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  • Which Kit to get?

    Hi,
    I have a GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-SOC Force mainboard with an i7-4790K Haswell Quad-Core 4.0GHz LGA 1150 CPU. Presently I have a G.Skill 16 GB kit that is spec 1600, running well at 1866. I am thinking of upgrading and today I finally see a sale on a kit I had my eye on.

    Today a retailer that has something to do with egg has this kit on sale for $169:
    G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200) Desktop Memory Model F3-2400C10D-16GTX.

    I have been waiting for this kit to go on sale but so far no dice:
    G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2666 (PC3 21300) Desktop Memory Model F3-2666C12D-16GTXD.

    Thus my question is which of these kits is better in the performance department? Or are they about a wash due to the CL being so much higher on the DDR3 2666 sticks?

    Which one would OC better to the next speed jump over stock frequency?

    Anything else I should be aware of when trying to make a decision on what kit to get?

    Thanks,
    LBro

  • #2
    Originally posted by LBro View Post
    Today a retailer that has something to do with egg has this kit on sale for $169:
    G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200) Desktop Memory Model F3-2400C10D-16GTX.

    I have been waiting for this kit to go on sale but so far no dice:
    G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2666 (PC3 21300) Desktop Memory Model F3-2666C12D-16GTXD.

    Thus my question is which of these kits is better in the performance department? Or are they about a wash due to the CL being so much higher on the DDR3 2666 sticks?
    At stock settings the F3-2400C10D-16GTX might even have a performance advantage over the F3-2666C12D-16GTXD. The DDR3-2400 kits are generally considered to be at the sweet spot for OOB performance. The latency will probably stay more or less the same, between the higher frequency and the more relaxed timings, but you will see lower throughput in some synthetic tests for most DDR3-2600+ kits at their rated specs (because of internal and/or tertiary timings that have to be relaxed as well).

    Originally posted by LBro View Post
    Which one would OC better to the next speed jump over stock frequency?
    These are not typical overclockers choices. Maybe you get another speed bump out of them, maybe not. If you want to actually overclock the kit further, go for F3-2666C11D-16GTXD. These should do DDR3-2800 CL12 at reasonable voltages in most cases (YMMV).

    Originally posted by LBro View Post
    Anything else I should be aware of when trying to make a decision on what kit to get?
    You might also want to check out the F3-2400C9Q-16GTXD, if 4x4GB kits are not out of the question. These regularly do DDR3-2600/2666+ at CL10 around 1.65V. It really is one of the best 4x4GB kits out there and its performance at XMP settings easily beats most higher rated kits. If you tweak the timings at 2400 further you will get something like this out of them:



    And there is still some room left for improvement, i didn't try too hard with this one.
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    • #3
      Excellent reply there Mr. 42!

      Your recommendation for the F3-2666C11D-16GTXD sounds very good. I have no idea if it will ever go on sale but this person was able to get a pretty good OC on these modules:
      O/Cs Great. Currently running the kit at 2933MHZ @ 12-14-14-35 2T @ 1.66v on an Asus Rampage VI Extreme.

      Was this guy lucky to get the luck of the draw or would this example be fairly typical?

      Since I am not broken and am up and running just fine, I am thinking of holding off on memory purchase for a while to see if I can catch a deal on this ram. I see it is about $230 now and that is a bit steep.

      Thanks so much for your help!

      Lbro

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      • #4
        The 2666 model is a known for it's overclocking prowess.

        If your system is running fine, just enjoy it!

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by LBro View Post
          Your recommendation for the F3-2666C11D-16GTXD sounds very good. I have no idea if it will ever go on sale but this person was able to get a pretty good OC on these modules:
          O/Cs Great. Currently running the kit at 2933MHZ @ 12-14-14-35 2T @ 1.66v on an Asus Rampage VI Extreme.

          Was this guy lucky to get the luck of the draw or would this example be fairly typical?
          I can't really say how typical that is, but i think it is within the realistic range of what you could expect. Also overclocks of DDR3-2800 12-14-14-35 @ 1.65V are quite common for this kit. So while not every one of these kits might be able to do 2933 12-14-14 @ 1.66V, there is a good chance for it least.

          Just look up the price for a kit of F3-2933C12D-16GTXD and then decide for yourself, if you rather take the gamble with F3-2666C11D-16GTXD
          Team HardwareLUXX | Show off your G.SKILL products!

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          • #6
            I have a F3-2666C11D-16GTXD kit in my cart at the egg hoping they will see it and put it on sale. Right now the best I can find it for is 222. The egg is 229. The other 2666 kit is 194.....

            I will wait it out a bit and see if I can catch a price break. I would really like to get the F3-2666C11D-16GTXD kit and give it a go.

            So I am wondering what makes up a good kit vs one that is hard to overclock of the same kit part number(s)? I would think it all has to do with the chips, but what specifically allows one kit to be pushed further than another? I realize there is a host of differences in the other parts on a system that makes up the PC. But if we are talking specifically about the RAM, then that is what my question relates to.

            Thanks,
            Lbro

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            • #7
              To understand the potential OC headroom a kit might have or not, you have to dig up background information about the scaling with timings, voltages and clock speed of the ICs in question. Sometimes it is easy to say what ICs are used and then you get roughly predict whats left in them. For other kits it is very hard to say, what ICs are used to produce these. Like with specifications that can be cleared by various types of ICs. Then its very hard to predict anything, unless all of those ICs share some common characteristics (like any current DDR3 IC does DDR3-1600 CL11 at reasonable voltages).

              I don't think this is the right place to discuss this in detail however.

              Long story short: There is a reason why the F3-2666C11D-16GTXD are more expensive then the F3-2666C12D-16GTXD.
              Team HardwareLUXX | Show off your G.SKILL products!

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              • #8
                EM42,
                I think I get what your eluding to. Makes sense to me anyway and I guess it is the old adage that you get what you pay for. In my case I want to pay a little less, Ha, ha... The good thing is you and support got my 1600 kit running at 1866 so I have a decent solution going until the kit in question happens to get reduced in cost. My luck is RAM prices will rise and I will be kicking myself for not have made a move. No big, we shall see what happens.

                I will have to check my mainboard specs and see if the F3-2666C11D-16GTXD kit is on the qualified list... Not that it makes a lot of difference.

                Lbro

                Comment


                • #9
                  Your GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-SOC Force works just fine with all the TridentX, even the fastest kits out there, if you're CPUs memory controller is up to the task

                  Edit: Its also on G.SKILLs QVL for this kit --> http://gskill.com/en/product/f3-2666c11d-16gtxd
                  Team HardwareLUXX | Show off your G.SKILL products!

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                  • #10
                    Em42,
                    Thanks for the post and link to the QVL! I was pretty sure I had seen it on the QVL for the mainboard. Here again I guess you get what you pay for. In the past none of my stuff was on any QVL when using cheaper mainboards.

                    This memory kit you listed sure seems like a sweet deal. I am tempted to just go and buy it now. But I sunk a lot into the upgrade for the system and am waiting for the credit card to settle down.

                    EDIT - Hum, that is kind of strange. I looked on the QVL at Gigabyte and this kit is not listed. That is unless I missed it. So how does one manufacturer put it on a QVL and not the other? Weird. Maybe they just have not got around to testing and posting it yet at Gigabyte. The list can be found here.
                    Thanks,
                    Lbro
                    Last edited by LBro; 07-23-2014, 07:30 PM. Reason: add info

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      If i was buying a Z97 for overclocking right now, the Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force would be on the top of my list as well. But until Broadwell is released, i am probably ok with "just" my good ole' Z87X-OC.
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                      • #12
                        I would do just what your doing, wait out Broadwell. The reason I made my move for this rig is that I was about 4 years back on my system and the video was low end. All I had was an Express 2 slot for graphics and that really hurt my upgrade chances. In addition I have an RME PCI sound card that goes for about $700+ that I did not want to throw away. Most Z97 boards have done away with PCI slots, but I found that Gigabyte board (SOC) had 2 and figured I better make the leap now while I can still get a late model board with PCI slots. Likely my last chance at that one. The G.Skill 1600 memory I have is from that old build. Once I get the new memory I will put the 1600 stuff back in the old box and use it elsewhere. My main gig is music and the DAW is now singing! Made a huge difference by doing this upgrade. Once I get the memory I will be set and hopefully it lasts a good 4 years like the last rig. Oh I forgot to mention I did get the SSD drive (on sale) and it really smokes!

                        Once again - thanks so much for your help and advice! If you are ever in the Seattle area let me know I will buy you a coffee or brew... your choice!

                        Lbro

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                        • #13
                          4 years wont be a problem if all the other components are that high quality too
                          Team HardwareLUXX | Show off your G.SKILL products!

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                          • #14
                            Well the older rig went that long and I figured I might be able to get another 2 years out of it. But DAW software evolved and some plugs now take more horsepower. So it was time to retire that rig in favor of the new up to date system. In a lot of areas with the new system it is overkill. But in my book that is what future proofing is about.

                            I have been watching the sales and trying to get the kit you recommended at 2666 Hz, but so far nothing. I have a feeling I might be waiting a while. Do you know any other good suppliers besides the egg? Some of the others I have looked at do not carry G.Skill.

                            You take care,
                            LB

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                            • #15
                              Can't really help you out with that. Here in Europe and especially Germany there are tons of shops listing those and the prices have come down quite a bit already, so i don't think there will be a sale on these anytime soon.

                              Team HardwareLUXX | Show off your G.SKILL products!

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