# 16 Gb DDR3 1600 Mhz vs 8 Gb DDR3 2400 Mhz



## F-Zero (Dec 8, 2015)

Hello to everybody on this cold evening from Croatia.

I currently have 2x4 Gb 1600 Mhz DDR3 memory in my system. I was thinking of buying another 2x4 Gb 1600 Mhz DDR3 to have 16 gb memory total.

But now i'm not sure if i should do that or go with a faster 2400 memory ? I realize there are no real benefits of having faster memory in games but you know better safe then sorry.

Can someone help me out here ?

Thank You for the help !


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## RCoon (Dec 8, 2015)

F-Zero said:


> I realize there are no real benefits



I feel you've answered your own question. There is literally no point in buying faster memory, at least not for gaming anyway.


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## cdawall (Dec 8, 2015)

Doesn't make any difference in games in any way shape form or fashion, in your system.


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## Sasqui (Dec 8, 2015)

There probably won't be any _*noticeable*_ benefits and don't forget if you mix 1600 and 2400 memory, it'll all run at 1600 anyway.


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## cdawall (Dec 8, 2015)

Sasqui said:


> There probably won't be any _*noticeable*_ benefits and don't forget if you mix 1600 and 2400 memory, it'll all run at 1600 anyway.



Unless you overclock the 1600 to 2400.

And even in actual gaming on single GPU setups memory speed made no difference.


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## vega22 (Dec 8, 2015)

i will help, but not enough to notice as it is in no way the major bottleneck for gaming.

you would be better placed with 16gb of ram than 8gb of faster ram for everything other than benchmarking.


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## cdawall (Dec 8, 2015)

It wont help in anything, but benchmarking there are millions of reviews showing this.


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## ...PACMAN... (Dec 8, 2015)

Actually some games recently have been shown to benefit from faster RAM. It reaps higher benefits when paired with a lower tier processor but still, the benefits are there. In the vast majority there will extremely little to no difference.


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## cdawall (Dec 8, 2015)

...PACMAN... said:


> Actually some games recently have been shown to benefit from faster RAM. It reaps higher benefits when paired with a lower tier processor but still, the benefits are there. In the vast majority there will extremely little to no difference.



Lower tier APU's it shows a benefit because the system memory is the GPU memory.

As I have already said he could have the highest clocked DDR3 he wont have any difference


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## cadaveca (Dec 8, 2015)

Speed cannot overcome capacity; if capacity is exceeded at the lower speed, it will continue to do so at any speed.

8 GB is starting to not be enough, so I'd take the 16 GB. 3 years ago, I'd have opted for the 2400 MHz 8 GB, as 8 GB was sufficient, and faster ram does help. DDR4 makes this pretty evident once you top 3600 MHz, compared to 2133 MHz, even desktop usage is noticeably affected.


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## F-Zero (Dec 8, 2015)

Thank You everyone. I think i know now what to do.


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## cdawall (Dec 8, 2015)

cadaveca said:


> Speed cannot overcome capacity; if capacity is exceeded at the lower speed, it will continue to do so at any speed.
> 
> 8 GB is starting to not be enough, so I'd take the 16 GB. 3 years ago, I'd have opted for the 2400 MHz 8 GB, as 8 GB was sufficient, and faster ram does help. DDR4 makes this pretty evident once you top 3600 MHz, compared to 2133 MHz, even desktop usage is noticeably affected.



Different levels of bandwidth. 1600 to 2400 wont matter.


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## ...PACMAN... (Dec 8, 2015)

cdawall said:


> Lower tier APU's it shows a benefit because the system memory is the GPU memory.
> 
> As I have already said he could have the highest clocked DDR3 he wont have any difference



Nope, http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-intel-core-i3-6100-review

Fallout 4...look at that difference between 4770k with 1333 and then 2400 RAM


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## peche (Dec 8, 2015)

...PACMAN... said:


> Nope, http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-intel-core-i3-6100-review
> 
> Fallout 4...look at that difference between 4770k with 1333 and then 2400 RAM


interesting .. shall i move on from 1333 ?
mmmmm


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## MxPhenom 216 (Dec 8, 2015)

peche said:


> interesting .. shall i move on from 1333 ?
> mmmmm



Honestly for me, the minimum ddr3 memory id run is 2133. I just upgraded from 8gb 2133, to 16gb at 2400. Mainly upgraded for the increase capacity but found the g. Skill 2400mhz at damn good price during black Friday week and thought what the heck.


