IvyBridge & memory question

[carramrod01]

Hello folks,

I've been away from the DIY scene for a while, the last PC i put together was an a64 3200+ ! That was like 5 years ago, so a lot has changed and I need yous guys help. I used to like this forum a lot back then and hope you guys can steer me in the right direction now. Thats my lil introduction now onto the build.

Purpose: Alot of VMware Workstation, an ESX cluster within VMWare, alot of networking in GNS3 with virtual cisco and juniper equipment. Then some gaming on the side

Hardware: I would like to go with an i7 3770 and 16 GB of memory. So far I was leaning towards an ASRock Z77 Pro4. I'm not opposed to AMD's newest Vishera cpu's but would prefer the less heat/energy and quieter system I may be able to build with the i7.

I suppose most of my confusion comes from the various memory offerings and when reading the first couple pages here it seems many many people are running DDR3 1600 & DDDR 1866. Why ? When there are vastly faster speeds avaliable?

I have read some posts by people here that say its more about the timings opposed to frequency, then I have read other people that said it is more about frequency than it is timings! So I am more confused now than I was before coming to the forum! And then I began to get concerned that by going to a DDR3-2133 memory like below, I would hardly get a noticeable boost over say, DDR-1866, because with the Ivy Bridge there is a memory bottleneck on the north bridge or something like that, is that true?

I was wanting to get this:
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB)
DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000)
Timing 9-11-11

If I were to have an ivy bridge 3770, the non-overcocker cpu, can I still modify the frequencies of my memory or is that locked to the cpu somehow? I would prefer going for the i7-3770 because the non-k version has vt-x and vt-d which would be beneficial for my VM practice.

I am reaching out to you, overclockers forum memory sub-forum, you guys seem to know your sh*t and I am confident some kind soul here can point me in the right direction ! Thank you for your time.

 

[Woomack]

to the OCF

Most users are buying 1600/1866 memory just because they are cheaper and there is no special difference in performance because of memory speed in games etc. Biggest difference is in benchmarks but almost noone is running benchmarks 24/7

Here is my IB memory guide with some tests on different settings.

1866 was optimal memory clock for Sandy Bridge CPUs. For Ivy Bridge I could say that 2133 will be optimal as even in benchmarks you won't see big difference above this clock.

You may still use higher memory clocks on i7 3770 ( non K ) CPU. The only difference is locked CPU multi.
Probably in virtual environment you will see bigger difference than in games but I didn't try to test/compare memory on any virtual machines ( it seems like good idea to try it one day ).

 

[carramrod01]

Wow, nice link to your guide. I am glad you found my thread ! You seem like the go-to guy for memory experience around here.

Of course you are a BIG overclocker, I am just a little overclocker. But you are saying 2133 is optimal for Ivy Bridge, but the performance benefit is tiny over 1866? Would it be worth the say, 40 dollar difference in memory?

Money is not a "big" problem for me, but I would not want to spend an extra 40 for something I will never notice. I would rather go put that towards a nice bottle of scotch. =) I am starting to lean towards 1866 memory then !

 

[Operant]

If you aren't going for benchmarks, then there is no point in 2133MHz memory as you are not going to notice any difference. Just grab a 1600 or 1866 set and you'll be good to go

 

[Woomack]

Most new 2133 memory kits have about the same IC as 2400 so you can overclock them higher. No matter if it will be Hynix or Samsung ( probably Hynix but I'm not sure ), kit that you have in 1st post should easily run also as 2400+ on looser timings or 1866 on tighter timings like 9-9-9 or 9-10-9.
For most things more standard 1866 kit will be enough.

 

[carramrod01]

Sorry, I feel like a baby that has to have my hand held through this process

But, can you please link me to a good memory on newegg? A 16 GB 1866 model?

I was now thinking this:
GSkill Ripjaws X for $ 90
DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)
Timing 9-10-9-28

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231615

Would that be a good memory?

So that would be $45 of savings over the previous memory I was looking at. A very sincere thank you to you guys for being so helpful and steering me in the right direction !

 

[Woomack]

Sorry, I feel like a baby that has to have my hand held through this process

But, can you please link me to a good memory on newegg? A 16 GB 1866 model?

I was now thinking this:
GSkill Ripjaws X for $ 90
DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)
Timing 9-10-9-28

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231615

Would that be a good memory?

So that would be $45 of savings over the previous memory I was looking at. A very sincere thank you to you guys for being so helpful and steering me in the right direction !

It's probably best choice from 2x8GB 1866 kits available on newegg.

 

[medo145]

My question is slightly off topic, I don't mean to hijack the thread.

I need to get memory for my brother's comp. I'm upgrading him to a 3770K on a z77 extreme4 mobo. He mainly uses his computer for games.

What would yield a better performance in games/streaming gameplay, lower timings or faster speed?
ie: 1600/8-8-8-24 or 1866/9-10-9-28 (these would be 2x4GB if it matters)

Thanks

 

[Woomack]

On IB higher clock will be better but really it's like 1% performance difference so just pick what is cheaper ... or what looks better for you

 

[carramrod01]

Woomack ! I need your expertise. Would going with an AMD FX-8350 offer me better memory bandwidth than IB ?

I'm just worried about the speed of my multiple VM's. I am also going to be running a VM that functions as a iSCSI SAN target via the software "Openfiler" or something similar and I believe that will be more intense than a regular VM. So I think throughput from RAM to cpu to HDD's is going to be important

 

[Woomack]

IB is better idea for both cpu and memory controller speed.
No matter how you set memory on AMD, it barely passes 20GB/s ( that's for high OC like 2600 memory clock and tight timings ). On Intel it's easy to pass 25GB/s without really high OC on more standard RAM. For regular RAM it's like 15GB/s vs 25GB/s.
Main problem for AMD is slow memory controller and slow cache. To make higher RAM transfers on AMD you have to overclock memory controller, not RAM.
If you really need higher memory and multithreading performance then better is to get 2011 platform which is providing up to 40GB/s memory bandwidth even on cheaper cpu series like i7 3820.
It's easier to set VM on Intel CPUs and Intel has better support so I wouldn't try AMD in this case.

 

[carramrod01]

Ahhh, good stuff, thank you very much sir ! Looks like I am stuck with 130 W cpu options on the 2011 platform. I guess 1155 i7-3770 it is !

Thank you so much for the help! I looked for a way to + rep you but couldnt find out how =D

 

[Woomack]

no rep button on OCF, here we have thanks button under each post ... it's about the same

 

[medo145]

If you were deciding between these 2 sets, which one would you get?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231460
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231455

I really can't tell what different is besides the HS and one of them says it is made for gaming. Timing, voltage, speed looks the same. One has limited lifetime warranty where as the other says lifetime. Could just be mistake one the website.

 

[moocow]

I'd go with the Ripjaws. The sniper series is usually of a lower bin.