Budget overclocking memory kits?

[PaulieG]

Been out of the game for awhile, and I'm looking at memory options. I'd like some help identifying 2x4GB kits that have some high overclocking room, with reasonable latencies. For instance, some 1866 or 2133 sticks that will run at CAS 9. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[BarbaricSoul]

you'd be better off asking that question in the OC'ing sub-forum. Personally I don't know what memory is the best OC'ing right now.

 

[RCoon]

@cadaveca knows his stuff. Off the top of my head, the Kingston Beast kits OC rather nicely, not sure if that's budget enough.

 

[basco]

high oc´s are with sacrifice of timings.
so you better go with samsung ic if ya want cl9 + frequenzy.
for g.skill :
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?283666-Figuring-out-G-Skill-s-SNs

for corsair:
http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68811

ocaholic has some great ram reviews from hiwa with great statistics on cas latenzy clocking
and tpu too from cadaveca

 

[buildzoid]

If you don't need huge capacity the G.skill ECO 1333 7-7-7-21/1600 7-9-7-21 kits 2x2GB and 4x2GB clock like mad(they are PSC if you know what that means). The crucial Ballistix 2x4GB 1600 8-8-8-24 1.5V kit is also really good. Capable of 2000 8-9-8-25 on 1.65-1.7V. G.skill RipjawsX ?x4GB 2133 9-11-11-31 Kits are also good an 2400mhz capable but at 10-12-12-34-2T.
If those are too costly Crucial ?x4GB 1600 9-9-9-27 Ballistix seem to be capable of 2000 9-10-10-29 at 1.7V but I'm not sure because they are my bro's and he won't let me test them fully.

 

[Schmuckley]

These have some headroom..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148560
idk..I had some..they clocked pretty good and scaled with volts..
3 out 9 died..I really wouldn't recommend so much.
Crucial has good RMA though

These may be Samsungs: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313450
They're looking good...

You oughtta get those TEAM RAMs..The last ones I found like that are all sold out
everything is MFR/CFR nowadays
CAS11 with no tightening

 

[EarthDog]

Let me be honest... get what you need to run... ram is ram is ram friend unless you benchmarking. Grab a set of 2133Mhz CL9 off the shelf and call it a day.

 

[PaulieG]

Let me be honest... get what you need to run... ram is ram is ram friend unless you benchmarking. Grab a set of 2133Mhz CL9 off the shelf and call it a day.

Benchmarking is exactly what I still enjoy about hardware. Before taking a break from the hobby, I probably tested and benchmarked 100+ kits. I'd like to find something with some headroom for exactly that.

 

[Schmuckley]

I hope you can get them TEAM stix b4 they're gone..
Samsungs are just about gone from buying new..price is right on those, too.

 

[cadaveca]

Benchmarking is exactly what I still enjoy about hardware. Before taking a break from the hobby, I probably tested and benchmarked 100+ kits. I'd like to find something with some headroom for exactly that.

You want 2 GB PSC sticks, then 4GB Samsungs. PSC is pretty tough if you get a good set, but Samsungs seem prone to death, at least for me, when pushing 1.75V. Probably just the ODD IC that dies on my sticks, gone through many many sets. Like over 30. Samsungs are fast and tight, sure, but MFR seems far more resilient of you get a good set.

MFR is best for clocks, and latency is good, but timings and overall bandwidth are a but sub-par. At the sa3me time ,you can push high clocks with reasonable voltages(<1.9V), where as Samsungs need 2.1V to really shine. Intel IMCs should be good for up to 1.85V, never killed a CPU yet just pushing ram, but push high clocks and high ram, and you'll kill a chip or two, for sure.

Also, I have found for 4770K, Z87 is best, and 4790K needs Z97. Each chipset is identical, but the changes are mostly in the VRM, so with 4790K having new PCB, needing the right chipset/VRM design for the right CPU PCB only makes sense.

