RAM Upgrade for ASRock Z77 Extreme6 + i7-3770K

[Guttzu]

Thank you for the honest reply sir! I'm thinking the 2133 Thank you again for the help!

 

[Guttzu]

Ok waiting to pull the trigger on this PP So the 2133 will have better overall performance than the 1866 kit? I'm somewhat new to timings/RAM in general but you had mentioned that the increase from 1600 to 1866 is marginal... The timings are slower on the 2133 kit but the overall speed is faster? I've read that the timing differences only really comes up in benchmarking...

 

[PP Mguire]

Speed and timings really only come up in benchmarks. The difference in games will not be noticeable. The only exception being IGPs. An IGP in the Intel or AMD CPUs gain performance because they utilize system RAM as VRAM. So naturally, faster RAM will be closer to GDDR5 performance.

On the other hand, that won't apply to you (or even me). For basic usage and gaming anything over 1600 is kind of a waste of money. You won't see any efficient gains from high speed memory unless you are clocking the IB chips around 4.5 or higher. If you were to actually buy the higher speed then speed over some slight timing changes. Remember, you can always clock them lower and run tighter timings. You can also tweak to get better timings over stock, which is usually always the case.

And as always, higher speed really only shows in benches, but honestly my numbers didn't change much from 1600 to 2133.

Edit: Btw, who the **** lives in Utah? Lol jk

 

[Guttzu]

I moved to Utah for work lol... Ok well I was just curious on this because I do have the $150 ready to go for the 2133 but wanted your advice... I think I still might go with it but just wanted your advice sir! So that 2133 kit you linked is the best for money vs. performance?

 

[PP Mguire]

Yea seems like it for now.

 

[Guttzu]

I would like opinions on either of these 2 please:

2x8 kit: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-2133C9D-16GXH - Newegg.com
4x4 kit: G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL9Q-16GBZH - Newegg.com

Pros/Cons?

 

[PP Mguire]

X kit is better. Lower voltage and only two sticks.

 

[Guttzu]

Thank you for the info sir. I'm indecisive lol but I read on another forum that: ''The benefit to running 4GB DIMMs is that they tend to be much better overclockers than the 8GB sticks. I know that with the aforementioned 4x4 kit, you can likely hit speeds greater tthan 2600 while maintaining good timings, but I don't know of any 8GB kits that can do this.'' Opinion on this? My kid is coming soon so I wanna get stuff soon lol!

 

[PP Mguire]

You won't be OCing a low end kit like that to 2600, and the IMC will buckle under before you reach 2400 due to having all 4 DIMM slots occupied. Those numbers they are referring to is possible with LN2. There also isn't any gain to running your RAM that high as you're only killing your chip with the volts that would be required.

 

[Guttzu]

Thank you for the knowledgable reply sir! So for 2133 it looks like the best option is the X 2x8 kit you linked. Would tridents be too expensive and really not worth it?