RAM speeds

Is there much of a difference in performance between say, 1333MHz RAM compared with 1866MHz, assuming the timings are the same? I know the faster RAM will have a higher throughput, but does it really make any noticeable difference for ordinary, day to day use such as web browsing, boot up times, gaming, MS Office work etc?

Simply put, no.

Benchmarks and statistical proof does exist, I'm looking for it right now.

EDIT: Well that wasn't hard. Less than 1FPS: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3/6

Do timings make much of a difference either? I'm looking at either CL8 or CL9 GSkill Ripjaws 1600MHz. The CL8 is about 30% more expensive than the CL9.

Not a 30% difference, that's for sure. I tend to always try to buy DDR3-1600 CL9.

After looking at the memory review posted there is only 2% difference from the fastest to the slowest memory.

1866 seems optimal for everything on new Intel and AMD platforms. There is also not so big difference in performance if it's CL7 or CL9.
2133+ memory has some point only while overclocking and mainly on Intel SB/IB as higher cpu clock = higher memory bandwidth. On AMD/FX there is almost no difference even while overclocking and memory bandwidth is limited by CPU-NB clock ( so it's about 2700-2800 CPU-NB = DDR3-1866 bandwidth ).
Multi threaded programs can use higher memory bandwidth while for single threaded it's not so visible and you see that 1-2% difference. When I'm saying multi threaded I think more about servers.

I honestly think you would see more performance with better timings, than ram speed. Things like application load time, are affected by CAS latency.

SMOR3S said:

I honestly think you would see more performance with better timings, than ram speed. Things like application load time, are affected by CAS latency.

Click to expand...

I can agree but for older platforms.
On new platforms clock is more important ( well, till some point ) than CL mainly because of really fast IMC and fast cache. In theory lower CL should give better effect but when you test some different settings then you notice that most depends from balance between clock and timings.
Higher clock = higher bandwidth but also lower latency
Tighter timings = lower latency and that's almost all
Main rule could be to lower timings when you hit max IMC bandwidth.

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=676764
here are some of my tests on 2600K/P67 and memory clocks 1600-2200+.

Ya I agree.... Cause you could say 1600MHz @ CAS 8 vs. 2100MHz @ CAS 9.... it's all about balance...

Knufire said:

Simply put, no.

Benchmarks and statistical proof does exist, I'm looking for it right now.

EDIT: Well that wasn't hard. Less than 1FPS: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3/6

Click to expand...

Well, that's pretty revealing! Even Cinebench, a fully multi-threaded ap doesn't benefit much at all from higher bandwidth. Seems like the only substantive advantage to anything over 1333 mhz is flexibility in overclocking.