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WhatMeWorry
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Buying cheap memory now for 2012 build

Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:33 am

I've built one complete home system, so I'm not a complete beginner, but I still don't have a good understanding of DRAM and all it's specifications and timings: what's critical and not. Anyway, Tech Report had a link to this: "Kingston Technology HyperX Blu 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 DIMM (Kit of 2) KHX1333C9D3B1K2/8G" http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Technology-1333MHz-KHX1333C9D3B1K2-8G/dp/B004DDI0IE/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1318629067&sr=1-6?ie=UTF8&tag=thetecrep08-20

I'm definitely going to be building an Ivy Bridge and AMD 7000 based system whenever they come out in 2012. I'm toying with the idea of buying this memory now (assuming that memory prices have no where to go but up). Will this come back and bite me in the ass: Am I locking myself into certain chipsets or motherboard form factors? I do like the mini-ITX form factor.

In short, I guess what am asking is buying memory first a case of the tail wagging the dog?

Thanks.
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Starfalcon
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Re: Buying cheap memory now for 2012 build

Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:46 am

If your not building your computer until 2012, I would say wait. Buying memory now, the price has kept dropping lower and along with bigger capacities being released, so it is best to wait until you need it.
 
mdk77777
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Re: Buying cheap memory now for 2012 build

Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:54 am

In short, I guess what am asking is buying memory first a case of the tail wagging the dog?


Exactly !

What you should be doing is watching sales on "non-perishable" items.

#1 case;

Over the years, I have purchased $300 list cases for less than $100 in end of the year blow outs.
$150 list cases for $50.

After Christmas sales I have seen deals that you do not see ever again.

Same goes for PSU, Optical drive, keyboards, speakers, etc.

You really won't know the best memory choice until you read some reviews of the new MB and CPU.

Good news is that memory prices are not predicted to increase anytime soon. :wink:
 
WhatMeWorry
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Re: Buying cheap memory now for 2012 build

Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:59 am

If i don't bye it now, I might spend. :D It's kinda like forced saving. But lets say just for instructional purposes should memory always be chosen after the CPU + motherboard has been selected. Or are all CPU/mobo combinations flexible enough to accommodate most any memory? Like, is there ever the case where DRAM is too fast or too slow?
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mdk77777
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Re: Buying cheap memory now for 2012 build

Sat Oct 15, 2011 10:09 am

But lets say just for instructional purposes should memory always be chosen after the CPU + motherboard has been selected.


Yes, esp. if you plan to do any OC.

For example, 90% of enthusiast memory is now 1600. However the AMD FX boards now accept 1866 as stock.

I haven't heard what the stock memory will be on Ivy bridge, but it will certainly be much higher than 1333.

That has been stock speed for several years. You would be basically buying 2008 memory for a 2012 build....never a good idea. :wink:

Insane memory OC have very diminishing returns on performance...ie 2000, 2133 etc. etc.

However, you want to certainly match-up with the stock bus speed on your new CPU (now on the CPU itself and not on MB)

If i don't bye it now, I might spend. :D It's kinda like forced saving.


Yeah, that is why you watch the Newegg shell-shocker sales. When you see the core components that you know you will need, you buy them one at a time as they come up.

Every item on your build list will never all be 60%-70% off all at the same time. True savings come to the disciplined, those willing to buy one item here and there over the months.....leaving MB, CPU, and Memory to last. :wink:

PS. I think that IVY Bridge is slated to be quad-channel....again, not my area of interest...but you would then be better off with 4 sticks min. if I am not mistaken...
something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820233198

Not really any more expensive than what you have listed(per GB) and 1600 and match tested...no reason to go with 1333 at this price delta.

Again, I am not certain...that's why you read the reviews after launch. :wink: :wink: :wink:

Edit: preview report

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/di ... idf_2.html

By the way, LGA 2011 platforms will support the new XMP version 1.3, which is intended specifically for four-channel memory with the frequency of 1866 MHz or higher.

In order to achieve stability during overclocking of an LGA 2011 system, we should be able to change three voltage settings: Vcore, Vmem and system agent voltage.


EDIT EDIT:

Wrong platform :oops:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4830/inte ... -exposed/3

Memory overclocking also gets a bump in Ivy Bridge. The max supported DDR3 frequency in SNB was 2133MHz, Ivy Bridge moves this up to 2800MHz. You can now also increase memory frequency in 200MHz increments.
 
JustAnEngineer
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Re: Buying cheap memory now for 2012 build

Sat Oct 15, 2011 12:50 pm

Almost nothing depreciates faster than computer hardware that you've purchased but not yet installed.