 

[PaulieG]

You want 2 GB PSC sticks, then 4GB Samsungs. PSC is pretty tough if you get a good set, but Samsungs seem prone to death, at least for me, when pushing 1.75V. Probably just the ODD IC that dies on my sticks, gone through many many sets. Like over 30. Samsungs are fast and tight, sure, but MFR seems far more resilient of you get a good set.

MFR is best for clocks, and latency is good, but timings and overall bandwidth are a but sub-par. At the sa3me time ,you can push high clocks with reasonable voltages(<1.9V), where as Samsungs need 2.1V to really shine. Intel IMCs should be good for up to 1.85V, never killed a CPU yet just pushing ram, but push high clocks and high ram, and you'll kill a chip or two, for sure.

Also, I have found for 4770K, Z87 is best, and 4790K needs Z97. Each chipset is identical, but the changes are mostly in the VRM, so with 4790K having new PCB, needing the right chipset/VRM design for the right CPU PCB only makes sense.

Thanks man. I still have those bare Samsungs that were hot and cheap a couple of years ago. I may just swap those over to the new build first, and see if they play nice with Z79. I'm just playing a bit of catch up after a couple of years away from building/benching, so info like this helps me get back to par. I do wish I knew that the Z87 was a better option, since I already went and bought a Z97 board. Maybe I'll try to cancel that order.

MFR? what sticks have these IC's?

 

[EarthDog]

The difference between z97 and z87 isn't really much to speak of to me. Both platforms are dependent on the CPU's IMC for memory clocks. And while one board may get higher than another, it does this within the same generation) anyway, I don't see a difference between the platforms. No way would I return z97 for z87 based on that alone/running a 4770k.

 

[Jetster]

Memory prices are down right now. No need to over clock.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231455&leaderboard=1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231585

 

[Schmuckley]

Thanks man. I still have those bare Samsungs that were hot and cheap a couple of years ago. I may just swap those over to the new build first, and see if they play nice with Z79. I'm just playing a bit of catch up after a couple of years away from building/benching, so info like this helps me get back to par. I do wish I knew that the Z87 was a better option, since I already went and bought a Z97 board. Maybe I'll try to cancel that order.

MFR? what sticks have these IC's?

Anything you see with CAS 10 @ 1600 or CAS11 @ 2100+
95% of the sticks out there.
PSC has not been made for about 2 years now.
Good psc kits (a la Splave) go for close to $200 for 2x2 sticks.
I see you have the "wonder" RAM ..it's not bad..
but it tops out @ 2200/2400..and you can't volt it that much..maybe 1.68 tops..
The black pcb Samsung sticks are quite robust...also clock higher than "wonder" sticks
I give mine 1.99-2.13v when tightening up.
PSC = no good unless you freeze it anyway.
Keep in mind that Haswell will clock RAM as high as the RAM will operate.
Me likey dat!

Those Ripjaws X in the post above mine are a great deal!
but..I wouldn't expect very much from them..
I tried 3 kits of stuff like that..no love.
no tightening..barely OCing past rating..etc..etc..

OOoo..Ooo..the Ripjaw Zs look good!

 

[cadaveca]

Thanks man. I still have those bare Samsungs that were hot and cheap a couple of years ago. I may just swap those over to the new build first, and see if they play nice with Z79. I'm just playing a bit of catch up after a couple of years away from building/benching, so info like this helps me get back to par. I do wish I knew that the Z87 was a better option, since I already went and bought a Z97 board. Maybe I'll try to cancel that order.

MFR? what sticks have these IC's?

Any single-sided kit. Timings will tell, as explained, but at the same time, there's no such thing as cheap OC any more. The really good kits are all already snapped up, and mostly sold out. Maybe you can find someone ready to drop DDR3 that'll give you a deal. I just RMA'd my Samsung 2666 C10 Dominator platinums, but still got my Exceleram PSC and the AVEXIR MFRs. Now I'm on the hunt myself for Samsungs, and the dominator platinums with the right PCB are the best of the best, IMHO.

The difference between z97 and z87 isn't really much to speak of to me.

