Should I upgrade from DDR3 1600?

Just upgraded my i5 2500k to an i5 4690k on an AsRock Z97 Extreme 6. I'm running G.SKILL Ripjaws 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800). I'm about to go check out Fry's and see what they have. Do I need to buy some new sticks to get up to DDR 3200 (OC), or just run my current PC1600 at stock? I've had the sticks for 4 years now.

Here's my rams timings:

DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Timing 9-9-9-24-2N
Cas Latency 9
Voltage 1.5V



*Side note, Does anyone recommend a better cooler than my current Hyper 212 +? I OC'd my i5 2500k to 4.3 stable for years on it.

What is this build for? If it's just gaming I wouldn't spent the extra cash. You likely won't see much of a benefit if any. If you're itchin' to spend a little on your rig I'd get a better cooler and get a little more head room to OC with. If you're still in the Lvl 10 GT I'll look at the Noctua NH-D15 or NH-D14. Sadly that case really isn't suited for AIO coolers so air is still your best choice. Maybe OC the Ram while your at it.

Don't bother upgrading the RAM, there % improvement is so minimal you wouldn't notice the difference outside of memory intensive/specific benchmarks.

Blaylock said:

What is this build for? If it's just gaming I wouldn't spent the extra cash. You likely won't see much of a benefit if any. If you're itchin' to spend a little on your rig I'd get a better cooler and get a little more head room to OC with. If you're still in the Lvl 10 GT I'll look at the Noctua NH-D15 or NH-D14. Sadly that case really isn't suited for AIO coolers so air is still your best choice. Maybe OC the Ram while your at it.

Click to expand...

Yeah, so I ditched the ram upgrade and went with an easy peazy Thermaltake Water 3.0 Extreme S. After installing it last night, I kind of have buyers remorse. It looks like **** and I had to take out the nice LED fan that gave me all the cool case lighting my Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow offered. Didn't think about that when I bought it. I still have to finish the build, but I wonder how much I'll really get out of the Water 3.0 vs my Hyper 212.... I should have went full on and bought a real kit. LoL, i'm actually more annoyed at losing my LED's....

It will be better than the CM Hyper 212 for sure. Though I would have gone for the CM Nepton 240M or Glacier 240L if I were to go AIO.

Also you can always add these of you want the "cool" factor. Dem Lightz or Grills