RAM Question

[bkd1986]

I have to admit, I don't know a whole lot about RAM, so this might seem like an odd question to the more experienced among us.

I'm building a new system and ordered 8 gigs (4 sticks of 2) of 1600MHz 9-9-9-24 DDR3 memory (Corsair XMS3). I noticed a deal online today for 8 gigs (2 sticks of 4) 1333MHz 9-9-9-20 DDR3 (OCZ Gold), which would allow me to upgrade to 16 gigs later on if I needed to (my mobo accepts up to 16 gigs of memory in its 4 slots). Both options are dual channel.

My question is whether I would notice much of a difference in the performance of the ram as is and whether it would be worth worrying about going for 16 gigs at all. This PC will be used primarily for gaming and productivity (MS Office, etc.). Also, any thoughts on the reputation of OCZ versus Corsair?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Puppetmaster1]

For a gaming computer 6 gigs of DDR3 Ram is more then enouph, you will be fine with 8 gigs and upgradeing to 16 is just a waste of money and you wont see a difference, infact sometimes your operating system might not be able to read all that Ram

 

[Atomic Rooster]

In the real world, you wont see much, if any, difference in speed between the two sets of memory. You'll be fine with 8GB for gaming and Office apps as Puppetmaster sugggested. I would suggest staying away from the OCZ Gold right now as they seem to be having quality issues. I recently ordered a set for a friends build and one stick was DOA.

 

[bkd1986]

Ok thanks. I've always had good experiences with Corsair, so I think I will stick with that then. I appreciate the advice.

 

[Indigo]

It's also worth noting that for the AMD side of things (or the dual channel Intel boards) 4GB is plenty right now. I have 8GB in my system for render/video work, and games almost never touch the full amount. StarCraft II and SupCom FA are the only games that go above 4GB, but just barely (4.1 GB for SCII).