How do I buy ram?

[idkwhattonamemyself]

I'm pretty new to the pc building, with this being my first build. I was just wondering when buying ram is there anything I should look out for like any of the specs of the ram?

[Entropy.]

2 minutes ago, idkwhattonamemyself said:

I'm pretty new to the pc building, with this being my first build. I was just wondering when buying ram is there anything I should look out for like any of the specs of the ram?

the speed (It should say xx mhz, The ideal range for intel/amd is 3200mhz-3600mhz)

Cas latency (CL) It should be CL16/Cas Latency 16, basically no matter what else is going on

Capacity (It'll be measured in GB. Most gaming rigs should come with 16, but with some lower-end ones, Like a sub-$500 build you may want to go 8gb.

Organization of the ram (I don't know what to call it) It'll say how many sticks, then the capacity, like this: (2x8gb), so It'd be 2 8gb sticks

[Fasauceome]

11 minutes ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

It should be CL16/Cas Latency 16, basically no matter what else is going on

Not necessarily, 3600 CL18 is as fast as 3200 CL16 is as fast as 3000 CL15, and the price increase on 3600 CL16 over CL18 is pretty large. Also, 2400 CL 16 is dreadfully slow latency if you even find a kit like that.

 

@idkwhattonamemyself have you tried pcpartpicker.com and looked at the left hand side to see all the filters? You can search for what each one means.

[SupaKomputa]

You have to know what speed your CPU supports first before buying.

Would be a waste if you buy a 3600 but the cpu only supports 2400.

[Entropy.]

1 hour ago, SupaKomputa said:

You have to know what speed your CPU supports first before buying.

Would be a waste if you buy a 3600 but the cpu only supports 2400.

Yup, that's totally true but for most people looking to build new, that doesn't really apply. There wasn't a ton of context lol.

[SupaKomputa]

2 hours ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

Yup, that's totally true but for most people looking to build new, that doesn't really apply. There wasn't a ton of context lol.

i mean you don't wanna buy 3600mhz for a i3 10100.

[Haro]

1 hour ago, SupaKomputa said:

i mean you don't wanna buy 3600mhz for a i3 10100.

You do know the 10100 can run 3600mhz ram assuming you're using a z series board right? 

5 hours ago, idkwhattonamemyself said:

I was just wondering when buying ram is there anything I should look out for like any of the specs of the ram?

Well there are frequency and timings, and both matter when it comes to speed, some workloads prefer bandwidth over latency and others prefer latency over bandwidth so it depends on the workload but if we're talking about gaming.. 

both matter, for example, a 3200 cl16 kit performs about the same when it comes to latency as a 3600 cl18 kit. 

If you're building an intel system with an H or B series board, you'll be limited to 2666/2933 memory  as the highest frequency that you can go. 

for zen 2 or zen 3 ryzen, a 3200 cl16/14 kit or a 3600 cl16 kit should do the job. 

As for comet lake (assuming that's what you're going to use) the same thing should do the job as well, though do note as well, you will need a z series board to run these speeds. 

When you get the kit and boot up the machine, you'll need to enable xmp/docp to run the kit at the advertised speeds, if you didn't, the ram will run at it's base speed (typically 2133/2400.).  

[SupaKomputa]

1 minute ago, Haro said:

You do know the 10100 can run 3600mhz ram assuming you're using a z series board right? 

Exactly, how many people buying a Z490 for that i3?

[Haro]

1 hour ago, SupaKomputa said:

how many people buying a Z490 for that i3?

That's not the point, the point is, a 10100 can run 3600, it's just anything over 2666 is techincally and overclock to the imc and is not guaranteed but, it is possible.  

[idkwhattonamemyself]

4 hours ago, Haro said:

you'll need to enable xmp/docp to run the kit at the advertised speeds

How would I do that?

[Haro]

2 hours ago, idkwhattonamemyself said:

How would I do that?

In the bios. 

[idkwhattonamemyself]

4 hours ago, Haro said:

In the bios. 

ok thanks