I recommend saving your money until you are ready to buy enough new hardware that you can put it together and use it. If you need a new PC now, build now. If you don't need to upgrade right now, then save your money until something better faster and cheaper comes along.
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Re: Buying cheap memory now for 2012 build

Sun Oct 16, 2011 12:08 pm

JustAnEngineer wrote:
I recommend saving your money
WhatMeWorry wrote:
If i don't bye it now, I might spend. :D

The OP has a spending problem. :lol:

Seriously, learn to save. It's good for ya.
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JustAnEngineer
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Re: Buying cheap memory now for 2012 build

Sun Oct 16, 2011 12:14 pm

If the OP doesn't want to save his money until later, then he should spend enough right now to be able to use the components that he buys.
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DPete27
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Re: Buying cheap memory now for 2012 build

Sun Oct 16, 2011 6:25 pm

I agree with other posters, I made the mistake of buying DDR3 1600 on a "really good sale"...or so I thought. Only to watch it being offered for $10 less in a month. While memory prices are slated to level off from their declining prices, chances are they'll still come down a bit more.

Regarding memory speed, 1600 cl9 should be your "standard" target, you can get these dims for about the same price as 1333 anyways. As of now, faster ram doesn't really yield that much performance increase for most applications (see aricle below), but who knows if that will change with Ivy Bridge. I wouldn't expect much of a change with the ability of accepting faster memory speeds with Ivy Bridge..however, it will probably be able to extract more performance out of similar speed RAM compared to Sandy Bridge. Ivy Bridge is slated to stick with dual channel memory controller if I'm not mistaken. Bottom line, wait. If nothing else, that memory may be cheaper when everyone is trying to push high-frequency memory for Ivy Bridge.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/20377/4
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Re: Buying cheap memory now for 2012 build

Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:35 am

In general, I agree that waiting to buy computer components until you actually need them is a wise move. (Spare parts for critical systems being an exception... but that doesn't apply here.)

Buying RAM now isn't a *huge* mistake though. I don't expect price/GB to get much lower than it is until 8 GB DIMMs become mainstream (which is probably at least a year out).
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MadManOriginal
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Re: Buying cheap memory now for 2012 build

Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:55 am

Not going to weigh in on buy now or not, but I would avoid any RAM rsted for 1.65V at this time. That is Intel's max safe voltage for current CPUs, and it's possible the max safe voltage will be lower for future CPUs. (AMD CPUs don't have such a restriction at this time, afaik.) There are enough 1.5V or lower kits out there for around that price so go with one of them if you do buy soon.
 
flip-mode
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Re: Buying cheap memory now for 2012 build

Tue Oct 18, 2011 9:34 am

WhatMeWorry wrote:
In short, I guess what am asking is buying memory first a case of the tail wagging the dog?

Thanks.

Yes, it is the tail wagging the dog. Don't buy until you're ready to build. There is a chance that prices will go up. There's also a chance they will continue to go down or that higher speed grades will drop to the prices of lower speed grades. There's also a very high probability that higher capacity dimms - 8GB dimms - that are few and far between and very expensive right now will become much more abundant and cost much less. And that's the real advantage to waiting - getting 32GB of RAM for $200 instead of the $800 that it costs right now.

And Ivy Bridge is Q3 2012, right? So that's at least 8-9 months from now.
 
CB5000
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Re: Buying cheap memory now for 2012 build

Tue Oct 18, 2011 1:12 pm

flip-mode wrote:
WhatMeWorry wrote:
In short, I guess what am asking is buying memory first a case of the tail wagging the dog?

Thanks.

Yes, it is the tail wagging the dog. Don't buy until you're ready to build. There is a chance that prices will go up. There's also a chance they will continue to go down or that higher speed grades will drop to the prices of lower speed grades. There's also a very high probability that higher capacity dimms - 8GB dimms - that are few and far between and very expensive right now will become much more abundant and cost much less. And that's the real advantage to waiting - getting 32GB of RAM for $200 instead of the $800 that it costs right now.

And Ivy Bridge is Q3 2012, right? So that's at least 8-9 months from now.


In 8-9 months, the prices of memory will definitely go down a lot, especially for low capacity RAM. Right now 8GB can already be had for about 50$ with decent specs. I predict that about 12 GB (3x4GB) can be had at the same price that you can get for 8GB (2x4GB) right now in about 8-9 months from now... of course at that price I'd rather get 4x4GB instead of 3x4GB.
 
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Re: Buying cheap memory now for 2012 build

Tue Oct 18, 2011 1:18 pm

CB5000 wrote:
In 8-9 months, the prices of memory will definitely go down a lot, especially for low capacity RAM.

Current prices are the result of a supply glut. The last time this happened (couple of years ago), prices rebounded after the RAM producers adjusted production to better match demand. You can't be *certain* prices will continue to fall across the board.
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flip-mode
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Re: Buying cheap memory now for 2012 build

Tue Oct 18, 2011 3:20 pm

just brew it! wrote:
CB5000 wrote:
In 8-9 months, the prices of memory will definitely go down a lot, especially for low capacity RAM.

Current prices are the result of a supply glut. The last time this happened (couple of years ago), prices rebounded after the RAM producers adjusted production to better match demand. You can't be *certain* prices will continue to fall across the board.
For the lower capacity DIMMs I agree with you, but for the 8GB DIMMs - they have nowhere to go but down (jeez - I hope they can't possibly go up!)

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