Best 8GB ram for SB - results thread.

[aussie-revhead]

Guys, 2x4GB ddr3 kits are now very common but none have good timings so which are the best rams to buy in 2x4GB configuration? Which have good overclock headroom? Which hold their timings with overclocking or can be tightened beyond factory settings? Also which have a true SB compatibility with 1.5v ratings? I bought a set of g.skill 2133 but realised after that they are rated at 11-11-11 ..... so Im looking for something better. Im told that Mushkin Redline 2133 overclock well but I cant find them anywhere and they are 1.65v anyway. The g.skill sniper range seem ok but the cheap price scares me .... and I cant find the 2133 (do they exist?) anyway, so I may try the sniper 1866. The low voltage is nice and SB safe.

What do you guys think? Please post up results, screenshots etc and feel free to discuss the subject.

Cheers.

[radier]

SB do not really benefit from super high clocked memory with tight timmings. Unless you are real record runner Overclocker it is a waste of money.

DDR3 SDRAM for Sandy Bridge: Choosing the Best Memory for LGA1155 Platform

[aussie-revhead]

Thanks for that.

[Leeghoofd]

Save yourself some money and settle for some 1600 or 1866Mhz sticks; Indeed timings don't matter that much in real life apps. More then enough bandwith there for gaming purposes... and far less strain on the IMC then with higher speed dimms...

Regarding 1.5 or 1.65Vdimm... I wouldn't worry too much as most have been reusing their DDR3 rams from X58, P55 and co.. no issues here at all...

I tested the Sniper 1600CL7 kit on SB they do up to 2133Mhz 9-11-10-27 1T... CL9 and co are known to not overclock much... but far cheaper and the performance loss is minimal...

[aussie-revhead]

So get he sniper 1866 or keep my ripjaws-X 2133 11-11-11? I am running my rams at 1866 though as they dont seem to like to run at rated speeds anyway, they are at 1954-9-11-9-27 1T atm.

[Rattle]

these are 150 till the 6th on newegg, is it worth it? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-435-_-Product

I might go z68 with a 2500k and a H100

My ddr3 2000 kit in my sig will do 2100+ at 9 timings as it is, I might just keep em for sandy lol but I kinda wanted to go 8gb since it so cheap now.

[sdsdv10]

these are 150 till the 6th on newegg, is it worth it? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-435-_-Product

I might go z68 with a 2500k and a H100

My ddr3 2000 kit in my sig will do 2100+ at 9 timings as it is, I might just keep em for sandy lol but I kinda wanted to go 8gb since it so cheap now.

If the Xbits lab article posted above is correct, then this would be money wasted. While there was a measured effect in synthetic benchmarks, in actual programs (games, winrar, photoshop) there was very little difference between 1600 and >2000 memory. SB just isn't limited that much by bandwidth.

For comparison, decent 8GB (2x4GB) 1600 CL9 memory can be found at Newegg for ~$90. This will give you ~90-95% of the performance at ~55-60% the cost.
Here are two low voltage kits I found with a quick search.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145345
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231428

[pythonse]

i have the bottom kit but cl8..great ram

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

There's a very small (5% MAX?) difference between 1333 cas 7 and 2133 cas 11.

I'm running 8gb 1600 and I thought of using my 4gb 2133mhz kit or buying 8gb of it, but in the end, the performance is not noticeable. Get a $75 1600mhz kit and throw the extra cash at a better board or video card.

If the Xbits lab article posted above is correct, then this would be money wasted. While there was a measured effect in synthetic benchmarks, in actual programs (games, winrar, photoshop) there was very little difference between 1600 and >2000 memory. SB just isn't limited that much by bandwidth.

For comparison, decent 8GB (2x4GB) 1600 CL9 memory can be found at Newegg for ~$90. This will give you ~90-95% of the performance at ~55-60% the cost.
Here are two low voltage kits I found with a quick search.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145345
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231428

Here's an 1866 cas 8 kit for $105:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231455

If you are going to go 1600mhz and like the corsair, but it doesn't match, newegg has an exclusing red kit!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233180

High end 8gb 2133mhz g.skill kit, $50 off ($150 shipped):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231435

Personally, I'd either get the corsair or G.skill. Both are good brands.

I am running that G.Skill kit. Excellent little kit for the money. Ran 16gb of the stuff in a server till I needed ram for my SB build. Never had any stability problems. I got this kit for $63 bucks though.

[sdsdv10]

Here's an 1866 cas 8 kit for $105:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231455

Not that it's that important but clicking the links, shows this memory is CL9 not CL8.

