8GB 1600 MHz vs 12/16GB 1333 MHz

It depends on what you are doing if you'll even notice the difference. Benchmarking all day, 1600 would probably beat out 1333 depending on the timings. Gaming, you more than likely won't notice much (1-3%).

Whether or not those differences mean anything is completely up to you. If you can use the capacity, I'd go with more RAM versus faster but it really depends on your usage.
 
See a good bench comp here on anand

I'd go with more memory vs higher bandwidth. You are not going to see a noticeable real world difference with higher speed vs just having more of it.
 
Plain standard 1333 9-9-9-24 1.5V, from Crucial, Kingston, Corsair, Mushkin... pick your brand, preferably something using Micron, Elpida or Hynix chips. Kingston is usually the cheapest.
 
4gb is still good enough to play games and for 95% of most desktop usage. You cannot see a difference between 1333 mhz, 1600mhz, all the way up to 2500mhz because of the massive bandwidth DDR3 already has, plus running it in dual and triple channel. Memory is not an area you need to spend alot of money on anymore. Spend more money on getting an ssd drive, or graphics card where you will actually see the gains more.
 
Don't need it but couldn't pass up on Mushkin 999010 for $119. 12GB triple channel for $119, wow!
 
When you are comparing the MHZ, you should look into timings. Actual size has nothing to do with performance, unless all it's occupied, at which point the HDD is used to swap files.
 
My take has always been to run the tightest timings possible, and I usually paid a premium to do so. I will say most of the articles I've seen marginalize the performance benefit of low latency on DDR3, especially running higher frequencies.

The past year or so saw timings for DDR3 increase, and the really low latency chips of '09 were failing in droves. The industry was moving backward, goofy timings like 7,9,8,24, etc. I guess that's why I jumped on this 999010 due to price, density and a return to normal timing ranges for memory chips.
 
hdgamer said:
4gb is still good enough to play games and for 95% of most desktop usage. You cannot see a difference between 1333 mhz, 1600mhz, all the way up to 2500mhz because of the massive bandwidth DDR3 already has, plus running it in dual and triple channel. Memory is not an area you need to spend alot of money on anymore. Spend more money on getting an ssd drive, or graphics card where you will actually see the gains more.
Click to expand...

A lot of truth in this. Unless you are benching, when it comes to DDR3, just get the amount of Gigs you want and call it a day. The hardest part should be which manufacturer to choose from.
 
Volume over Speed when it comes to RAM.... few years from now it will be different
 
If you are on Sandy Bridge, go with the 1600 over 1333, bench makrs have shown they offer slightly better performance,

The price difference isnt that hge as well
 
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