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Z77X-D3H with RAM not in QVL

Z77X-D3H with RAM not in QVL
« on: January 06, 2013, 12:26:01 am »
Hello,
I am going to buy Gigabyte Z77X-D3H and the Intel i7-3770
In my local stores the only available 1600 MHz Dual channel RAM at 8 GB from the QVL is the KHX1600C9D3LK2/8GX
However as i was browsing through the corsair site I found the corsair memory finder in which the Z77X-D3H had some more corsair RAMs than the others in the QVL. After a little search in Google i found out that RAMs not in QVL can work with Z77X-D3H.
Through the corsair memory finder i found 3 RAMs that are supposed to be compatible with the mobo and can buy them from my local store:
CML8GX3M2A1600C9W
CML8GX3M2A1600C9B
CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9B

My question here is:
If i buy one of those kits will they work flawlessly with the Z77X-D3H? Can someone guarantee me that?
I have seen testimonials in the internet for the 2 first RAMS that work with Z77X-D3H.
The reason i want to buy one of the 3 is completely visual as the difference at  cost is only + 2-10 EUR

Thanks in advance  ;D
« Last Edit: January 06, 2013, 01:12:30 am by johnnakos007 »

ppinto

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Re: Z77X-D3H with RAM not in QVL
« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2013, 01:47:26 am »
If I were you I would go for the KHX1600C9D3LK2/8GX, which is the Kingston LoVo (low voltage) module and is made with high quality Micron D9PFJ chips: you can either run them at a low voltage (high reliability, low power consumption), overclock them (they can reach 2133 MHz 11-11-11-32-1T at only 1.40 V), or run them at the rated speed with low latency (they run stable at 1600 MHz 7-8-7-21-1T at 1.50 V - without paying the hefty premium for CL7 memory!).

There's a review in german here (translated by Google to english):
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en-UK&sl=de&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hardwareluxx.de%2Fcommunity%2Ff13%2Fkingston-ddr3-ram-roundup-drei-vertreter-der-hyperx-serie-im-test-874778.html

Kingston is a highly regarded module manufacturer, with return rates of only 0.27% compared with 1.01% for G.Skill and 1.06% for Corsair in the latest http://www.behardware.com report: although all rates are low, Kingston's is 1/4 that of G.Skill/Corsair!

The first module you mention, Corsair Low Profile White, is also a low voltage module (1.35 V) but I don't know which chips it uses and if they are as high quality as the Micron D9PFJ, and any way here they come at a 33% price premium compared to the Corsair Low Profile Blue, while the Kingston LoVo are the same price as the most popular Corsair/G.Skill modules.

So my advice is very clear: forget the looks and go for the highest quality at the same price as the regular stuff! With the extra advantage that they are on the QVL, so you know for sure they will work (but the Corsair should work too).
« Last Edit: January 06, 2013, 01:53:24 am by ppinto »

Re: Z77X-D3H with RAM not in QVL
« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2013, 07:12:11 pm »
Thank you ppinto for your response.
I have been using corsair RAMs for years and have never been disappointed
Some of my friends use them too without any problems and they are very pleased that I i have exhorted them to buy corsair RAMs
My past experience from Kingston was not the best and it is the reason I am a bit chary, although it was over 5 years ago and I'm not sure about them now.
So, about the LP artic white I did notice that it is at 1.35V. Is it possible to make adjustments close to the ones of the Kingston?
To be more specific I mean about 1600 MHz and to have something like CL7 like you said. The RAMs will not be used for overclocking as the CPU it uses is no-K model i7 ivy bridge.
The PC will be used by a friend only for gaming and he has no experience on hardware or overclocking, the only thing i will do are minor adjustments.

ppinto

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Re: Z77X-D3H with RAM not in QVL
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2013, 01:53:12 am »
As I said, I don't know which chips the Corsair Vengeance LP White use, so it's anyone's guess what performance they can deliver. If they used the same Micron D9PFJ chips, then it's very likely they would achieve a performance similar to the Kingston HyperX LoVo, as it's known these are very high performance chips.

Regarding your misgivings about Kingston quality compared to Corsair:
- these Kingston, as I said, use very high quality Micron chips, so there's no doubt whatsoever about their very high quality/performance;
- you can see from http://ramlist.i4memory.com/ddr3/table.php that Kingston uses mostly Micron (USA) and Elpida (Japan, now part of Micron) chips while Corsair (and G.Skill as well) also uses many chips from smaller/less well known taiwanese producers like Powerchip, Nanya, ProMOS, i.e. essentially they buy from whoever sells them chips at a lower price that meet some minimum performance standards;
- you can see from http://www.behardware.com/articles/881-4/components-returns-rates-7.html which is a study of the return rates of (supposedly) defective hardware components out of the thousands of components sold by a large french etailer, and which is probably the best public domain indicator available of the failure rates of hardware components, that the return rates of Corsair and G.Skill modules are around 3 to 4 times higher than those of Kingston for the last few years (that site publishes one such report every 6 months), so from those reports you know that Kingston and Crucial have way lower return rates than Corsair and G.Skill for several years now, and this is not one person's opinion/experience, this involves many thousands of modules sold!

Also, the Corsair Vengeance LP White (using unknown chips) are around 50 € here, while the Kingston HyperX LoVo (using Micron D9PFJ chips) are only 42 €, so my choice would be very clear: why pay a ~20% premium to get, at best, the same quality/performance?

Re: Z77X-D3H with RAM not in QVL
« Reply #4 on: January 07, 2013, 02:49:27 pm »
Thank you for your time and the advice!
I will probably go with the Kingston HyperX LoVo.