Ram for sandy bridge.

[Xellos2099]

I picked up the i5 2500k and the mobo from microcenter today and now i am looking at the ram deals:

Kingston
http://www.buy.com/prod/kingston-hyp...216077600.html

Super Talent
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php...82ba3f1b1cc4775b52fad1aff2febf3aad04d9c2ccfb1

Patriot
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1062524/

And ye si plan to oc a bit, which ram are recommended.

 

[GundamF91]

SB is nothing special with memory, you should pick whichever DDR3-1600 that runs the best timing at the default 1.5v. Key to overclocking memory is to not buy memory that's already overclocked, such as OCZ likes to do to their DDR3-1333, that they sell as DDR3-1600 running at 1.7v. Of those you listed, I'd pick Patriot personally.

 

[Xellos2099]

I through the patroit is only DDR3-1333, or is it because of the cheap price? To be fair, the price is pretty attractive at 29.99 AR so it is cheap to get 8 gig.

 

[GundamF91]

Oh that one, it is DDR3-1333. So you'll want to pick the DDR3-1600 version, and not just go for cheap.

 

[Spikesoldier]

i would recommend a ddr3 1600 set @ cas 7

 

[Xellos2099]

I heard story that i5 sandy bridge is build upon ram using around 1.5v and anything over like 1.65 might damage the memory controller in a long run, is it true?

How about this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231396

 

[Spikesoldier]

the 'fragility' of the nehalem and im guessing sb's memory controller is a function of vtt and vdimm. supposedly vdimm cannot be at or above vtt + .50v.

i.e.:
vtt: 1.2 ; vdimm: 1.5 | ok
vtt: 1.2 ; vdimm 1.65 | ok
vtt: 1.2 ; vdimm 1.7 | NOT ok
vtt: 1.33 ; vdimm 1.7 | ok

 

[mclaren777]

All this talk about voltage has me worried. I recently bought this Mushkin RAM that's rated at at 1.65v with 9-9-9-24 timings. I'm starting to think I would have been much better off getting this G.SKILL RAM instead (1.5v with 7-7-7-21 timings).

Did I make a mistake? And do you think Newegg would allow me to make an exchange?

 

[Spikesoldier]

All this talk about voltage has me worried. I recently bought this Mushkin RAM that's rated at at 1.65v with 9-9-9-24 timings. I'm starting to think I would have been much better off getting this G.SKILL RAM instead (1.5v with 7-7-7-21 timings).

Did I make a mistake? And do you think Newegg would allow me to make an exchange?

9-9-9-24 @ 1.65v is a very poor choice, or very very conservatively clocked.

YMMV.

 

[Xellos2099]

I am worrying too, i was planning to order today so I can have it by friday for a build.

 

[Blain]

Buy DDR3 rated for 1.5v or less, no matter what clock speed it's rated.
Premium quality memory will be rated at 1.5v or less with high clock speed and low latency.

 

[Dangerer]

All this talk about voltage has me worried. I recently bought this Mushkin RAM that's rated at at 1.65v with 9-9-9-24 timings. I'm starting to think I would have been much better off getting this G.SKILL RAM instead (1.5v with 7-7-7-21 timings).

Did I make a mistake? And do you think Newegg would allow me to make an exchange?

The G.Skill you linked is the one I went with. There was a coupon floating around that took $15 off making the total $95. Some folks recommended getting the ripjaws 1600mhz @ CAS 9 that costs $110 with no coupon, but I opted to save $15 and have better CAS

 

[Spikesoldier]

Buy DDR3 rated for 1.5v or less, no matter what clock speed it's rated.
Premium quality memory will be rated at 1.5v or less with high clock speed and low latency.

+1

also look into the G.Skill ECO's. they run 1.35v. i have the cas 7 1333 set in my HTPC that runs 24/7.

 

[Blain]

My main goal when buying memory is to buy as high a quality as I can afford, knowing that quality trumps flash in the long run.

Here's what I use to pick memory, in order of importance...
1. Voltage (JEDEC standard for type considered) or lower
2. Latency rating
3. Clock speed rating
* Balance all three above to determine best bang for the buck (I don't waver on the voltage issue)

 

[ochadd]

I went with this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...tent-_-text-_-

Hoping to lower the latency, increase the clocks, or both by upping the voltage. Biggest concern is that they were deactivated just hours after I ordered my SB setup. Hope they weren't pulled issues other than product line adjustment.

