Getting New Ram

Discussion in 'Tech Talk' started by Gankfest, Feb 19, 2012.

  1. Gankfest
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    G.Skill

    Figured should get a nice upgrade, since I'm rocking only 4G atm. Be nice for when Tera and GW2 comes out.
     
  2. Sogetsu
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    What's the rest of your system look like?
     
  3. mwhays
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    I use G.skill in two of my rigs. Good stuff. stays cool. Cheap. I use a combo of Mushkin and Corsair in another with great success.
     
  4. Sogetsu
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    I think you and I have discussed this in TS a while back. Do you like mushkins? I know they are American made which intrigues me - and a lot of the overclock forums I follow use mushkin's so I think my next build I'll try some out.
     
  5. EniGmA1987
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  6. Kava
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  7. Gankfest
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    not getting the ram that I originally posted because my Mobo can't run it. forgot to check that, but glad I did before I bought it. :p

    I currently have: G.Skill Trident

    Which the timings are amazing. I would get what enig posted, but it isn't the 2k 16k series. Which is what I'm trying to get. If anyone know where to get the G.Skill Trident(2000) @ 16k or a good replacement, that would be awesome. Everything that I've been finding is made for Intel, so I'm a little weary of buying it, and then it not working in my AMD Comp!

    Specs for giggles:
    AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz
    G.SKILL Trident 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000)
    x3 Raid 0-5 Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM
    ASUS M4N98TD EVO AM3 NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI
    EVGA GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) SuperClocked 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5
    CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-850TX 850W
    The Tower
    Windows x64 Ultimate, Gentoo -Kde-4, Debain -Kde-3

    P.S.

    I'm liking these 3 tho:
    G.SKILL Ripjaws
    CORSAIR XMS
     
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2012
  8. EniGmA1987
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    by 16k you mean the PC3-16000? That is just the bandwidth rating. All PC16000 will be running at 2000MHz. PC3 is the generation of the RAM. PC was DDR, PC2 = DDR2, and PC3 = DDR3. The number after it is theoretical max bandwidth of the module in MB/s.

    A single channel of memory is 64-bit wide, there are 8 chips of RAM on a single side of a module. Therefor if the speed of the chips on the RAM run at 2000MHz then we do:
    64-bit / 8 chips = 8MB/s
    so: 8MB/s x 2000MHz = 16000MB/s to find the theoretical max bandwidth.

    At least, I think I am remembering how to do that right :p


    And then it isnt even true that 2133MHz RAM actually runs at that speed. It is double data rate memory so it can read and write twice per clock cycle (once on the rising and once on the falling edge of the data strobe). So its actual clock cycle is 1066MHz speed and only the EFFECTIVE clock cycle is said to be 2133.

    You may be thinking, "wait a second, my RAM has 16chips on it! 8 on the front and 8 on the back.". This is called a dual rank DIMM. Only one rank may be accessed at a time so the one rank is disabled while the other is active.

    There are other more complex things about the RAM modules, but I will leave that simplified version as is and not get too technical on it all. Those are the basics of the RAM stick.




    The RAM you posted before also isnt PC3 16000, it is rated higher just like what I posted. It runs at higher MHz so its bandwidth rating is also higher.

    And for instance, if you overclock your 2000MHz memory, it would no longer be said to be PC3 16000, as it now runs at a higher speed. So the theoretical max bandwidth is now higher as well.
     
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2012
  9. Gankfest
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    The ram I first posted was 19600 PC3, but my motherboard only goes up too 2000.

    I'm like these 2:

    G.SKILL Ripjaws
    CORSAIR XMS

    The XMS are cheaper with faster timing then the G.Skill. but the ram I originally bought last year is better than both @: 9-9-9-24. I wanna get the ones I already have, but they don't make them anymore. :(
     
  10. EniGmA1987
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    max RAM speed has to do with three things, CPU's memory controller, bios support, chip compatibility. Even if your motherboard only supports up to 2000, then you select the 2000MHz divider and then change your fsb to 213, which will give you a speed of 2130MHz on the RAM. Or choose the 1866 divider and then set your fsb to 229 which will give you a speed of 2137MHz.
    If the top "rated" speed was the fastest we could ever run then we would not have world records of 3.2GHz for memory speed.
     
  11. mercsan
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  12. mwhays
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    we have :)

    My first experience with Mushkin was pretty bad. I bought some sd cards and Ram that just went badly. Evidently, they had a bad stretch. Like most electronics do, at least once. Anyway, I just returned the stuff and went with another manufacturer. I since read several great reviews and tried them again. Ironically, I needed some class 10 SD cards and some 4gb RAM sticks.
    Perfect, is the word. rock solid stable and OC'able. The SD cards are great, as well. very fast.
     
  13. EniGmA1987
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  14. Gankfest
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    Yup, can only do dual channel, ended up going with the Corsair XMS. Pretty good sticks for 50$, and I have used Corsair before and never had any problems. Thanks for the help tho!
     
  15. mwhays
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    Yeah I was just gonna let the triple channel thing go, because it was just too left field... I actually thought i was mistaken about the motherboard. And I'll have to look, but I believe I have that same corsair in one of my ultraquiet rigs. Does the job, no complaints. Have not oc'ed, so I cant really tell you its better than others out there. But its great on stock settings!
     
  16. EniGmA1987
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    Interesting fact, The dual channel in a Sandy Bridge processor is significantly faster than triple channel in the older gen i7's. This is because enabling tri-channel gives a latency penalty due to how the architecture is designed as well as from improvements to the controller within SB.

    Doesnt relate to Gankfest in any way, but since his questions have been resolved I thought Id throw out that tidbit of info since we are talking a a little bit about triple channel memory
     
  17. mwhays
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    Knowledge bomb.