Selecting a RAM to buy

RAM has always been the last step in buying a new setup for me, and I've never really OC-ed it much either. The only reason I've changed RAM was because my OC needed higher-rated RAM....

Now I'm looking at some prices and if I can score a deal on Black Friday promos, then I just might pull the trigger. So far, on my to-buy list is a i7 4970K and either a Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H or a ASRock Z97 Extreme6. I'm considering buying 2x8GB kits for a "just coz I can" reason. What I don't really understand is if Mhz is better than CAS? I'm looking at two 2x8GB kits, one at PC3-19200 (2400) CAS 11-13-13-31 and the other is at PC3-17066 (2133) CAS 11-11-11-27. Is the first one faster at 2400? Or is the second one faster at CAS 11? The first one is rated 1.65V while the second is only 1.5V..... there is even a third one at PC3-14900 (1866) CAS 9-10-9-27 1.5V. All three kits are priced the same.

So I guess the question is: what is the order of importance of RAM specs when looking for a good, fast RAM kit to buy?

Thanks!

I'd stick to 1866 or 2133 with a CAS Latency of 9.

I'd also go with G.Skill as well.

I don't think G.Skill is available in the UK?

Plenty of G.SKILL in the UK
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=8&subid=2424

There are other sellers too, but I knew OCUK off the top of my head.

Ah, I've not searched in Overclockers for ages.... I have a different preferred store now and they don't carry G.Skill. Why the recommendation of G.Skill? Is it just the price?

Also, my original question has not been answered yet.... what is most important in selecting RAM? CAS or Mhz?

G.SKILL is typically the best price to performance ratio and have great customer service.

One isn't more important than the other, a balance is best. That's why I recommended the speeds and timing that I did.

How is Corsair's reputation? The only time I had a bad set was with OCZ and by the time I realized it, they were no longer making RAM kits so offered me a refund that was enough to cover the replacement.

As for CAS vs. Mhz, is a CAS 9 2133 faster than a CAS 10 (or 11) 1866?

-Ice said:

As for CAS vs. Mhz, is a CAS 9 2133 faster than a CAS 10 (or 11) 1866?

Click to expand...

CAS 9 2133 is MOST certainly faster than CAS 10 1866.
RGone...

Duh!! I meant to say CAS 9 1866 vs. CAS 10 (or 11) 2133?

-Ice said:

Duh!! I meant to say CAS 9 1866 vs. CAS 10 (or 11) 2133?

Click to expand...

As I said earlier, I would stick to 1866 or 2133 in CAS9

CAS 9 in either of those speeds will give you the best results

2133 CL9 or CL10 will be faster than 1866 CL9 but I don't think you will notice any difference out of benchmarks.
G.Skill as it was already mentioned has best performance/price ratio and good support. Other than that also Kingston is making good memory and have well prepared XMP profiles ( even though not always look best, usually perform good and overclock high ).
Corsair lower series kits are overpriced and generally slow. I just made test of 1866 9-10-9 Corsair Vengeance which is probably the slowest RAM tested by me in this year. Also is almost not overclocking.
I'm not saying that Corsair is making bad RAM. Just not all their memory kits are as good as you could expect. Especially when you look at the price of Dominator Platinum then you expect much more than you actually get.

If you're still looking around at different RAM have a look through Womacks memory tests and reviews link in his sig.