I am currently running G-Skill Ripjaws 1600 on a Gigabyte P55a board. I want to increase my RAM size. I have read the very interesting Anand-tech article on Sandy Bridge, about RAM speed vs actual application performance. My current thinking is that I will upgrade my motherboard in 1 to 2 years. Mostly for new interface standards. NOT Win 8 (what are they thinking, and stopping what drugs will make them better?). I am not in the group with a pathological urge to wring every single cycle out of a CPU. I do mild and stable overclocks for 24X7 operation.
I have never tried buying parts with a specific eye toward use with the next generation. This time it seems to me that it may be appropriate for the RAM. There appears a possibility of DDR4 starting to be implemented in the 2 year range. I have no idea if this will be an abrupt (no new boards use DDR3) or a gradual transition (both available for several years).
Generally if you want to expand RAM, you should replace it all with matched sets.
I prefer G.Skill RAM. I want to go to 16GB at this time. I have posted elsewhere and received this recommendation; at least 2400 speed. Get 2X8GB sticks. The rational for 2X8 in the response is that in the near future, enhanced XMP will allow the use of mismatched RAM in the machine. This leaves me the option of easily going to 32GB in the future.
After research (particularly the Anand-Tech article), it would not appear to me that I should pay a premium for very fast RAM. The Ivy Bridge CPUs seem to be a poor choice if you really want to overclock because of an odd choice by Intel on heat coupling within the package. That may change (it is like introducing Vista or Win 8). The same generation of support chip sets seem to have advantages. In two years it may make sense to get an Ivy Bridge chip set and a Sandy Bridge processor or a successor.
So the question. I assume that lower timing/latency for the same frequency is better and worth something. But what speed should I be looking at for real-world applications that will still be suitable for hardware two years from now. All applications, nothing specific. I might game, compress video, fold molecules, whatever. If a guru or two would kindly rub their crystal balls and their HP 11C and give me the basis for selection (or a preferred number) of the most cost effective speed I would really appreciate it.
I have never tried buying parts with a specific eye toward use with the next generation. This time it seems to me that it may be appropriate for the RAM. There appears a possibility of DDR4 starting to be implemented in the 2 year range. I have no idea if this will be an abrupt (no new boards use DDR3) or a gradual transition (both available for several years).
Generally if you want to expand RAM, you should replace it all with matched sets.
I prefer G.Skill RAM. I want to go to 16GB at this time. I have posted elsewhere and received this recommendation; at least 2400 speed. Get 2X8GB sticks. The rational for 2X8 in the response is that in the near future, enhanced XMP will allow the use of mismatched RAM in the machine. This leaves me the option of easily going to 32GB in the future.
After research (particularly the Anand-Tech article), it would not appear to me that I should pay a premium for very fast RAM. The Ivy Bridge CPUs seem to be a poor choice if you really want to overclock because of an odd choice by Intel on heat coupling within the package. That may change (it is like introducing Vista or Win 8). The same generation of support chip sets seem to have advantages. In two years it may make sense to get an Ivy Bridge chip set and a Sandy Bridge processor or a successor.
So the question. I assume that lower timing/latency for the same frequency is better and worth something. But what speed should I be looking at for real-world applications that will still be suitable for hardware two years from now. All applications, nothing specific. I might game, compress video, fold molecules, whatever. If a guru or two would kindly rub their crystal balls and their HP 11C and give me the basis for selection (or a preferred number) of the most cost effective speed I would really appreciate it.
