Choosing DDR4 RAM. Advice needed.

Hiya guys,

Sorry for bringing up another one of "gah, it's that question again" type of questions, but...
I've decided it's time for me to hop off laptops (which I've been on for the last four years or so) and get me a PC.
I'm pretty much set on everything, save for RAM.

I've already picked up a few parts, namely a Cooltek W1 case, an i5 6500 (as a placeholder for a K CPU down the road) and a GTX960 (also a placeholder).
I'm pretty much set on the mobo, which will be an Asus Z170i Pro Gaming and an EVGA Supernova 650GQ for the PSU (good price for that one over here atm, so I'm ignoring that 650W is sorta an overkill).

Now, I'm absolutely clue-less about the RAM!
As much as I'd like to get a set of Triden Z's, the price is somewhat unfriendly over here and they're not the "new" kits, afaik. So I'd really appreciate if I could get some input from you guys.
Currently, looking from a price/performance POV, I have the following options:
Two sticks of HX424C15FB/8 (cheapest option at 68.44 EUR)
A kit of CMK16GX4M2A2400C16R (second place in terms of price at 74.57 EUR)
First place in term of looks in shape of F4-2400C15D-16GVR (at 76 EUR)

After these three sets, it gets all messed up. Price difference between 2666 and 2800 is almost non-existent and from 2800 to 3000 so insignificant, it might as well be ignored. And once you start considering a 3000Mhz set, a Trident Z is just around the corner. F4-3000C15D-16GTZB is 104 EUR.

So, ideally I'd like to spend less than 100 EUR if possible. Given the choices I've laid out, which one would you recommend guys?
Which one of the cheaper RAMs are known to be better clockers and more likely to hit 2800Mhz+ with decent latency? Not too concerned about XMP, pluging in the numbers myself is not an issue, as long as those numbers work!

Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated!

Do you have a link to where you would be shopping ? Coming from a laptop I doubt you use the PC for any intensive tasks like video encoding etc. so a 2x4 kit would be plenty IMO. I would still look around the 3200 mark though for the Z170 chipset.

Take a look at this page for ideas http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...d=1&N=100007611 600521523 600006069 600561668

This is simple , the same way I like my women

Fast and Tight FTW .........

nuf said

You funny guy haha

Lol @WD!

I'm in middle of nowhere Eastern Europe. I'd love to have Newegg and it's prices available, but sadly I do not.
I'd be shopping in local online stores, which mostly sell stuff from Polish and German warehouses. I'm mostly using a www.salidzini.lv, which is an price comparison website, then just go to the retailer with the best price.
As it stands, a kit of 3200Mhz Trident Z's is almost twice the price of a 2400Mhz kit and as we all know, it's nowhere near twice as fast in real life situations. That's pretty much the reason I'm looking for something in the 2400 - 2600 range, which can be overclocked to run in the 3000Mhz region.

What about this, I took the part# from newegg and just punched it into your site http://www.1shop.lv/corsair--370293/ddr4-vengeance-lpx-8gb3200--2-4gb--black-cl16-18-18-36/

Like I said you shouldn't need 16Gb 2x4Gb sticks should be enough and it cuts the price down

Well, I sort of really want a 2x8 kit because it's an ITX build and getting two more modules somewhere down the road will not be an option.
Getting two new modules down the road will be more costly in the long run, because the re-sell value of a 2x4 kit will be awful.

Actually, I just got an e-mail saying I'm getting a raise at work, lol. So I might look into that Trident Z kit.
Out of curiousity (sorry for asking as I know it has been already discussed elsewhere most likely), do Ripjaws V use Samsung chips as well, or the cheaper G.Skill kits use Hynix?

Usually depends by speed Hynix or samsug faster kits are typically Samsung and there are a few different types. Really it won't matter for you what is under the hood. I stick by what I said earlier. I can't see why 8Gb won't be enough but that's up to you

Gotcha!
I'll see if I can stretch my budget enough to afford a 3000+ 16Gb kit, if not I'll consider 8Gb kit options!

If you're worried about losing money on the resale of the 2x4 kit, you're going to lose a lot more going with that 6500 processor and upgrading to a K model later....

Already got the 6500, but got it from a local forum BNIB for about 30 euros less than the retail price, so not all that worried about that one. If I pass it up in 6 months or so, I'll loose a fiver.
So, you're telling me to get 2x4 too, tachi1247?

Witchdoctor said:

This is simple , the same way I like my women

Fast and Tight FTW .........

nuf said

Click to expand...

That ain't right. It ain't wrong , but that ain't right. LMAO!!!

Aaaanyhow, just ordered CMK16GX4M2A2400C14R.
Got them for 78 euros, which is fair enough and I'm pretty much certain they'll handle at least 2800Mhz just fine. After reading around for a while and looking up the numbers, I really see no point in spending 30 euros more for a set of 3000Mhz Trident Z since it's unlikely I would be overclocking those to begin with (apart from testing them purely out of curiousity). Larger bandwidth is cool, of course, but considering the RL performance gain is close to nothing... yeah... decided I'll stick with that Vengeance kit.
Thanks everyone!

If it's Samsung then will probably run above 3200. If it's Hynix then will run at least at 3000 but most will make 3200.
Most new kits are based on Samsung IC but in both cases can count on some OC. I don't think that Corsair used there Microns as barely any brand is using Micron IC in enthusiast/gamer memory series.

Woomack said:

If it's Samsung then will probably run above 3200. If it's Hynix then will run at least at 3000 but most will make 3200.
Most new kits are based on Samsung IC but in both cases can count on some OC. I don't think that Corsair used there Microns as barely any brand is using Micron IC in enthusiast/gamer memory series.

Click to expand...

Thanks, neighbor (almost! )
Yeah, I don't think (at least I haven't read) that any of the better known brands use Micron, save for Crucial. At this pricepoint I'm not particularly bothered if it'll be SK Hynix or Samsung as I figure either should run at around 3000Mhz with a bit more voltage applied and timings loosened. Like I said, if I can get it to run at 2800Mhz CL15, I'll be pretty happy. Either way, I suspect they'll be running at stock 2400Mhz at least for a while because I want to play with non-k OC and afaik more than 2400Mhz on RAM can cause stability issues...

Not really true with that stability on non-K CPUs. Many overclockers are benching i3 with 4000+ RAM and I had no issues up to 4133 on 2 motherboards so far. It's barely helping in games etc but can work at high clocks. I guess that any Z170 board is required to make it run at higher clocks. I don't remember exactly but H/B chipsets can have locked higher memory ratios ( I can be wrong ).

So I decided I should make an update of sorts... I cancelled the order for the Vengeance kit at the last moment and placed an order for a F4-3000C15D-16GTZB, that was as far as I could push my budget, so it will be good enough for me.

As for the non-k OC bit, Woomack, once I'll get my RAM and PSU, I'll play a bit more with it. For now, I gave non-k OC a try using a kit of Kingston HyperX 2133Mhz. Got my 6500 up to 4.7Ghz without too much of a hassle, but for some reason, RAM was causing some problems. Unless I kept it around 2600Mhz, it would not POST, with RAM error LED lighting up. Will give it another go when I get the rest of my hardware.