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How Do I Choose The Right RAM?

c87

c87

Charter Member
I'm building my next PC that I plan to run some flight sims on. My question is what type of RAM to buy given the equipment and requirements that I have for the build.

The parts I've acquired thus far are:
i7 2600k processor
ASUS P8P67 Pro mobo
Geforce GTX 670 4g Vram
CoolerMaster HAF 932 case
2 WD1002FAEX 1-TB hard drives

I'm also looking at a Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler which I've read may have some clearance issues with "taller" RAM sticks.

I would like to overclock this system, preferably to about 4.5ghz. What I haven't a clue about is what type of RAM to mate with these requirements. I've read things about latency, voltages, timings and so on but I'm totally confused.

Can anyone help me in figuring out how to determine the type of RAM to buy? Thanks.

Rob
 
With the board you'll be using I'd go with at least DDR3 1600 (pc3 12800) dual channel sticks.
Now on how many GB's (well more is always better):mixedsmi: On brand type, I've had good results with
Corsair, Kingston HyperX and Crucial Ballistixs sticks. On the Noctua cooler, if you think it might be an issue why not look into the all in one water cooling systems. Corsair hydro, Thermaltake or Cooler Master series are worth a look, and can be had for under 100 bucks. That alone is worth the money if you are going to be overclocking.

Joe

[h=1][/h]
 
First, what operating system are you using? If it is a 32 bit OS, then you are limited to 4 GB of RAM. If it is a 64 bit OS, then I would suggest at least 6 GB, but 8 GB seems to be a sweet spot for many people. More than 8 GB seems to be a waste for sims and games, but can be useful if you open multiple business and graphic design programs at the same time.

Second, what does the motherboard manufacturer recommend? Brands not recommended will often work just fine, but the memory on the recommended list has the best chance of working properly.

Third, you say you want to overclock your CPU, so that means you should buy the fastest memory you can so that you are not trying to apply radical overclocks to your memory. Also, the memory timing is important, that is indicated by all those small numbers that are separated by dashes. The lower those numbers, the faster the memory.

Fourth, be aware of dual channel operation. On some motherboards it may not matter if you have one, two, three, or four sticks of memory. On other boards, your best performance will come with using only two sticks. I tried four sticks, briefly, I now run only two sticks. The general consensus is that two big sticks is better than four smaller sticks.
 
Thanks for the input. I plan to use Windows 7 64-bit OS. I'll take a look at what the mobo mfgr lists for recommended RAM brands but was mainly concerned with my desire to overclock and the impact it might have on specific speed/timing choices.

Stansdds, the info on getting the fastest memory I can is helpful since I'd read something somewhere about how overclocking can impact the memory. I'll see what I can find in two sticks of RAM totaling 8gb with fast timing.
 
Another thing to do before you actually buy the memory is to read some reviews. Many times reviewers will over clock the memory as part of their review. Generally speaking, higher speed memory with really low timing numbers will be the most stable when over clocked, but sometimes you have to increase the timings to make it stable. That is why you want to start with the best memory you can buy.
 
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