Z170 Skylake DDR3

[KurtHansen1988]

Building a new gaming rig and after researching performance comparisons of DDR3 vs DDR4 It looks like the new contender doesn't have quite much to offer as of yet. Higher frequencies and lower power consumption sure, but as far as performance goes with lower latencies DDR3 still appears to be king for now. Since this machine will be solely for gaming 8GB should be plenty I'm going to say. Within a $1000 budget here is the build I came up with.

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117559&Tpk=i7-6700k $360 + CM Hyper EVO +$30
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS Z170-P D3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132572&cm_re=z170-P_D3-_-13-132-572-_-Product $130
SSD: Samsung SM951 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147431&cm_re=samsung_sm951-_-20-147-431-_-Product up to 2150 MBps! $130
CASE: Corsair Carbide 200R http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139018&cm_re=corsair_carbide-_-11-139-018-_-Product $60
TOTAL= $720
VIdeo Card: Onboard Intel HD 530 for now, Going to spend some $$ for a good video card later. This is just bare bones to bootable OS Same with PSU, depending on Needs.

So here is what it comes down to. Memory.

Now Intels website says the i7-6700k supports DDR3L-1333/1600 @ 1.35V. Does this mean it can't support 1.5V or higher? http://ark.intel.com/products/88195/Intel-Core-i7-6700K-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-4_20-GHz

Calculating (CL/(Freq-in-MHZ) * 1000) = speed in ns, these are the fastest Dual Channel Memory I've found. Slowest to Fastest.

1. G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM2.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303
Timing 7-8-7-24-2N. Speed in ns = 4.37

2. G.SKILL RipjawsX Series F3-17000CL7D-4GBXHD 2133 (PC3-17000)
http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f3-17000cl7d-4gbxhd-
Timing 7-10-7-27-2N. Speed in ns = 3.28

3. G.SKILL PIS Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2200 (PC3 17600) Desktop Memory Model F3-17600CL7D-4GBPIS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231322&cm_re=F3-17600CL7D-_-20-231-322-_-Product
Timing 7-10-10-28-2N. Speed in ns = 3.18

4.G.SKILL Ripjaws X + Turbulence II Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2200 (PC3 17600) Desktop Memory Model F3-17600CL7D-4GBXHD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231322&cm_re=F3-17600CL7D-_-20-231-322-_-Product
Timing 7-10-10-27. Speed in ns = 3.18

The first one is in stock and the other 3 are out of stock and must be bought elsewhere. The RipsawsX series looks like it was made for optimal performance on Sandy Bridge. My question is should this memory work just fine on this setup? I'm going for speed and though 2133 usually seems to be the sweet spot, 2200MHz at CL7 is hard to pass up.

Your feedback is welcomed!

 

[kirbyrj]

Is 2x2GB going to be enough RAM? If you buy two kits is it going to run at the low latency with 4 sticks? I would double check to see if there's an issue with the memory controller burning out by putting too much voltage through it. 1.65V seems like a lot when it's calling for 1.2V with DDR4 and 1.35V for DDR3L.

Either way, I think you are looking at this the wrong way. By using DDR3, you are limiting yourself to a low end motherboard. If you really want to use DDR3, you're better off sticking with a Z97 platform. I don't understand your fascination with absolute memory performance. For gaming, you're not going to notice any difference, and the money you invest in low latency DDR3 sticks that are going to be expensive could be used to get a better GPU which will show you a real world difference.

 

[Unstableone]

I'm surprised ddr3 made it on any of the z170 boards. But it seems they are on low end ones.

DDR4 is dropping. Can currently get a 16gb corsair kit on sale for $90 that is 2400, 14-16-16-31

 

[nekrosoft13]

your buying an PCI-Express M.2 and your still going to stick with DDR3? why?

 

[drescherjm]

I say the price difference between DDR3L and DDR4 is not so much that I would not get a DDR3 board unless you already have DDR3L (1.35V DDR3 ram).

 

[Nenu]

I was going to take the DDR3L route to get Skylake but the motherboards werent available so I am on DDR4 now.
The performance of DDR4 is not as good as DDR3 for the same clockspeed so there is mileage in using DDR3.
Performance comparisons for Skylake using DDR3 and DDR4 are good for DDR3.

I would not use 1.5V or 1.65V DDR3 unless the motherboard specifically mentions support for it.
It either wont work (voltage wont go high enough) or will damage the CPU if you dont observe this caution.

Get as high a speed DDR3L (1.35V) as you can within budget and you will be laughing.

ps get 8GB