The only G. Skill CL8 memory running at 1866 I could find on Newegg was this 4GB kit (2x2G)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231447

[RealTelstar]

I'm also not sure:
1600mhz CL8: sku F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM
1866mhz CL9: sku F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL

Price (7€ diff) and performance are probably about the same. I'm heading towards the 1866, because i believe that speed is more important than latency with SB.
Am I right?

[Demo]

I'm also not sure:
1600mhz CL8: sku F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM
1866mhz CL9: sku F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL

Price (7€ diff) and performance are probably about the same. I'm heading towards the 1866, because i believe that speed is more important than latency with SB.
Am I right?

Based on my own testing 6-8-6 1600Mhz vs 7-10-7 2133Mhz gives like 1-2fps more.

[RealTelstar]

Based on my own testing 6-8-6 1600Mhz vs 7-10-7 2133Mhz gives like 1-2fps more.

So the 1600 CL7 should be a little better.... but I heard that the the above 1866 model could run at CL7. 1-2fps is negligible anyway.

[Demo]

The 7-10-7-2133Mhz gave 1-2fps better than the 1600CL6, meaning negligible difference.

[banwell]

2X2GB FTW @ 1600Mhz. All you'll ever need in most cases - unless you're going to use a RAM drive or specific RAM apps.

[aussie-revhead]

The 7-10-7-2133Mhz gave 1-2fps better than the 1600CL6, meaning negligible difference.

What about differences in benchmarks? 3d11 seems to like it that way, Im sure the others will too.

[Leeghoofd]

in benchmarks higher is better, tighter is better... that game never changed for daily usage as suggested 1600-1866 region is more than enough... 1333 is still okayish, 1066 to be avoided at all cost :p

[AMD_Freak]

There's a very small (5% MAX?) difference between 1333 cas 7 and 2133 cas 11.

I'm running 8gb 1600 and I thought of using my 4gb 2133mhz kit or buying 8gb of it, but in the end, the performance is not noticeable. Get a $75 1600mhz kit and throw the extra cash at a better board or video card.





Here's an 1866 cas 8 kit for $105:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231455

If you are going to go 1600mhz and like the corsair, but it doesn't match, newegg has an exclusing red kit!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233180

High end 8gb 2133mhz g.skill kit, $50 off ($150 shipped):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231435

Personally, I'd either get the corsair or G.skill. Both are good brands.

I am running that G.Skill kit. Excellent little kit for the money. Ran 16gb of the stuff in a server till I needed ram for my SB build. Never had any stability problems. I got this kit for $63 bucks though.

I have the G.Skills http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231455 and they OC pretty well at stock 1.5 voltage not that its a real concern on SB but every little bit helps 104fsb although Im about to RMA them starting to get BSOD. and yes these are cas 9-11-9-28 w/ XMP the only 1.5v set i could find for 8gb kit with 9cas or lower

[Skratch]

I have 4 sticks (8gb) of gskill 2133 cl7 and they run 9-10-9-27 when using all 4 sticks and 7-8-7 using 2 sticks.Been running at 1.65 volts also

[Erklat]

Unless you are real record runner Overclocker it is a waste of money.

+1

I had Dominators and that is the last piece of memory that costs more 90$ I had ever bought. The next I am buying is the cheapest 2x8GB kit (1333mhz is not excluded) because in normal and professional usage the quantity is what matters. Latencies and speed you will not feel, as I sure don't, and I was skeptical as hell about this.
Not to mention you can't resell it even if you were a mother of god.

[Skratch]

Here is my 24/7 use with the gskills with 4 sticks.I can get 26.6gb/sec with 2 sticks and tighter timings.

[Demo]

Barely any real world difference from the 18Gb/s that the avg joe is getting.

[Skratch]

Barely any real world difference from the 18Gb/s that the avg joe is getting.

It makes a difference if you are benching for numbers and I broke my 3d01 record with higher bandwith.

8GB/sec is a pretty big difference once you get sli going and the ram is dirt cheap so why not have something you can have fun benching with?

[aicjofs]

I picked up the 1866 2X4GB Sniper kit you are talking about a 2.5 weeks ago for $90 at newegg and a free 2GB flash drive. I too was worried about the cheap price, but liked the idea of 1866 CAS 9 at 1.5V.

I only had a day to play with them before putting them to folding at stock speeds, but I manged some benches at 2133 stock timings with 1.68v and 2133 CAS 11-11-11 at 1.54v. That was benches though, no idea about stability, I ran LinX for a loop with all RAM and it didn't crash for whatever that's worth. Either way, for the price of the RAM I can't say I was disappointed.

[Demo]

Sorry I forgot that this is XS where benching is the prime concern, what I ment was real life gaming/usage.

Anyway, Im also deciding if its worth to sell my current 4GB 6-8-6 1600Mhz and get the 8GB 7-8-7 1600Mhz would cost me $71 when the 4GB kit is sold.