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RAM Suggestion for i7-3770s Socket 1155 build

post #1 of 19
6/12/12 at 11:59am
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BLAH BLAH BLAH.
Edited by wolverinegod - 6/13/12 at 1:16pm
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post #2 of 19
6/12/12 at 12:20pm
Are you building a gaming HTPC?
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post #3 of 19
6/12/12 at 12:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wolverinegod View Post

Hey there,
I'm in the process of putting together an HTPC with Crucial Ballistix (2 x 2 GB) DDR3 SDRAM - 1866 MHz DDR3-1866/PC3-14900. One of the pieces of hardware is bad and i'm in the process of figuring out which, so I'm looking for an alternative ram to try out (while I wait for my RMA to come in). I looked into the RIPJaw but it's unfortunately too tall for my build. Any suggestions?
The mobo is an Asus Rock Z77E-ITX and the processor is the i7-3770s. If you want the full list you can view it on pcpartpicker.com
I don't mind going to 4gb sticks but the Crucial cost me $34 total, i don't feel the need to shell out $100 bucks for a stick of ram or anything.
Thanks!

I happen to be a fan of Mushkin these days. The Silverline is reasonably priced, it's low profile, and it works. 2x4gb 1600 mhz is only $45.

There are quite a few low profile sdram. G.Skill ECO is another choice. I don't typically use Kingston, but the HyperX should be fine.

I might have suggested the 1.35 volt Corsair Vengeance low profile, but I tried some recently and ended up having to send it back. To run it at its rated 1600mhz required 1.8v. It worked at that voltage, but paying a premium for low voltage ram only to have to increase the voltage wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I bought it.

Why are you using 1866 by the way?

EDIT - BTW, you should look up in the Deals forum at the Intel 330 SSD specials going on right now. You can get a 60GB for $49.99 after rebate.
Edited by Zon2020 - 6/12/12 at 12:31pm
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post #4 of 19
6/12/12 at 12:41pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

Are you building a gaming HTPC?

I will be using emulators on it but not gaming. It's definitely overkill for today but i build my machines to last so i put high end stuff in them to start and they last me a little longer that way :-)
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post #5 of 19
6/12/12 at 12:43pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zon2020 View Post

I happen to be a fan of Mushkin these days. The Silverline is reasonably priced, it's low profile, and it works. 2x4gb 1600 mhz is only $45.
There are quite a few low profile sdram. G.Skill ECO is another choice. I don't typically use Kingston, but the HyperX should be fine.
I might have suggested the 1.35 volt Corsair Vengeance low profile, but I tried some recently and ended up having to send it back. To run it at its rated 1600mhz required 1.8v. It worked at that voltage, but paying a premium for low voltage ram only to have to increase the voltage wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I bought it.
Why are you using 1866 by the way?
EDIT - BTW, you should look up in the Deals forum at the Intel 330 SSD specials going on right now. You can get a 60GB for $49.99 after rebate.

Thanks for the tip, i actually have all of the parts in right now so i won't need an SSD ...but that is a bad ass deal. As for 1866, shrug ... someone recommended that particular module so that's what i went with since it's compatible.
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post #6 of 19
6/12/12 at 12:49pm
I don't really know how using an i7 rather than an i3 "future proofs" your machine. It will likely be changes in technology, not lack of processor power, that eventually obsoletes your machine.

Did you at least consider an i5-3475S? That i5 is a massively powerful cpu.

It does seem a bit counterintuitive to use an ITX case, a 65W pico power supply, and then cram in an i7 and overclocked sdram.
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post #7 of 19
6/12/12 at 12:52pm

I will first go to Asus site and search for your MB RAM approved list and start from there. Once you know which one is going to work for you then I will narrow down by the brand and any deal lately. For a non OC & gaming HTPC, I will not go for anything above 1866 and 8GB, 4GB X2. I have been using Asus MB for years and I have been enjoying using G. Skills Ripjaws and Corsair Vengeance. FYI, G.Skills Trident is especially designed for Z77 but not sure it is for marketing or not.

 

I also agree with Zon2020, I will totally go for a SSD before anything else especially you are building a non-gaming HTPC, no need to spend anything above 1866 and save the $ there and get a SSD PLEASE!

