When you consider memory prices and the relevant performance (where I doubt in the real world you would see any meaningful difference between 1600Mhz and 2133Mhz memory beyond absolute numbers in a benchmark) it is clear to see that you are better off spend your money on more memory rather than "faster" memory.
I am still in two minds though whether 4GB is enough for my new SB build or whether I should stump up to 8GB.
Unless you running plenty of stuff in the memory (background jobs) 4GB is plenty in today home-gaming-PC. And with 8GB you should abandon pagefile altogether.
I run out of 4GB regularly tbh. Throw in a dozen photos into Photoshop when MSN and Firefox are running and that's it, all gone. With just Firefox, a few widgets and MSN open I've 'only' got 2.3GB free.
Xir - memory brands are trying to make out they are "low voltage" when "normal" voltage of DDR3 is 1.5-1.65V
Memory brands categorize their voltage levels often as follows:
Low voltage - 1.65V
Very low voltage - 1.5V
Ultra low voltage - 1.25-1.35V
No memory modules these days should be listed over 1.65V - all ICs are sold at 1.5V or below if they are 3xnm class. The reference to "normal" DDR3 voltage stems back to its introduction 4 years ago, when it was hitting 1.8-2.0V but it's completely redundant factor now.
SB CPUs need sub 1.65V, just like Lynnfield and Nehalem so any memory since then will work, although BIOS' of today are being optimised for memory IC that's just recently launched, as they are expecting the two to sell together.
Ah I get it...the difference between the CPU voltage @1,15 and the Memory Voltage shouldn't be larger than 0,5V, which makes 1,65V the limit.
riiiight.
Originally Posted by Hakuren Unless you running plenty of stuff in the memory (background jobs) 4GB is plenty in today home-gaming-PC. And with 8GB you should abandon pagefile altogether.
i won't be so sure with that.
i have ran out of memory on my 8GB system, when trying to transcode videos while play MW2, with a VMware of my project in the background. so page file is still needed.
8GB should be standard memory ammount for Sandy bridge. i think Intel should have restricted so that anything less than 8GB memory in its DIMM slots, and it won't boot. that's a sure way to move this forward. i've had 8GB since 2007, waiting for everyone else to catch up.
Have you stopped using folding@home in your reviews? I would have been interested to see what difference the memory made (if any) to a bigadv for example. (and how well it did with sandy bridge)
Originally Posted by Hakuren Unless you running plenty of stuff in the memory (background jobs) 4GB is plenty in today home-gaming-PC. And with 8GB you should abandon pagefile altogether.
i won't be so sure with that.
i have ran out of memory on my 8GB system, when trying to transcode videos while play MW2, with a VMware of my project in the background. so page file is still needed.
And how representative is your usage profile in general? I would imagine that for alot of people 4GB is still more than enough.
Originally Posted by xaser04 And how representative is your usage profile in general? I would imagine that for alot of people 4GB is still more than enough.
im talking about his assumption with page file. it'll always be needed.
Originally Posted by xaser04 And how representative is your usage profile in general? I would imagine that for alot of people 4GB is still more than enough.
im talking about his assumption with page file. it'll always be needed.
Just signed up to say what an excellent article. I really love the layout that is really easy to read and understand. You covered everything I would have wanted to know about using memory with Sandy Bridge. Thank you for providing everyone with more knowledge. :)
Originally Posted by xaser04 And how representative is your usage profile in general? I would imagine that for alot of people 4GB is still more than enough.
im talking about his assumption with page file. it'll always be needed.
For a certain subset of people.
Think again, it should always be set. Turning it off "can" throw programs and windows into disarray as they expect a page file to be available.
Pagefile needs to be enabled about 50% of programs require it and will refuse to boot without it. On 6gb I feel restricted don't think i could go back to 4gb it's just too little
Originally Posted by xaser04 And how representative is your usage profile in general? I would imagine that for alot of people 4GB is still more than enough.
im talking about his assumption with page file. it'll always be needed.
For a certain subset of people.
Think again, it should always be set. Turning it off "can" throw programs and windows into disarray as they expect a page file to be available.
Do I sense the topic of a awesome article about everything you want to know regarding a page file? Unless it's already been done before and is fairly recent with new and updated info, then a link will do. :)
I also have 8GB (DDR2) for some time now and I'm always at ease when demanding a bit more than the usual of the pc. I agree it should be the standard because one day pc's will require that amount of memory and people won't have to forcefully update later and end up with no cash to do it, so I think paying an extra money for an extra amount of memory in the beginning will be the right thing to do.
Ljs - I think that might be Geil - Black Dragon memory sticks. The only ones I recall being all black with no heatsink.
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Reply£100 for 2x4GB 1600MHz CL9 is the best buy at the moment for all Sandy bridge builders. :)
I am still in two minds though whether 4GB is enough for my new SB build or whether I should stump up to 8GB.
4 gigs of DDR3 1600Mhz ram! Gskill black Pi's
but that's me as I have seen upto 4gb of RAM use on my system from time to time on my i7 920 3x2gb
nice review thought 1600 RAM seems best fit.
SandyBridge needs 1,15V memory?
All I see in store is "Normal" memory @ 1,9V
And "Low Voltage" modules @ 1,55-1,75V
Xir - memory brands are trying to make out they are "low voltage" when "normal" voltage of DDR3 is 1.5-1.65V
Memory brands categorize their voltage levels often as follows:
Low voltage - 1.65V
Very low voltage - 1.5V
Ultra low voltage - 1.25-1.35V
No memory modules these days should be listed over 1.65V - all ICs are sold at 1.5V or below if they are 3xnm class. The reference to "normal" DDR3 voltage stems back to its introduction 4 years ago, when it was hitting 1.8-2.0V but it's completely redundant factor now.
SB CPUs need sub 1.65V, just like Lynnfield and Nehalem so any memory since then will work, although BIOS' of today are being optimised for memory IC that's just recently launched, as they are expecting the two to sell together.
1,65V 8GB-Kit Corsair DDR3 PC1600 CL9 Dominator ~130€
1,5V 8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9 ~105€
1,5V 8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL8 ~135€
Ah I get it...the difference between the CPU voltage @1,15 and the Memory Voltage shouldn't be larger than 0,5V, which makes 1,65V the limit.
riiiight.
i have ran out of memory on my 8GB system, when trying to transcode videos while play MW2, with a VMware of my project in the background. so page file is still needed.
8GB should be standard memory ammount for Sandy bridge. i think Intel should have restricted so that anything less than 8GB memory in its DIMM slots, and it won't boot. that's a sure way to move this forward. i've had 8GB since 2007, waiting for everyone else to catch up.
And how representative is your usage profile in general? I would imagine that for alot of people 4GB is still more than enough.
For a certain subset of people.
One question though - what RAM is that in the pics with the black PCB?
indeed. Your money is far better spent on a faster CPU or GPU than it is on faster/more ram.
Think again, it should always be set. Turning it off "can" throw programs and windows into disarray as they expect a page file to be available.
Do I sense the topic of a awesome article about everything you want to know regarding a page file? Unless it's already been done before and is fairly recent with new and updated info, then a link will do. :)
Ljs - I think that might be Geil - Black Dragon memory sticks. The only ones I recall being all black with no heatsink.
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