 

[Blain]

I went with this:
Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1866, 9-10-9-27, 1.5v

Hoping to lower the latency, increase the clocks, or both by upping the voltage.

Why?

 

[spacejamz]

So is 1.65V memory going to be bad for these 2500K's for everyday non-overclocked use?

I just picked up some Patriot memory ($60 after $25 rebate for an 8GB kit) with 9-9-9-24 timings...

Here is what I got:
http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5688415

 

[Doggiedog]

I bought this

Seems to run fine and is detected as DDR3 1600 at 1.5v. Haven't OCed yet though.

 

[spacejamz]

I bought this

Seems to run fine and is detected as DDR3 1600 at 1.5v. Haven't OCed yet though.

According to the specs, this ram is 1.5V.

 

[Xellos2099]

I am truly wondering if this is an oversight on intel part to release sandy bridge with 1.5v recommanded ram sicne majority of the DDR3 rams out there is rate 1.65. Or is ti intel have back door deal with ram mader to made peopel buy new ddr3.

I can't help but notice that a lot of major store: Newegg, compusa, frys, TF are sellign their 1.65v ram at a discount price while the 1.5 remain high.

 

[Blain]

I am truly wondering if this is an oversight on intel part to release sandy bridge with 1.5v recommanded ram sicne majority of the DDR3 rams out there is rate 1.65.
Or is ti intel have back door deal with ram mader to made peopel buy new ddr3.

I can't help but notice that a lot of major store: Newegg, compusa, frys, TF are sellign their 1.65v ram at a discount price while the 1.5 remain high.

The JEDEC industry standard voltage for DDR3 is 1.5v
Intel is a member of that organization, but so are most of the other memory manufacturers.
Slamming more voltage helps lesser quality modules run stable because there's a stronger signal.
Higher quality memory doesn't require that excess voltage in order to run stable.

 

[Xpage]

could always buy 1600 spec memory at 1.65v and lower the voltage and see how things go. I picked up the 1600mhz Patriot for $39.99 after rebate, though I am a bit less happy with it after reading this article so I'll probably drop the voltage and see if I can keep the memory stable.

Worst case maybe do 1333 at 1.5v and hope it works. In any case as memory manufacturers make more memory on the 2x nm node, 2x4GB will drop in price and it'll also use lower voltages so I think this ddr3 memory will only last me a few months till i sell them and pick up some better and denser memory.

 

[IntelUser2000]

1.65V should be fine. They have the same limitation with Nehalem processors. The bclk thing is what makes it worse but for memory itself you should have no problem running it at 1.65V for extended periods of time.

 

[faxon]

Since this thread is already on the topic, what kind of memory requirements does sandy actually have? i havent seen any mention of it specifically requiring 1600MHz vs 1333 the way Lynnfield did, and the best 2x4GB kits right now that im looking at are 1333 C7-7-7-21 1.5v (both G.Skill Ripjaws). now right now most of the kits i'd consider paying extra for are out of stock, or out of my price range currently anyway, and im trying to do this upgrade as cheaply as possible since im a little strapped for cash at the moment but my main system's board is beginning to show signs of early degradation from the extreme stress i generally put it under, so i need to decide what memory im going to get now, and jump on it within a few weeks when i have the cash if the price is right.

also of note, G.Skill is selling kits of "Ripjaws X Memory" which they say is specially tuned for SB, but im assuming this is just marketing. does anyone know what the difference is between these modules and the standard ripjaws? i already have 2 kits of the Ripjaws memory in different systems and if there is no difference i may consider looking at these specific kits again for cross testing purposes in the future

 

[spacejamz]

could always buy 1600 spec memory at 1.65v and lower the voltage and see how things go. I picked up the 1600mhz Patriot for $39.99 after rebate, though I am a bit less happy with it after reading this article so I'll probably drop the voltage and see if I can keep the memory stable.

Worst case maybe do 1333 at 1.5v and hope it works. In any case as memory manufacturers make more memory on the 2x nm node, 2x4GB will drop in price and it'll also use lower voltages so I think this ddr3 memory will only last me a few months till i sell them and pick up some better and denser memory.

So how does lowering the voltage affect memory performance of memory rated at 1.65V?

The Patriot memory I bought runs at 1.5V at 1333 speeds with the advertised 9-9-9-24 timings...Should I just adjust it down to 1.6V?

Also, because this memory was pretty cheap ($60 after a $25 rebate for two 4GB sticks), I bought two sets...16GB for memory for $120.

What are the pros/cons of installing 16GB?