DDR3 1333 or 1600 for core i7

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shaden79

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Apr 15, 2008
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ok i am putting together a core i7 build and i was wondering if i should go with 1333 or 1600 ram. price difference is around 50 dollars and simply put i am wondering if it is worth it?

thanks in advance,
shaden79
 
I would also like an answer to the OP's question. But would appreciate a bit of an explaination if 1600Mhz is the recommendation.

I'm only looking for a "moderate" overclock only, meaning not looking at liquid nitrogen cooling or anything like that, and likely 3.6Ghz or less for a 920 i7.

Options include 1333Mhz RAM speed with CAS 7-7-7-20 or 1600MHz RAM speed CAS 9-9-9-24. I initially thought that the 1333 Mhz option would handle this moderate overclock, is cheaper and might even give better performance, but I'm really not sure - and wouldn't mind some sort of confirmation/explaination.
 
Not sure if I understood that. (Actually, I know I didn't....)

How much is 4.8GT's in normal Mhz or is it not a direct relationship? (Basically, the real question is how high can I overclock my 920 i7 before I need faster RAM than 1333?)
 
In his Video, Kyle said a 2.67core i7 (920) uses stock memory speed of 1066.

i7's are on a 133 bus with a 20x multiplier, and people find the memory speed based on that 133 fsb. 133x4 (QPI is quad pumped) for 533mhz and ddr is double rate, 533x2 = 1066mhz memory.
 
Since this up and their are not that many kits available at the moment, G.skill or Patriot?

EDIT
Actually just saw OZC has 1600 DDR3 with 8-8-8-24 timmings
 
bigdogchris said:
In his Video, Kyle said a 2.67core i7 (920) uses stock memory speed of 1066.

i7's are on a 133 bus with a 20x multiplier, and people find the memory speed based on that 133 fsb. 133x4 (QPI is quad pumped) for 533mhz and ddr is double rate, 533x2 = 1066mhz memory.
Click to expand...

You can select 800 as well on the 920. I don't think you are going to see any real world differences between 1333 tripchan and 1600 tripchan. I am looking to build a 920 at 3.8GHz with DDR3-1532 and 12GB. :)
 
I found a trip channel corsair kit TR3X6G1600C9 6gb kit (2gb x 3) 1600mhz matched pair 9-9-9-24 240-pin ddr3 dimm for 298.00

So to confirm 100% based on what i just read above anything more than 1066 is completely wasted on an I7920/940 correct? Ram has always been a bit of an enigma to me as far as overclocking goes I have to admit. Something about it confuses me. The principles and understanding of overclocking the cpu I get but how the ram factors in is always a lil odd to me heh.

So if I wanted to buy the 1600 speed ram I am just wasting money corect? and this doesn't factor in to my OC on the 920 in any way? Just making sure.
 
savoy: only if you don't overclock. If you OC your 920 from 20x133 to 20x166 = 3.3Gig, your ram multiplier options are 6x166 = 1000, or 8x166 = 1333. If you're running at 20x200 = 4gig, it becomes 1200 or 1600.
 
DanNeely said:
savoy: only if you don't overclock. If you OC your 920 from 20x133 to 20x166 = 3.3Gig, your ram multiplier options are 6x166 = 1000, or 8x166 = 1333. If you're running at 20x200 = 4gig, it becomes 1200 or 1600.
Click to expand...

AHH thank you so much for that dude. That cleared it up perfectly. So ya, I'm probably gonna go for the 1600 stuff, it's only 50 bucks more than the 1300.

Now as far as timings go, are the timings I posted on the ones I listed above ok? Or should I wait for better some better timings to come out. My guess would be in real world gaming (which is what this box will be doing) there will be no difference right?
 
Well since the memory controller is on the cpu now, I am wondering between speeds how much of a performance difference it really is.
 
ram timings almost never matter outside of synthetic benchmarks unless you deliberately do something silly. eg running your ddr3 at 50-50-50-300.
 
nikos said:
Kyle,

what Ram are you considering for this build?

Also will a 1333 tripchan set be able to be overclocked to 1532?
or do you have to use a 1600 set to get the 1532?

I've order my board and cpu but have been waiting for the 8-8-8 timed 1600Mhz sets to be in stock again.

Can you clear this out some for us with your experience on the topic?

thanks,

nikos
Click to expand...

I ordered my RAM today. Going to use the Corsair 1600 that we have been testing with. Going to put a 920 system at 3.8 with RAM at 1520MHz.

I don't really understand your question.

But you can set it to either of two multipliers on the P6T. I am playing with the MSI Eclipse right now and it seems to have more multipliers available, but have not confirmed them actually working yet.
 
Xpletive said:
can you link us to where you saw the Corsair memory for sale? According to the videos posted i haven't seen the same Corsair memory available yet, just the XMS3 version on newegg
Click to expand...

I did not purchase it through traditional channels. One of the perks of being the [H].

Here is what I got exactly.

TR3X6G1600C8D

Memory Type: DDR3-1600 (Dominator-12800C8*XMP*3CH)

Size: 6GB Kit (3 x 2GB)

Latency: 8-8-8-24-2T

Voltage: 1.65v

Format: 240-pin DIMM

Heat Spreader: Dominator

The 1866 on that page is likely to run 2X the cost in retail due to the ICs being nearly 2X the price of the 1866. I just don't see the value in that currently.
 
