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DDR4 RAM, Need opinions

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S

Suppressor1137

Member
​
Joined
May 4, 2011
Requirements:

  • Low profile(Can fit under a Ninja 4 heatsink)
  • Neutral colors or dark orange heatspreaders(To match build theme)
  • 8 gigs per stick minimum(I don't have to buy a full kit immediately, I just need to have the option to expand to 32 gigs eventually, as an upgrade path for the system])

What I've been looking at:

HyperX 2800 Cl14
HyperX 3000 Cl15

Budget per stick: $80

Things I'm not certain on:

8 gig minimum requirement. Do I really need this much ram?

If it is worth simply using 4 gig kits and getting two sticks for a total of 8 to start with, is it worth it?

Convince me, and the mighty kudos will be yours! :D
 
8GB is good enough for almost everything. If you are designing graphics, editing movies, rendering etc then better is to get 16GB ( or more if you can really use it ). Simple way to check it is to run couple of more demanding applications and enter task manager/performance window. There you will see how much RAM is actually in use.
If you think about gaming then 8GB is enough. So far I've seen maybe 2-3 games that are using more than 8GB RAM. One of them is Civilization V which was using more than 8GB ( total with system files ) on huge map after couple of hours gameplay.

On the other hand 16GB is not so expensive right now. If you already spend $1k+ on PC then I see no reason why not to buy 16GB and don't think about upgrades for longer.
 
What about a single 8 gig stick? Is the loss of Dual channel a large hit(That will eventually be remedied?)

One of the main things that got me considering high quantities of ram was loading games into the extra ram for "WAY faster than ssd" performance on load times and the like with special programs.

The idea was to buy a 8 gig stick of ram, wait a month, buy another. etc until all are populated. This means price drops, and a gradual increase in performance, albeit specialized circumstances where it becomes noticeable.

Before DDR4 was a thing, that WAS the plan for my old DDR3 rig, but with the advent of DDR4, I thought "Whats the point of adding ram that is not going to be used at all later on."

Anywho, bed time for me, Looking forward to your guys input!
 
Buy RAM always in kits. If you buy 1 stick now then in couple of weeks/months the same product number will be probably on other memory chips and there is a high chance that it won't work good with older stick.

In general work, difference between 1 and 2 memory sticks won't be so big but in some cases it's like 10% performance difference or more. Especially newer games and any calculations related to physics like fast memory. Also rendering or compression/decompression is using memory and there you can actually see the difference in dual channel mode.

Better is to buy 2x4GB kit and when you decide it's not enough then sell it and buy 2x8GB or more.
 
Yep. did that and found the kit I linked in OP. I haven't bought the cooler yet, but yeah, that's why I came here.

I completely ignored the 4 gig kits initially because I wanted to max the memory*eventually*

I know that 16 gigs is probably all I'll ever really use, so 4x4 should be plenty for my needs. Ah well. I'll just get a 2x4 kit and call it a day for now. gives me an extra $30 to play with, give or take.

Edit: And now 16 gig sticks are a thing. Yeah, No. No need to max the memory lol.
 
Last edited:
According to this article the difference between 8gb and 16gb isn't as big as one would think:

http://www.techspot.com/article/1043-8gb-vs-16gb-ram/

Again if one had the cash one most likely should go for 16gb - if one is on a tight budget the $80 dollars or so between a "inexpensive" 8gb kit and an expensive 16gb kit may be better spent on something else. You could almost split it down the middle and do a good air cooler and a good backup hard drive, or upgrade your power supply.
 
Bought a set of Corsair Ram, 3000 mhz 15 17 17 35 Was a good deal and faster than I expected to buy. Was going to get 2800's, but they were 5-10 dollars cheaper, and this was still below my budget of $80. Should arrive tuesday. All I need to get now is the cpu and cooler. Woot, Excited.
 
I just wanted to add that all slightly higher modules than standard will fit under the Ninja 4 ( which is huge ). So Kingston HyperX Fury/Savage, Corsair Vengeance, G.Skill Ripjaws 4 or any standard modules with heatsinks are fine. GSkill Trident Z, Corsair Dominator Platinum, Geil Luce or any other similar height modules won't fit on some boards or you will have to play with fan.
 
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