It's in ram clocking that I see the biggest difference. I can run 3600+ on my 3100 MHz Avexirs on Z87, forget about it on Z97, barely get 3400. And I have a TONNE of boards, maybe twice what I reviewed. CPU-clocking, yeah, no difference, but Cache voltage is quite different on really good chips, Z97 requires a bit more.


Anyway, Paulie, Earthdog has a point. Ram clocking is rather flat right now. the platforms are old, and the memories have been exploited hard. For me, 2400 C9 (9-11-11-31) sticks are good enough for air, for LN2 OC, you want PSC, and that's that. With OEMS selling 3200 MHz + kits, they've killed the cheap side of OC, for sure.

And the there's the whole CPU side of things...

You need a CPU that can boot 2933 with all 4 DIMMs filled. Not many can. If you don't got that, well, you're just playing. and if that's all you are after, than just buy some stuff, man, play around, push, and enjoy it. Be prepared to spend lots of $$$ if you really want to push hard.

 

[EarthDog]

I didn't experience that on my z87/z97 crossover with the same cpu/memory. What I could reach on one, I could reach on the other with strikingly similar voltages.

I'm impressed that you have the time to review boards and randomly test others for seemingly ever issue that pops up here...even through school, job, and that car accident...about the only time I have is my ln2 board of choice, which, if I am lucky I review and don't have to buy, lol!

 

[cadaveca]

I didn't experience that on my z87/z97 crossover with the same cpu/memory. What I could reach on one, I could reach on the other with strikingly similar voltages.

I'm impressed that you have the time to review boards and randomly test others for seemingly ever issue that pops up here...even through school, job, and that car accident...about the only time I have is my ln2 board of choice, which, if I am lucky I review and don't have to buy, lol!

No job lately. Only when not in school.

You're not the only one impressed...heh.

You also don't have four kids doing the housework, and probably not the wife that'll help ya with builds. I have 3x Z97 reviews not posted and 5 or 6 X99, and a memory review or two, a CPU OC guide... I'm pretty overwhelmed, to be honest. Also nearly no social life or time for videogames any more, dammit. ROFL.

What's been nice if like getting MPOWER and GAMING boards of each gen, and the ASRock and ASUS boards... that compare of Z87/Z97 with ROG and such boards was rather shocking, to be honest, especially since the only real differences on the physical side of things is the drive interfaces and the VRM changes. Z87 doesn't support the upcoming CPUs, apparently, but Z97 will... or so the story goes, so I've always just chalked it up to that compatibility being the root cause of the clocking difference.


Also:

 

[Schmuckley]

z87 supports any Devil's Canyon with a BIOS update.

 

[Vario]

30nm Greens are nice but hard as hell to find now. Also absurdly overpriced.

 

[PaulieG]

30nm Greens are nice but hard as hell to find now. Also absurdly overpriced.

Greens? I feel like a noob all over again. That's what I get for disappearing for 2 years.

 

[Vario]

Greens?

Samsung Green HYK0. Also HCH9 kits overclock nice if you can find them.

 

[PaulieG]

I've been researching some, and I can't seem to find what IC's are in Mushkin Redline/Blackline 1866/2133 sticks now. Any ideas?

 

[cadaveca]

z87 supports any Devil's Canyon with a BIOS update.

I'm talking about CPUs not out yet.

I've been researching some, and I can't seem to find what IC's are in Mushkin Redline/Blackline 1866/2133 sticks now. Any ideas?

Check timings. single-sided 9-11-10-27 is MFR, double-sided is Hynix or Samsung. 2400 9-11-11-31 is Samsung. Don't bother with 1866, IMHO, those are the down-bins of Hynix and Samsung. You're also more likely to find good stuff in listed Z77/Z87-compatible kits, whereas Z97-compatible kits are mostly MFR.

 

[EarthDog]

I'm talking about CPUs not out yet.

+1

Broadwell schmuckly.

 

[Schmuckley]

;X