DDR3 1333 or 1600 for core i7

I'm wondering if the 920 and 940 have locked mem multipliers at 6 8 and 10 or does it depend on what motherboard / bios you have? =\
 
This is kind of an important issue, so theres really no advantage to going 1600 if youre running a 920? What if you upgrade cpu in the future, wouldnt 1600 be nice to have available?
 
This is kind of an important issue, so theres really no advantage to going 1600 if youre running a 920? What if you upgrade cpu in the future, wouldnt 1600 be nice to have available?

Price difference if very minimal, if you are at it...get the 1600 just like I did....
 
Get the 1600 is you want future proofing for some time. Get the 1333 if your budget is small.
 
First of all a question to GJohn. How did you get your 920 to a 21 Multiplier!?!?!?!?!? I thought it was locked at 20.

I'm just waiting for the last piece of my new computer to come in and of course it's the memory. I used this thread to help me pick out the 6GB Corsair Dominator 1600 memory kit. I just went 6GB because I read an articly recently that tried to determine how much memory gets used in games and the most memory intensive experience was Warhammer Online running with Windows Vista 64 bit. Even then the memory ussage was only 3.8GB, so unless I want to multi box the top games on the market, 6GB should do me well for now.

I got a 920 and my plan was to overclock it to 3.2Ghz. I was a bit confused but my understanding was that if I OC the FSB to 160 at a 20X multiplier I will get 3.2, while my memory will be at an 8X multiplier which would give me 12800, which is why I picked the 1600(12800) over the 1333(10666) so that when I OC I don't lose any speed on my memory. I hope I understood that right.
 
I am currently at 3.51 at stock volts and stock hsf with me 920, My system will be water cooled tomorrow or the day after though, almost have it all done :)
 
Has anyone done any overclock testing on their new 1600 memory? Specifically the Corsair 2x3GB Dominator 1600 kit which I just purchased? Everytime I see people mention having them or even other 1600 kits they just say they've got them clocked at 1600Mhz. I want to know if they're capable of 1800+ Mhz or not. I could care less if they can run their rated speed because if they can't do that they're faulty.
 
I got a 920 and my plan was to overclock it to 3.2Ghz. I was a bit confused but my understanding was that if I OC the FSB to 160 at a 20X multiplier I will get 3.2, while my memory will be at an 8X multiplier which would give me 12800, which is why I picked the 1600(12800) over the 1333(10666) so that when I OC I don't lose any speed on my memory. I hope I understood that right.
Nope. :(
Math is right, understanding is wrong.
DDR3-1280 <-- 160x20 (3.20Ghz)
DDR3-1333 <-- 166x20 (3.33Ghz)
DDR3-1600 <-- 200x20 (4.00Ghz)
for the i7 920 with the 8x ram multi (1066Mhz base ram speed).

If you mobo exposes a 10x ram multi (1333Mhz base ram speed), 160x20 (3.2Ghz) and x10 (DDR3-1600) would be a good option.
 
So are you saying that to get the most of my RAM I should clock my FSB at 200Mhz at a 16 time multiplier to get 3.2Ghz from my processor and get the most out of my 1600 RAM?

Just another question though. If the first number is the RAM speed after appropriate multiplier (I.E. 1600) then what does the second number stand for? (The 12800 that is right after the 1600). Thanks.
 
So are you saying that to get the most of my RAM I should clock my FSB at 200Mhz at a 16 time multiplier to get 3.2Ghz from my processor and get the most out of my 1600 RAM?

Just another question though. If the first number is the RAM speed after appropriate multiplier (I.E. 1600) then what does the second number stand for? (The 12800 that is right after the 1600). Thanks.
Frequency is the first number, bandwidth is the second number.
And no. I was saying on the stock cooling you'll probably be happy with a 160 (base clock) x 20 (cpu multiplyer) and x 10 (if the option is there, ram multiplyer). Would give you 3.2Ghz CPU, and the rated DDR3-1600 RAM.

With the i7 everything is based on the "base" clock.133 is default, the CPU is base x CPU multi, the RAM is base x RAM multi, the QPI bus is base x QPI multi, etc.
 
Sorry my bad. I forgot to say that 10X multiplier on the memory isn't an optin. I don't know if it's an i7 or an ASUS P6T thing but the RAM multiplier options are only 6X or 8X.
 
I'm about to go i7 and can't decide between 1333 and 1600. Thinking about going 1333 now and waiting for better ram at lower prices in the future.

Any more thoughts on this subject?
 
if you want to oc past 3.3 I think it is then get 1600 stuff

Why? I have seen people OC to 4ghz using 1333 Ram. The Ram in the Gigabyte tutorial explaining how to OC the 920 CPU to 4ghz only uses 1333 Corsair Ram, and it hits 4ghz without a hiccup.
 
Back
Top