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post #8 of 19
6/12/12 at 1:07pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zon2020 View Post

I don't really know how using an i7 rather than an i3 "future proofs" your machine. It will likely be changes in technology, not lack of processor power, that eventually obsoletes your machine.
Did you at least consider an i5-3475S? That i5 is a massively powerful cpu.
It does seem a bit counterintuitive to use an ITX case, a 65W pico power supply, and then cram in an i7 and overclocked sdram.

I considered a lot of things, but ultimately went with the i7 for a number of reasons. i'm not using a 65w power supply, i'm using a picoPSU-160 with a 192 brick. While I won't be overclocking the processor, future proofing doesn't mean just the technology. I might decide one day to pull the processor out and dump it into another box, or i might decide to start gaming on it, or who knows what. The overclocked ram was not a factor in its selection. I wanted something that would fit and was compatible with the setup. A few people had suggested this particular stick so that's what i picked up.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hlkc View Post

I will first go to Asus site and search for your MB RAM approved list and start from there. Once you know which one is going to work for you then I will narrow down by the brand and any deal lately. For a non OC & gaming HTPC, I will not go for anything above 1866 and 8GB, 4GB X2. I have been using Asus MB for years and I have been enjoying using G. Skills Ripjaws 
and Corsair Vengeance. FYI, G.Skills Trident is especially designed for Z77 but not sure it is for marketing or not.

I also agree with Zon2020, I will totally go for a SSD before anything else especially you are building a non-gaming HTPC, no need to spend anything above 1866 and save the $ there and get a SSD PLEASE!
. Thanks, I'm most interested in people's personal recommendations as compatibility is something I can figure out on my own. As I mentioned in the OP, I too was going after the Ripjaws but they won't fit with the fan i'm using. Also, I've already got all the equipment and did indeed pickup an SSD for the box. I'll check out the Vengeance series and Trident and see if they will fit :-) Many thanks!
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post #9 of 19
6/12/12 at 1:26pm

You can't go wrong with G. Skills. Trident series is very nice but it is more for the OC and/or gaming machine and they all have a big fin. However they all can be removed. What do you have for the CPU cooling? I've been using Corsair H60 CPU cooling system and it is low profile and you can mount the radiator else where. 

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post #10 of 19
6/12/12 at 1:42pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hlkc View Post

You can't go wrong with G. Skills. Trident series is very nice but it is more for the OC and/or gaming machine and they all have a big fin. However they all can be removed. What do you have for the CPU cooling? I've been using Corsair H60 CPU cooling system and it is low profile and you can mount the radiator else where. 

Thanks, I'll definitely take a look - especially if the heat sinks can be removed. I'm using a Big Shuriken Rev 2 B, it's a beastly component but silent as all heck ... which was a big factor in the purchase.
Most of my components are listed here:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8wvD

I picked up an HDHomeRun Dual that's working like a champ with a fairly inexpensive Mohu antennae. I got an ipazz keypad/mouse mini remote as well.
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post #11 of 19
6/12/12 at 1:55pm
The low profile Vengeance will probably fit (but as I said, I just had to return some of that because it didn't work at spec).
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post #12 of 19
6/12/12 at 2:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wolverinegod View Post

I will be using emulators on it but not gaming. It's definitely overkill for today but i build my machines to last so i put high end stuff in them to start and they last me a little longer that way :-)

I guess I have a different concept. I go for least cost and even slightly outdated hardware that works with what is available now. I built my i3-550 Clarkdale HTPC in April 2011 when the SandyBridge line was being released. It does everything I want it to and I don't see that changing for a few years. By then we'll have totally different architecture and I'll scrap all but the case and start over with current, but being replaced hardware. I don't game with this machine at all either. My i5-550 was built almost two years ago and that was pretty much new hardware architecture in 2010 but I knew I was going to be using it to download, transcode and stream (to a media player at the time) so wanted to have a bit of guts to it. The i7 is just a rediculously powerfull piece of equipment.. Nothing wrong with that.

You, on the other hand, have the same philosophy as my son which is a perfectly good philosophy.
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post #13 of 19
6/12/12 at 2:20pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

I guess I have a different concept. I go for least cost and even slightly outdated hardware that works with what is available now. I built my i3-550 Clarkdale HTPC in April 2011 when the SandyBridge line was being released. It does everything I want it to and I don't see that changing for a few years. By then we'll have totally different architecture and I'll scrap all but the case and start over with current, but being replaced hardware. I don't game with this machine at all either. My i5-550 was built almost two years ago and that was pretty much new hardware architecture in 2010 but I knew I was going to be using it to download, transcode and stream (to a media player at the time) so wanted to have a bit of guts to it. The i7 is just a rediculously powerfull piece of equipment.. Nothing wrong with that.
You, on the other hand, have the same philosophy as my son which is a perfectly good philosophy.

