't support 1600.

 

[lamedude]

Intel doesn't support it so its technically overclocking.

 

[lehtv]

*nvm*

 

[PitchBurn]

I just bought 16gb DDR3 1866 kit for $10 more than the 1600 16gb kit. The problem is my new Asus Crosshair V Formula Z mobo slowed it down to 1333. I'm not an overclock guy but between the memory and my fx-8350 cpu... I guess i'm heading to Fry's for my first hydro kit.