Memory advice

[Dethanu]

So a few days ago i got a i5 8400 with a GIGABYTE B360 HD3 but don't know what memory to get. Mainly i'll be using this system for gaming and someone on the forums suggested that i should get a single 8GB stick but most CL i see on shopping websites are 16-19. Is that acceptable for gaming i should go for something like 3000MHz with CL15-16?

[Peskanova]

well nowadays for gaming + youtube you are reaching 6gb or more so depending your needs you could easily reach 8 gb, if you dont have budget now for 16gb buy 1 stick of 8gb. Gaming and ram timing doesnt affect very much. Having poor timings might affect the load times, but it is unlikely to be the sole cause of stutter.

 

[Trevor87]

Well it intel  so say go with 2133 mhz no need to go so high unless your getting it at good price.  If it was ryzen cpu then yea  3000mhz will help you. I would say go with 2 x 8 kit. I am upgrading a lot general pc to 8 GB because of modern programs.     

[DocSwag]

Your mobo only supports up to 2666 MHz so 3000 mhz is a waste of money.

[Dethanu]

Does the difference in CL important for gaming or it's just a "number"?

[Freefaller]

There are many misconceptions here, first of which being that 3000MHz RAM cannot run on a motherboard/CPU that only supports 2666MHz. This is the official supported max for consumer Coffee Lake chips, but many people run all the way up to 4133MHz RAM on combinations somewhat similar to this. It technically isn’t supported, but a few clicks in your BIOS will bring it up to speed in an instant. However, the speed of memory also isn’t important when it comes to gaming and many everyday tasks. Only minor gains are noticed when using very heavy workloads (e.g. CAD software). I had 2x8GB sticks at 3000MHz on my previous SkyLake build, but 2400MHz will work just as well for you. Finally, get 2 sticks to add up to your total, 2x4GB or 2x8GB, because your CPU can take advantage of dual-channel memory which effective doubles your speed. I recommend G.Skill Ripjaws V at 2400MHz, get 16GBs if you can for improvements of other things in your system in the future. 16GB is also recommended for many intensive AAA titles, especially these new games announced at E3. Hope it helps!

[Freefaller]

Also, lower CL is better, but still not very noticeable. Go with a slightly cheaper model that is maybe CL16 instead of CL14 or CL15, and spend the money elsewhere in the system.

[Dethanu]

6 minutes ago, Freefaller said:

Also, lower CL is better, but still not very noticeable. Go with a slightly cheaper model that is maybe CL16 instead of CL14 or CL15, and spend the money elsewhere in the system.

Was thinking to get a 8GB stick now since the prices for a 16GB kit is way over 200Euro's and upgrade later to 16GB of RAM

[Freefaller]

5 minutes ago, Dethanu said:

Was thinking to get a 8GB stick now since the prices for a 16GB kit is way over 200Euro's and upgrade later to 16GB of RAM

Then get 2 4GB sticks, it will double effective speed.

[Freefaller]

You can always get 2 more 4GB sticks later. It will help now, and RAM prices probably won’t go down for a while. Newegg does have occasional deals though. Not sure if it exists in Europe, but it’s great in California.

[Dedayog]

29 minutes ago, Freefaller said:

Also, lower CL is better, but still not very noticeable. Go with a slightly cheaper model that is maybe CL16 instead of CL14 or CL15, and spend the money elsewhere in the system.

When he says spend it elsewhere in your system, he means buy an SSD.  (or I think he means that)