Help (please) with new build RAM decision

Hello,

I am in the process of building an additional DCS machine that will have

cpu: i7 6700k

mobo: ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero

gpu: evga nvidia 980 ti hybrid

hotas: TM warthog

storage: m.2, to be determined

But I am struggling with the RAM - I have narrowed down my search to the below two options, which I can get for nearly the same price:

16GB of Gskill DDR4 TridentZ F4-3600C15D-16GTZ 3600MHz 15-15-15-35

or

32GB of Gskill DDR4 TridentZ F4-3400C16Q-32GTZ 3400Mhz 16-18-18-38

My primary goal of this build is achieving the best possible DCS performance...(no other titles or computer tasks matter). I read the 2016 hardware performance benchmark thread that showed that DRAM frequency has a tangible effect on framerate, which leads me toward the faster memory shown above. But is the faster 16GB set a better option than twice the amount of slightly slower RAM? I plan to overclock, of course.

Thanks in advance for your recommendations between the two choices above.

rag48

1st option is the way to go.

why these 2 choices? not that either are bad, but is it Price? the 32GB set is alittle slower with looser timings so the top 16gb set would be "faster".

a better question is why Gskill? over the others.

i dont think you would see much of a FPS difference in the 2 either would wor find, the difference would be so small you wont notice it.

Thank you for the replies - I think I focused on Gskill because I searched for something with 15 timings, have had good luck with them in the past, and wanted to narrow my choices a bit (so no particular reason).

Not knowing how much RAM DCS really uses or will likely use in the future, I guess my question could really boil down to "Is 16GB enough"... If yes, I'd pick the faster RAM.

DCS likes the ram there is no lies there, i swaped out my 8 for 16, then decided to see if my old 1.65v 8gb would work with my new 16 and i got lucky and they played well together.

16 should be fine 32 is overkill but i dont think you would notice a performance difference between the 2

Thanks again - by the way I noticed you have the 2600k - my current machine has the 2500k @ 4.9 ghz and I'm extremely impressed with how well sandy bridge has held up - I'm sure you are too!

yes it has held up and continues to but like you i have spent some time and looked at a new machine but i decided to just buy a 390 for now and upgrade my whole system when the new video cards come out.

i had 2 6950 2GB cards and it was just lacking vram for DCS anymore and suffered from microstutters from crossfire at times i looked at 970 but the 3.5GB vram killed it so i stuck with AMD.

time will tell what i use in my next system, but i didnt see any use in it untill later this year and the next gen cards.

right now as i type this on an Old asus G74SX 560 3GB 2670qm laptop. before someone hits me with the amd fanboy 3.5GB comment.

SandyBridge FTW :)

yes it has held up and continues to but like you i have spent some time and looked at a new machine but i decided to just buy a 390 for now and upgrade my whole system when the new video cards come out.

 

i had 2 6950 2GB cards and it was just lacking vram for DCS anymore and suffered from microstutters from crossfire at times i looked at 970 but the 3.5GB vram killed it so i stuck with AMD.

 

time will tell what i use in my next system, but i didnt see any use in it untill later this year and the next gen cards.

 

right now as i type this on an Old asus G74SX 560 3GB 2670qm laptop. before someone hits me with the amd fanboy 3.5GB comment.

typing on an Asus G73-JW i7-Q740 460M-GTX 3GB with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.....

still plenty horses for firefox and Youtube, Steam and some games....SSD and 16GB do the trick

yes it has held up and continues to but like you i have spent some time and looked at a new machine but i decided to just buy a 390 for now and upgrade my whole system when the new video cards come out.

 

i had 2 6950 2GB cards and it was just lacking vram for DCS anymore and suffered from microstutters from crossfire at times i looked at 970 but the 3.5GB vram killed it so i stuck with AMD.

 

time will tell what i use in my next system, but i didnt see any use in it untill later this year and the next gen cards.

 

right now as i type this on an Old asus G74SX 560 3GB 2670qm laptop. before someone hits me with the amd fanboy 3.5GB comment.

Nice! Actually I bought 2 x 6950s as well when I got my 2500k, and had the same issues you did. Ultimately I pulled the trigger on the 980ti and an SSD during the Christmas sale last year, and paired with the 2500k OC, DCS performs really well with high settings at 2560x1080. I really had no reason to upgrade, but justified this new build because my older son is 'DCS ready' now. :) So I'll move the 980ti to the new machine, put the 6950s back in the sandy bridge, and then when the pascal 1080 prices drop a bit, rotate one of those in and sell the 6950s.

Thanks again - really appreciate the RAM advice.

i bought 2 of the exact same cards flashed them and only 1 of them would unlock and run 6970 so when i got my 390 i gave the 6950 away and kept the one that unlocked to 6970 for a backup.

In my experience GSkill memory is top notch. I have been using it exclusively in my builds for quite some time. Good stuff.

Out

Agreed, got 16gb of GSkill Ripjaws RAM in my system and it's been perfect, zero problems.

Afaik Gskill only relabels chips.

Manufacturers are only a handful, kingston, micron, hynix, samsung to name the big ones that come to my mind.

I prefer Kingston ever since, but that is personal

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Hello. Based on benchmarks from hardware review sites, latency is a rather tiny factor in memory performance compared to frequency. Also, going too far above the JEDEC standards (2133) gives diminishing returns since the CPU architecture is developed to work optimally with the official specs rather than the overclocked ones. Most of the improvements you get are in theoretical tests rather than real-world performance. Also, IMO 16 GB is quite sufficient for DCS even for large missions.

High speed ram with tight timings give almost zero real world benefit.

I'd spend half as much as you're planning to spend and then put the money elsewhere.

I'd go as far as favoring speed a little, but wouldn't bother going past 3000 or 3200.

This...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232299

Is what i'd suggest if it absolutely has to be G.Skill.

Otherwise i just go with whatever has reasonable speed/timings and value for money.

As previously mentioned most of the ram brands just purchase chips from the handful of manufacturers that actually make them.

::edit::

This is what i would go.

Motherboard is a bit cheaper, and in fact still overkill in my opinion, but still you seem to want to spend big.

This board has 2 x M.2 slots, and I've laoded them with a pair of nvme SSD's, 256GB for OS/apps and 512GB for games/other apps.

As written below storage will be fast and simple to manage (no RAID, but could if you want?) but also will not require any drive data or power cables.

Buying a 980Ti now is a mistake with the 1070/1080 less than a month away and offering massive VR/multi display benefits (if that's your thing?)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Disregard the prices, i'm sure the parts are even cheaper for anywhere else in the world.

Australia gets shafted as far as tech prices go.

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($484.00 @ CPL Online)

CPU Cooler: Corsair H110 94.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($158.00 @ IJK)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($330.00 @ Umart)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($114.40 @ Newegg Australia)

Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($235.00 @ CPL Online)

Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($411.00 @ CPL Online)

Power Supply: Corsair 750W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($239.00 @ PCCaseGear)

Total: $1971.40

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-20 18:40 AEST+1000

You could spend hundreds more on this, but you'd get no notable benefit.

Put the money towards a Vive instead!

Would be nice and tidy with the nvme SSD's on board too, would love to see more mobo mfg's do this.