RAM Low Speed v's High speed and Latency

big_b

Active member
I'v been looking at a new PC build but the question has come down to type of Ram
The Ram I've been looking at is 32gb 3600MHz ( 2 x 16 ) with a CL16 or CL18
Now see as most ram is defaulted to 2133MHz and I'm not interested in playing with the bios to increase ram speed
Is the solution to install 32gb 2133MHz at CL13
Am I right in assuming that If I use 32gb 2133MHz at CL13 it would be better than the 3066MHz due to the lower latency?
 
I'v been looking at a new PC build but the question has come down to type of Ram
The Ram I've been looking at is 32gb 3600MHz ( 2 x 16 ) with a CL16 or CL18
Now see as most ram is defaulted to 2133MHz and I'm not interested in playing with the bios to increase ram speed
Is the solution to install 32gb 2133MHz at CL13
Am I right in assuming that If I use 32gb 2133MHz at CL13 it would be better than the 3066MHz due to the lower latency?

I'm no expert, but have had a home computer(s) since 1979. You would probably not be able to perceive any difference in performance.

However, in case you expect to further upgrade your system, the only significant factor would be $$. If you can afford it, go with the faster RAM so you don't have to factor that in later.

:B~)
 
I read an article recently (possibly Techradar) which suggested for most applications including gaming the difference from a users perspective is negligible. In respect of Trainz you are likely better off putting any monies saved into a graphic card. Peter
 
From a practical point of view I don't think you'll notice the difference but slower will probably run cooler which means more reliable in the world of computers.

Cheerio John
 
From a practical point of view I don't think you'll notice the difference but slower will probably run cooler which means more reliable in the world of computers.

Cheerio John

Agreed other than for benchmarking, you won't see a lot of difference.

To run at anything other than the default which is dependent on the CPU, you would need the XMP profile to be enabled in the bios corresponding to it's rated speed.

May help: https://www.pcgamer.com/what-are-xmp-profiles-and-how-do-i-use-them/
 
Hi, I know this is a late reply so hopefully this info is useful.

First, on the intel side there was an old standard of 2133 for the memory speed - this worked out to be a safe default, which is important, but it does not mean that the higher speeds of your ram are not stable, All modern ram comes pre-programmed with all the needed timings for higher performance, and the high speed timings are stored in what's called an XMP profile - it's safe and easy to activate this profile in your motherboard bios and you will see an increase in performance. Some people try to push it and want to use the memory faster than the profile and this is where you can get into problems.

There's a utility called memtest86 - it's always a great idea to test a new build with this and let memtest run for a few days if possible. I've used this to identify bad memory sticks when building a new computer a few years back - I actually had to replace the memory twice before I had a set of sticks that could run memtest over a weekend without errors - the result of this is a machine that's run for years without a single bluescreen.

I assume by now that you've bought your ram so I'll leave this here for others:
Memory seems complex but really there are only a few things to know and I'm sure there are websites and videos that will do a better job than I can in this post at explaining them but it's worth 30 minutes of research to understand.

And my final thoughts are, if you bought any modern ram, it's absolutely necessary and safe to activate the XMP profile in your motherboard for the ram to get the most out of it!
 
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