What speed is useful for P55A-UD7?

[alternety]

I am fumbling my way forward. I built a new machine with an i7-860. I have 2 X 2GB of ddr3-2000 ripjaws installed. I want to go to 2 X 4GB. I thought 4GB sticks were available at the same speed as the 2GB I have. I think I got confused between DR3 and PC3 numbers. I wish everyone would agree on using just one of those.

My plan was this: Build a new P55 ATX system for me. I am the heavy user. Replace the micro ATX MB in my wife's machine so I can get us on the same 64 bit operating system. I sort of thought that I would like the second machine to be a P or H55 and someday I would upgrade my processor and give it to her. Otherwise I would maybe buy an AMD MB for her (much cheaper). I am kind of questioning if I would ever actually upgrade my CPU. The only time I have actually done that in 20 years is adding a second processor to a dual socket AMD board when the CPU prices went to a bit more than free. So an additional factor is how would my existing Ripjaws work in an AMD MB.

Anyway. I want to overclock to a stable point. I am not trying to eke out every single ounce of performance. I just want to get a reasonably optimal bang for my buck.

The basic question. What speed 4GB DIMMs are a reasonable choice for me. I am only interested in overall performance with general applications, a little CAD, and maybe some gaming. My assumption was that faster is better. But the impact of various parameters of the RAM system to overall performance is confusing me. I get the impression that increasing RAM clock speed is not the overriding goal. That a slower RAM may provide essentially the same or better overall application performance than a faster set, and at a lower price.

Can anyone provide me with some explanation or some understandable recommendations?

[GSKILL TECH]

To compare, DDR3-1600 CL9 will have similar performance as DDR3-1333 CL8. DDR3-1600 CL8 will be slightly "quicker" than DDR3-1600 CL9. So you always want to have a lower timing, especially if you are not overclocking. But, if you have a memory package with high frequency, able to move more at one time, a CL9 may still be faster than a CL8. To fully utilize the additional bandwidth, CPU overclocking is required, which is why sometimes DDR3-1600 seems very close to DDR3-2000. The DDR3-2000 is bandwidth limited due to the CPU.

e.g. I had a customer today ask me.. why is the DDR3-2133 CL9 more expensive than the DDR3-1600 CL7?? Well, that's simple, although the DDR3-1600 has a lower timing, it is moving less at a time. A maximum of 12,800MB/s; whereas the DDR3-2133 is capable of 17,066MB/s. In order to utilize the max capability, CPU overclocking is required. With your specific platform, the i7 860 is capable of 20,000MB/s+, even though the max for the memory is lower. Credit Intel.

For 4GB modules, there isn't much selection as it is difficult to reach performance specs. So most will be CL9, such as the F3-12800CL9Q-16GBRL. But if you search for reviews and feedback, even though it is a "base" spec, it is still extremely fast and the high capacity helps a lot with memory intensive programs.

I would suggest a 4 x 2GB performance kit, DDR3-2000 range, then overclock your CPU and it will be plenty fast.

Hopefully this gives you a better idea.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH