New Computer Which Ram

[h90]

I have one topic about how much RAM and I think I go with 4 or 8 GB, but which RAM (speed, brand, etc) would you recommend for a new Ivy bridge Z77 based computer?

I don't need to max out the best possible speed, but of course don't want to slow down the system as well. But I want stable and long living RAM.....

[BuddhistVirus]

I have one topic about how much RAM and I think I go with 4 or 8 GB, but which RAM (speed, brand, etc) would you recommend for a new Ivy bridge Z77 based computer?

I don't need to max out the best possible speed, but of course don't want to slow down the system as well. But I want stable and long living RAM.....

Windows or linux? 32 or 64 bit operating system? What are you using your machine for?

[h90]

I have one topic about how much RAM and I think I go with 4 or 8 GB, but which RAM (speed, brand, etc) would you recommend for a new Ivy bridge Z77 based computer?

I don't need to max out the best possible speed, but of course don't want to slow down the system as well. But I want stable and long living RAM.....

Windows or linux? 32 or 64 bit operating system? What are you using your machine for?

Win 7

32 or 64 bit I have not decided yet

90 % heavy duty office work (2 monitor, 2x excel and 10+ sheets open, 1x word, firefox, Thunderbird with a 10 GB emailfolder, etc etc).

10 % movies and games

if it is working stable it will be an office file server a couple of years later.

Most of the time I let the computer run over night...say 140 hours per week on.

Or in other words, I use the office as excuse to buy myself a nice toy :-))) but still the office is the main purpose.

Ivy Bridge i5-3570K, P8Z77-V PRO

Sure after some time I'll overclock it, I read already the guides on how to de-lid the CPU

But I try to restrict myself to not doing it immediately....

[MJCM]

^ Get Win7 64 Bits, so you are not troubled by the 3GB (4GB) Memory limit. I have in mine 16 GB and it's still as speedy as when I first bought it (Asus P8P67 Motherboard with Intel i7 2600 and AMD Radeon HD 6850 Graphics card)

[BuddhistVirus]

I have one topic about how much RAM and I think I go with 4 or 8 GB, but which RAM (speed, brand, etc) would you recommend for a new Ivy bridge Z77 based computer?

I don't need to max out the best possible speed, but of course don't want to slow down the system as well. But I want stable and long living RAM.....

Windows or linux? 32 or 64 bit operating system? What are you using your machine for?

Win 7

32 or 64 bit I have not decided yet

90 % heavy duty office work (2 monitor, 2x excel and 10+ sheets open, 1x word, firefox, Thunderbird with a 10 GB emailfolder, etc etc).

10 % movies and games

if it is working stable it will be an office file server a couple of years later.

Most of the time I let the computer run over night...say 140 hours per week on.

Or in other words, I use the office as excuse to buy myself a nice toy :-))) but still the office is the main purpose.

Ivy Bridge i5-3570K, P8Z77-V PRO

Sure after some time I'll overclock it, I read already the guides on how to de-lid the CPU

But I try to restrict myself to not doing it immediately....

That is a lot of tasks. Since ram comes cheap, go for 8 gb, provided you install win 7 x64 so you don't feel, if only i got 8 gb of ram, when system slows down in the middle of doing something important.

[h90]

I have one topic about how much RAM and I think I go with 4 or 8 GB, but which RAM (speed, brand, etc) would you recommend for a new Ivy bridge Z77 based computer?

I don't need to max out the best possible speed, but of course don't want to slow down the system as well. But I want stable and long living RAM.....

Windows or linux? 32 or 64 bit operating system? What are you using your machine for?

Win 7

32 or 64 bit I have not decided yet

90 % heavy duty office work (2 monitor, 2x excel and 10+ sheets open, 1x word, firefox, Thunderbird with a 10 GB emailfolder, etc etc).

10 % movies and games

if it is working stable it will be an office file server a couple of years later.

Most of the time I let the computer run over night...say 140 hours per week on.

Or in other words, I use the office as excuse to buy myself a nice toy :-))) but still the office is the main purpose.

Ivy Bridge i5-3570K, P8Z77-V PRO

Sure after some time I'll overclock it, I read already the guides on how to de-lid the CPU

But I try to restrict myself to not doing it immediately....

That is a lot of tasks. Since ram comes cheap, go for 8 gb, provided you install win 7 x64 so you don't feel, if only i got 8 gb of ram, when system slows down in the middle of doing something important.

Till now I never touched the 3 GB limit (but I always kick out everything not necessary and don't install software that keeps in the background), but software tends to get fatter and fatter with every version so it might be a good idea to go for 8 GB and 64 bit instead of setting it up new in 6 month....

But which RAM, 1600 Mhz, 1800, 2000? I saw different voltages....etc etc.

I read that fast RAM improves the system speed a lot......I read as well that faster than 1600 doesn't make any difference at all.

I read to go with 2x4 GB.....I read to go with 4x2 GB as it has a second channel.........

I read the reviews about motherboards, but didn't find some about RAMs....

And to make it worse there are no explanations at hardware house or JIB Computer

So any inside information would be appreciated

[flash77]

I'm looking at a new office computer in the coming weeks as well, similar specs, ie. i5-3570k and Z77 motherboard. But am considering Gigabyte GA-Z77M-D3H as opposed to Asus. As for RAM, from my readings I got the same feel as I think you did: 1600MHz is the sweet spot in terms of speed and price. I suggest you go straight to 8GB RAM now, getting a a pair of 4GB sticks. Then you have the opportunity to upgrade with another pair of sticks in a couple of years time if needed. The motherboard only supports 4 DIMMS.

As for brand and model, I don't know. You could check the supported vendor list for your motherboard, but they always seem to be quite short. I suspect I'll go for something like Kingston KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX 9-9-9 or similar priced from Geil, GSkill or Corsair (1900 Baht).

[Off-topic: do you have a power supply in mind? I know wattage shouldn't be an issue, but running 24/7 in the office, something reliable and quiet is desirable. I'm currently thinking Corsair CX430 or Enermax 450W if they are available.]

[rakman]

With most motherboards, filling up all the memory slots with the same type and size of memory allows the memory controller to access the ram faster. Fill it up now, don't waste time messing with it later.

[flash77]

With most motherboards, filling up all the memory slots with the same type and size of memory allows the memory controller to access the ram faster. Fill it up now, don't waste time messing with it later.

Thats a good point about same type and size of memory. Then H90's question is, if looking for 8GB, should it be 2x4GB or 4x2GB? Assuming same speed and brand of RAM, are there any significant performance improvements of either config?

[miksguevara]

crucial.com will help you pick your RAM and make sure it is 100 per cent compatible for your system

[BuddhistVirus]

Go for 16xx mhz 8 or 16GB considering 1866/20xx would pose some compatibility issue and consume more power (and dough).

[Gary A]

I still have a dual core processor with 4 GB of RAM. I upgraded to a new computer with a quad core processor and 8 GB of RAM. On occasion I use Autocad and Photoshop and those are the hungriest programs I use.

Quite frankly I feel I have pretty much wasted the money because the difference between the two machines is hardly noticeable. The old one is 32 bit Win 7 Pro and the new one is 64 bit Win Ultimate.

Most of my time is spent on the Internet and I can see no difference between the two. I'm not a gamer so the extra power is a waste.

[MichaelJohn]

Try an Orca scan - fully refundable if it's wrong :-) http://www.orcalogic.co.uk/asp/default.asp

[MJCM]

Try an Orca scan - fully refundable if it's wrong :-) http://www.orcalogic...asp/default.asp

That program doesn't even detect my installed Memory (claims I have 0 GB installed)

Better use the program from Crucial which does detect the memory installed

(Link: http://www.crucial.c...nner/index.aspx)

[miksguevara]

well RAM isn't the only component that dictates system performance...

[astral]

Win 7 64bit

Currently using 3Gb out of 8Gb

but it does go higher depending on what I am running.