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## cdawall (Dec 8, 2015)

...PACMAN... said:


> Nope, http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-intel-core-i3-6100-review
> 
> Fallout 4...look at that difference between 4770k with 1333 and then 2400 RAM



Very interesting. I am curious the effects at 1440P or eyefinity. Last batch of reviews I read only time it mattered at all was multi-GPU configs. I guess it makes sense with these faster and faster single GPU's.


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## peche (Dec 8, 2015)

MxPhenom 216 said:


> Honestly for me, the minimum ddr3 memory id run is 2133. I just upgraded from 8gb 2133, to 16gb at 2400. Mainly upgraded for the increase capacity but found the g. Skill 2400mhz at damn good price during black Friday week and thought what the heck.


have been gaming for more than 2 years with this 16GB @1333GHZ kit and noticed Zero difference compared to the older Patriot intel extreme masters edition 16GB @1866 [OC'ed] .. but is interesting the graphic shown … all the results..


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## Sasqui (Dec 8, 2015)

...PACMAN... said:


> Nope, http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-intel-core-i3-6100-review
> 
> Fallout 4...look at that difference between 4770k with 1333 and then 2400 RAM




Nice find and it's not just speed that really matters, it's also TIMING.  Can see some big differences here:  http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/ARES_F3-2400C11D-8GAB/7.html  (take Metro for example)


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## vega22 (Dec 9, 2015)

...PACMAN... said:


> Nope, http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-intel-core-i3-6100-review
> 
> Fallout 4...look at that difference between 4770k with 1333 and then 2400 RAM



at 1080 that is almost a cpu test not gpu xD


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## Slizzo (Dec 9, 2015)

vega22 said:


> at 1080 that is almost a cpu test not gpu xD



Creation engine is skewed towards CPU anyway.


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## The N (Dec 9, 2015)

F-Zero said:


> Hello to everybody on this cold evening from Croatia.
> 
> I currently have 2x4 Gb 1600 Mhz DDR3 memory in my system. I was thinking of buying another 2x4 Gb 1600 Mhz DDR3 to have 16 gb memory total.
> 
> ...



well, brother for faster speed and better loading time in games, you need more capaciity instead of higher speed. the difference would be too little to notice. 16gb is great upgrade but 2400mhz wont do much.


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## RejZoR (Dec 13, 2015)

Capacity > Speed

If you can get fast RAM cheap at desired capacity, then of course go for it. Otherwise, prioritize capacity over speed.


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## Ferrum Master (Dec 13, 2015)

I bought 1600Mhz and clocked them to 2400MHz


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## Frick (Dec 13, 2015)

...PACMAN... said:


> Nope, http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-intel-core-i3-6100-review
> 
> Fallout 4...look at that difference between 4770k with 1333 and then 2400 RAM


holy crap Ryse went from 55FPS on 1600Mhz memory to 88FPS on 2133Mhz memory. Or is there something else in play?


The Fallout 4 example is no surprise to me, Bethsoft are just crappy at what they do.


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## RejZoR (Dec 13, 2015)

If RAM alone creates 30fps difference, then the game is shite. The biggest differences I've seen were 5fps...


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## Ferrum Master (Dec 13, 2015)

RejZoR said:


> If RAM alone creates 30fps difference, then the game is shite. The biggest differences I've seen were 5fps...



It depends on the GPU itself tou... I had 5-7FPS increase settings from 1600 to 2400...


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## The N (Dec 13, 2015)

Frequency does make difference when difference is huge. and 2400 does make. however capacity is real deal for an upgrade.


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## F-Zero (Dec 17, 2015)

Thanks everyone again for your help ! I got myself a little something for Xmas. Now i got 16 Gb of 1600 Mhz DDR3 memory.

Happy Holidays !


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