What RAM for a i7 rig?

M

MrSloppy

Limp Gawd
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May 20, 2006
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Hi, I have no clue whatsoever about what kind of RAM I should be getting for my i7 920 build.

I'm planning to pick up a i7 920, hopefully getting a P6T Deluxe (please tell me if this is a mistake or not), and I had originally planned to get OCZ3P1600LV6GK as well. However I've been reading the reviews for this thing and I found out that

A) I have to manually set the speeds myself
B) The memory can't even run at the speed advertised

This is a big problem since I have no idea how to overclock. I do have ambitions of doing so, and will be reading up and asking friends to help out.

What other 6GB DDR3 RAM solutions are out there for a i7 920 build? Something that's got good price to performance value, reliable, and not too hard to overclock?
 
I own a P6T Deluxe, and although I haven't the experience with OCZ memory, I can recommend G.Skill 1600 (red). As for manually setting the speeds, you have to do this with every kit as the default speed is set at 1066.

Overall, the board is rock solid.
 
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Is it unusual to not be able to hit the advertised speed at the advertised voltage though?

A lot of the users that posted feedback on this are concerned due to Intel's suggestion to not push the voltage over 1.7V. I'm new to overclocking, and this makes me extremely uneasy about the whole thing.
 
Manually setting the timings in BIOS is quite easy to do and should not be a problem.

I'd recommend this 6GB G.Skill DD3 1600 kit which runs well at the advertised timings and requires a lower voltage (1.5v) than most other kits (1.65v).
 
Well, I just ordered my first computer in a long long time and about 5 hours ago I realized that I got the wrong darn ram. I got the OCZ but its voltage is 1.9 and from what Ive read all over the net is that anything over 1.65 will fry the cpu.

I havent built a new machine in so long, Im totally out of the loop. So, my question is on a Gigabyte motherboard can you run the ram at 1.65 even though the ram itself is 1.9 and will I fry anything doing that?

So MrSloppy Might I suggest you double check the voltage issue with your setup. Hate to spend all this money and it goes POOF with in 3 seconds.

If anyone can answer my question on running 1.9 at 1.65 I sure would appreciate it. I cant find anything about it.
 
Everett1 said:
Heard that specific ram works well on the Asus P6T Deluxe/V2 and Gigabyte DS4/UD5.

Not sure about the other mobos, though.
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I don't see why it wouldn't work on all X58 motherboards. Running perfectly in my EX58-UD5.
 
Just got off phone with OCZ. Very nice company. Seems this ram will not work with this setup. Ah the joys of rma land.
 
PC_User said:
One runs at a lower voltage (1.5v) with looser timings (9-9-9-24) while the other runs at a higher voltage (1.65v) and tighter timings (8-8-8-24). Little, if any, real world difference between the two.
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8-8-8-21, not 8-8-8-24, and YES there is some real world difference between 8-8-8-21 and 9-9-9-24.

BTW consult this review for more choices for core i7 ram:
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=893
 
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@ PC_User AND jmorel33
In the Madshrimps review that was linked to, a Patriot Viper DDR3 1600 RAM had 9-9-9-24 timings and the G.Skill DDR3 1600 RAM had 8-8-8-21 timings. In the Crysis test, there was only a difference of 3FPS and 1FPS between the two sets at 1920x1200 at 133Bclk and 200Bclk respectively. In the h.624 test, the difference was so small that it would be noticeable at all at both 133Bclk and 200Bclk testing. Same applies for the Cinebench testing.

jmorel33 and PC_User were both right: There is a real world performance increase with the lower timings RAM. However the difference is so small that it would not noticeable at all.
 
Danny Bui said:
jmorel33 and PC_User were both right: There is a real world performance increase with the lower timings RAM. However the difference is so small that it would not noticeable at all.
Click to expand...

A difference of 3fps and a few points in some benchmark is not a 'real world difference.'
 
PC_User said:
A difference of 3fps and a few points in some benchmark is not a 'real world difference.'
Click to expand...

There's a difference in a real world app and game. So that's a real world difference IMO. However I guess one could also say that real world difference means that it's a noticeable difference in the real world which I think that's what you're getting at?
 
jmorel33 said:
8-8-8-21, not 8-8-8-24, and YES there is some real world difference between 8-8-8-21 and 9-9-9-24.

BTW consult this review for more choices for core i7 ram:
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=893
Click to expand...

I also heard that if you have higher it may lose some data when you overclock the cpu, but I just bought the other one 8-8-8-21 I hope that it does not have really big different in between from both G skill ram
 
magicknight said:
I also heard that if you have higher it may lose some data when you overclock the cpu, but I just bought the other one 8-8-8-21 I hope that it does not have really big different in between from both G skill ram
Click to expand...

Have what higher? Lose what data? This doesn't make sense... :confused:
 
PC_User said:
Have what higher? Lose what data? This doesn't make sense... :confused:
Click to expand...

when you overclock the cpu, the timing of the ram is higher you may lose some stability in your computer, but I forgot where I read this info, so I do not have a strong info to support it and I am so sorry for confusing you.
 
magicknight said:
when you overclock the cpu, the timing of the ram is higher you may lose some stability in your computer, but I forgot where I read this info, so I do not have a strong info to support it and I am so sorry for confusing you.
Click to expand...

When you overclock the CPU, higher ram timings do not mean that you will lose stability. :)
 
PC_User said:
When you overclock the CPU, higher ram timings do not mean that you will lose stability. :)
Click to expand...

oh then i am wrong :p well I already bought the other type Gskill 8-8-8-21. I still finishing in process, so let see if it has some different btw 8-8-8-21 and 9-9-9-24
 
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