Thanks.

This is the same set I've been waiting for. I kept looking throughout the day...there where nowhere to be found at the wholesale distributors.

some of the distributors didn't even have them sku'd up yet.....

N
 
nikos said:
Thanks.

This is the same set I've been waiting for. I kept looking throughout the day...there where nowhere to be found at the wholesale distributors.

some of the distributors didn't even have them sku'd up yet.....

N
Click to expand...


It looks like the IC prices are on the way down due to expectations of a soft Q4. Good for us!!
 
NewEgg just ran out of the ram I added to my cart when I was checking out :C

Just ordered a few stix of these bad boys :)
THANKS MAN!!!!!
 
nikos said:
Thanks.

This is the same set I've been waiting for. I kept looking throughout the day...there where nowhere to be found at the wholesale distributors.

some of the distributors didn't even have them sku'd up yet.....

N
Click to expand...
Googled the part number that kyle gave:
Hit the shopping link:
First hit was ZipZoomFly for $340 and in stock.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10009731&prodlist=froogle

edit: nevermind..sorry, I was still stuck on the first page and didn't look at timestamps :(....anyway there is a link to another source!
 
ordered it and then they said *ORDER WAS CANCELED*
check their site and they where sold out :/

Do you have any idea how painful having my entire system here and NO RAM!!! :/
I mean... I over nighted everything for over $100+ extra
just kinda blows...

actually thinking about going to BB tomorrow and buying their new i7 system
and poping out the memory and using that for a few days till my new stuff comes ^_^ lol
then sending it back --EVIL FACE & EVIL LAUGH--
 
Don't do it! You wouldn't want to take time out of playing with your new machine once the ram arrives just to return the system to BB. :p
 
So 1.65v is the hard limit on memory right? I'm still doing my research as i wait for the swiftech gtz adapter to become available. I refuse to put a dinky air cooler on a brand new system. So i still have some time to look around and let prices fall on stuff. Also, kyle, what made you decide on the asus board over the evga board. I like my rampage formula and all, but i've heard way too many horror stories about asus rma should anything ever happen.
 
veedubfreak said:
So 1.65v is the hard limit on memory right? I'm still doing my research as i wait for the swiftech gtz adapter to become available. I refuse to put a dinky air cooler on a brand new system. So i still have some time to look around and let prices fall on stuff. Also, kyle, what made you decide on the asus board over the evga board. I like my rampage formula and all, but i've heard way too many horror stories about asus rma should anything ever happen.
Click to expand...


No "hard" limit on vDimm. You can ramp it up to 1.9v...we have without issue but I am not sure of the long term impact of doing that.

I bought an EVGA yesterday, have not used it yet so I have no opinion. I feel very strongly about the ASUS P6T Deluxe because it has been rock solid for me in all the literally hundreds of hours of testing that it has been put through.

One thing you guys did not pick up on, and it is shown clearly in the P6T follow up video, we crushed one of the caps on the board and it made no difference in its stability or performance under temperatures. And yes, we did get a replacement from ASUS for stability testing to follow-up as well.
 
Funny how it's not the i7s and X58 motherboards that are out of stock.
It seems like DDR3 6GB kits are running out everywhere :(

I've spent 2 days looking around for decently priced kits and finally found em'
 
Ya, the memory makers kind of slacked off a bit on the tri kits. I wonder if they just underestimated the demand.
I thought i remember reading somewhere than anything over 1.7? volt on the memory can kill the imc on the cpu. Thats why i asked.
 
flyz said:
Funny how it's not the i7s and X58 motherboards that are out of stock.
It seems like DDR3 6GB kits are running out everywhere :(

I've spent 2 days looking around for decently priced kits and finally found em'
Click to expand...

I ordered the Corsair kit from zipzoomfly that Kyle is using, it still says in stock but my order status still says "processing"...I hope they actually have them!!! Just dumped $2400 on newegg for all of my components for a complete i7 system so I am praying the sticks show up friday.
 
AppaYipYip said:
I ordered the Corsair kit from zipzoomfly that Kyle is using, it still says in stock but my order status still says "processing"...I hope they actually have them!!! Just dumped $2400 on newegg for all of my components for a complete i7 system so I am praying the sticks show up friday.
Click to expand...

Good find, tempted to get 12GB worth
 
Going back to the original question of DDR3-1333 vs 1600, I've decided that 1333 should be enough.

Check out this thread that I started at OcUK.

To summarise, the 920 has a locked multi of 20. A BLCK of 200 would give a CPU frequency of 4 GHz (this is an optimistic overclock).

With a 8x memory multiplier (8 x 200) DDR3-1600 would be required.

However, the 6x multiplier (6 x 200) means that DDR3-1200 can support an overclock to 4 GHz; therefore DDR3-1333 should do the job.

Using DDR3-1600 means higher bandwidth and lower latency, but the onboard memory controller setup provides so much bandwidth that real world applications have more than enough with the slower DDR3-1333. (See the Techgage article that shows very little real world differences in performance when comparing DDR3-800, 1066, 1333 and 1600.)
 
I just got my 920 and corsair ddr3-1600

Just tried little bit of OC first time, i just put the system together like an hour ago...

untitleduq5.jpg
 
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