Yeah, it's a beastly processor but i will be doing a lot of ripping with the machine, transcoding, and all that jazz so the extra power won't be a complete waste :-) hehe. I'm using most of my older hardware to build a media server that will ultimately either run unRAID or Win8 but that's a TBD decision. If i end up building for other rooms, I will definitely go a more cost effective route and perhaps even get into raspberry pi or something.
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post #14 of 19
6/12/12 at 3:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wolverinegod View Post

Yeah, it's a beastly processor but i will be doing a lot of ripping with the machine, transcoding, and all that jazz so the extra power won't be a complete waste :-) hehe. I'm using most of my older hardware to build a media server that will ultimately either run unRAID or Win8 but that's a TBD decision. If i end up building for other rooms, I will definitely go a more cost effective route and perhaps even get into raspberry pi or something.
This isn't in regard to your suggestion, but if you are planning to have multiple client transcodes become a reality I would go ahead with a Plex server and use the i7 in there. In my own experience, my C2D Wolfdale can handle transcoding a 1080p stream to my wife's laptop, but it does hit 100%. I remember reading that transcoding always uses all available processing power, so I'm not sure how much more the C2D could handle but my network was the problem back then. For multiple streams, plan your network accordingly. Ripping will go way faster if you purchase faster (and perhaps multiple) optical drives, they are the bottleneck in the ripping process and the i7 won't help in this area.
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post #15 of 19
6/12/12 at 4:07pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark_Slayer View Post

This isn't in regard to your suggestion, but if you are planning to have multiple client transcodes become a reality I would go ahead with a Plex server and use the i7 in there. In my own experience, my C2D Wolfdale can handle transcoding a 1080p stream to my wife's laptop, but it does hit 100%. I remember reading that transcoding always uses all available processing power, so I'm not sure how much more the C2D could handle but my network was the problem back then. For multiple streams, plan your network accordingly. Ripping will go way faster if you purchase faster (and perhaps multiple) optical drives, they are the bottleneck in the ripping process and the i7 won't help in this area.

Thanks, that's a fine suggestion. I have no idea what I will ultimately do with this box. In the meantime, I need to get it operational first. After that, I have to decide what to do about a blu-ray drive (internal v external, eSATA vs USB 3.0), then i'll address networked storage, and then additional clients. I'm not super concerned about transcoding over the long haul. While I'll have a lot of stuff to convert initially, once it's done, i don't suspect that i'll be doing a lot of that, so i'm not going to build a system specifically for maximized transcoding performance. If it happens, it's a byproduct of alternative needs.
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post #16 of 19
6/12/12 at 4:46pm
This is the memory I use in my builds
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193
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post #17 of 19
6/12/12 at 4:53pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy_Steb View Post

This is the memory I use in my builds
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193

thanks! will check it out!
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post #18 of 19
6/12/12 at 7:52pm

Beware two points regarding Big Shuriken:

 

- It won't fit Antec ISK 300 unless you mod the case (like this).

- It blocks the PCIe x16 slot.

 

For future proof (like PhotoShop), 2 x 8GB may be a choice.

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post #19 of 19
6/13/12 at 11:32am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

Beware two points regarding Big Shuriken:

- It won't fit Antec ISK 300 unless you mod the case (like this).
- It blocks the PCIe x16 slot.

For future proof (like PhotoShop), 2 x 8GB may be a choice.

Hey, i looked at that thread but i don't see the actual mods you're talking about. In my situation, there were two outstanding issues. 1) The RAM: Because I picked RAM with a heatsink, i had to purchase an extender so i could plug in the pico. That was an additional $3 so no sweat there. In addition, b/c of the shuriken, I have to use low profile ram. Having found out that one piece of equipment is definitely bad, i learned my lesson in that i should have left the fan off the mobo just to test everything since you can't remove the ram once the shuriken is in place. 2) as for fitting in the case there itself, you can either leave the dvd/ssd bracket out of the case or cut the bracket itself. If i do get an optical drive, it's going to be left outside of the box, so i left the bracket out all together. I mounted the SSD to the floor of the case with a little velcro. Everything fits like a champ as you can see here

350
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