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Help with choosing memory!

X

xshaney

n00b
Joined
Jan 14, 2012
Messages
23
I need help from tech or geek that have a lot of knowledge with memory. If you have a MSI z87-GD65 motherboard, does memory speed matter?

I am looking foward into buying Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) 2400 (PC3-19200). Should I get the 4 x 4GB stick or is 2 x 8GB Good enough? Should I fill the whole memory slot on that motherboard or should I leave 2 of them empty? Should I stay with 2400 or should I get the 1866? What is your opinion? I would like an explaination to why I should get it and why I shouldn't? I am only focus on Corsair Dominator Platinum, no other ram.


PC Spec:
Corsair Graphite 760T [Case]
MSI z87-GD65 [Motherboard]
Intel Core i7-4790K Devil Crayon [CPU]
2 x Samsung 850 PRO 256GB [SSD] - will replace to a 1TB Samsung 850 Pro SSD later
Corsair H100i [CPU Water Cooling]
2 x xfx Radeon R7 265 [Video Cards]
1000w Corsair RM [full Modular Power Supply]
4TB WD Black [HDD]

The only left I need is the memory that all.

Thanks
 
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If the DDR3-1866 is significantly cheaper, I would go with that. There is very little tangible performance benefit in RAM faster than 1866 with the newer Intel CPUs, especially if you are not taking advantage of the integrated graphics. By this I mean that in day-to-day use you will likely not experience a difference, though naturally there will be benchmarks and synthetic tests that will show a difference in performance. I would probably lean toward the 2x8GB RAM configuration, unless you can get a better deal on the 4x4GB because it leaves you more upgrade options moving forward.

Is this a new build or are you upgrading an older build? The Z87 chipset is already outdated, so I would think you would be better off with Z97 for support's sake, if you are buying new. Also, why run two R7 265s in CF? I would imagine that for most workloads and gaming, you would be better served by one, more-powerful GPU at approximately the same price. The PSU is probably overkill as well, at least if you are not running two high-end R9s in CF.

By playing around with the min-maxing, you can probably get some more value for your money.
 
MrCaffeineX said:
If the DDR3-1866 is significantly cheaper, I would go with that. There is very little tangible performance benefit in RAM faster than 1866 with the newer Intel CPUs, especially if you are not taking advantage of the integrated graphics. By this I mean that in day-to-day use you will likely not experience a difference, though naturally there will be benchmarks and synthetic tests that will show a difference in performance. I would probably lean toward the 2x8GB RAM configuration, unless you can get a better deal on the 4x4GB because it leaves you more upgrade options moving forward.

Is this a new build or are you upgrading an older build? The Z87 chipset is already outdated, so I would think you would be better off with Z97 for support's sake, if you are buying new. Also, why run two R7 265s in CF? I would imagine that for most workloads and gaming, you would be better served by one, more-powerful GPU at approximately the same price. The PSU is probably overkill as well, at least if you are not running two high-end R9s in CF.

By playing around with the min-maxing, you can probably get some more value for your money.
Click to expand...

I might consider this a new build because I've had a z87-GD65 sitting in the closet for the longest. I got the motherboard like last year christmas but I haven't have the chance to buy all the parts to put together. I still have my old PC the EVGA 780i SLI, that why I am moving only the video card from my old pc to the new one.

If I am really wasting all the money buying the 2x video cards that I got earlier this year in march and even the motherboard I got for christmas then :( no bueno. The z97 motherboard will have to wait a few months. I am always late with the parts and couldn't catch up to them. I wanted the x99s system since it comes with streaming hardware and a double shot Killer Lan [wifi + ethernet] and yea I am known to play games and I play it heavy [COD, BF, Titanfall, etc...], but the 2011 is really expensive [I was looking at a cheaper one and it still expensive].

That why I told myself for now stick with the z87 motherboard and use that for now and save up for the new system in 2016 if the new parts comes out. Again I don't mind getting the z97 but it will have to wait a few month later.

The reason why I am moving over from Old PC to the new one is because I got COD:AW and Assassin Creed: Unity yesterday and when I start playing it, it lags really really really bad even on the low setting even if I have the R7 video cards so I think it wasn't really the video cards faults... the CPU [775] and the 780i SLI motherboard is really outdated. That goes for other game like BF4, however playing bf4 in low setting does give around 40 FPS on CF on my oldest pc. :(

To add: I just hope that my z87 isn't DOA, I haven't tested it since it been sitting in the closet last year so if it found to be dead then I will consider buying a z97, but if the z87 work fine then z97 board is gonna have to wait few months.
 
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Crucial. It's Micron's own brand, so you know exactly what memory chips you're guaranteed to be getting.
 
xshaney said:
I might consider this a new build because I've had a z87-GD65 sitting in the closet for the longest. I got the motherboard like last year christmas but I haven't have the chance to buy all the parts to put together. I still have my old PC the EVGA 780i SLI, that why I am moving only the video card from my old pc to the new one.

If I am really wasting all the money buying the 2x video cards that I got earlier this year in march and even the motherboard I got for christmas then :( no bueno. The z97 motherboard will have to wait a few months. I am always late with the parts and couldn't catch up to them. I wanted the x99s system since it comes with streaming hardware and a double shot Killer Lan [wifi + ethernet] and yea I am known to play games and I play it heavy [COD, BF, Titanfall, etc...], but the 2011 is really expensive [I was looking at a cheaper one and it still expensive].

That why I told myself for now stick with the z87 motherboard and use that for now and save up for the new system in 2016 if the new parts comes out. Again I don't mind getting the z97 but it will have to wait a few month later.

The reason why I am moving over from Old PC to the new one is because I got COD:AW and Assassin Creed: Unity yesterday and when I start playing it, it lags really really really bad even on the low setting even if I have the R7 video cards so I think it wasn't really the video cards faults... the CPU [775] and the 780i SLI motherboard is really outdated. That goes for other game like BF4, however playing bf4 in low setting does give around 40 FPS on CF on my oldest pc. :(

To add: I just hope that my z87 isn't DOA, I haven't tested it since it been sitting in the closet last year so if it found to be dead then I will consider buying a z97, but if the z87 work fine then z97 board is gonna have to wait few months.
Click to expand...

I wasn't sure about your initial setup, which is why I inquired. Since you have the Z87 motherboard already, then there's nothing wrong with utilizing it. I was recommending the Z97 in the event that you were about to purchase the Z87 motherboard now.

The same is true for the video cards. Since you have them, you can certainly go forward with them. If you were purchasing them now, I would have recommended going with a single, more powerful card in the same price range.

You may need a BIOS update on the Z87 motherboard to support the newest i7 CPUs, which may require you to at least temporarily have access to another LGA 1150 CPU that is already supported on that motherboard. This could present itself as a false DOA, since you haven't tested the motherboard yet. If you have a friend or a friendly neighborhood computer shop, they can probably help if you get stuck.

The points about the memory still stand. Unless the price increase on the 2400 MHz kit(s) is negligible, then the 1866 MHz memory is probably the sweet spot in terms of price/performance. I have personally had great luck with Corsair products and even their rebates, though DejaWiz does have a valid point that they may source chips from different suppliers, therefore resulting in performance differences between sets. At the stock clocks it is probably not going to be an issue. If you have any intentions on OCing the memory, this is a bigger consideration.

Assassin's Creed Unity performs terribly on almost everything right now, so even the new build may not help with that until they patch it for some performance optimizations or whatnot.
 
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