How can I choose the right memory Mhz size in the light of the motherboard's and CPU's MHz?

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I'm planning to build a PC: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SOC DDR3 2400Mhz(OC) motherboard http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4967#ov

Intel Core i7-4790K Processor DDR3 and DDR3L 1333/1600 at 1.5V http://ark.intel.com/products/80807/Intel-Core-i7-4790K-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-4_40-GHz

Which memory can I use with them:

  1. Kingston 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 2400MHz HX324C11SRK2/16
  2. Kingston 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600MHz HX316C10FRK2/16

lina555

Posted 2015-06-07T14:39:06.297

Reputation: 3

Question was closed 2015-06-07T19:19:29.207

Answers

2

You can use both. The bottleneck is the CPU, and other devices will clock themselves down accordingly.

I would still go for the higher one, tho: While it won't give you any benefit at all now, it would allow you to use the same RAM if you were to upgrade to a CPU with a faster clock rate.

The rule of thumb is that RAM will run as fast as it can and is allowed to, whichever is lowest. This is OK provided that the RAM can run at least as fast as the CPU.

Jarmund

Posted 2015-06-07T14:39:06.297

Reputation: 5 155

1Thanks. I would have an other question: The CPU has 2 "Max of Memory Channels" while the Motherboard has 4 memory slots. How many pieces of memory could I put on the motherboard? – lina555 – 2015-06-07T16:26:40.493

2@lina555 As many as you can fit in there. Multiple memory channels just means that you can read/write multiple memory addresses at once, allowing for faster data processing. The maximum amount of memory modules you can use is determined by:

a) Motherboard max physical slots (4 in your case) b) Motherboard max supported amount of RAM c) Your OS can only use so much, depending on whether it's 32bit or 64bit – Jarmund – 2015-06-07T16:33:14.300

1From the manufacturers page:"4 x DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 32 GB of system memory

  • Due to a Windows 32-bit operating system limitation, when more than 4 GB of physical memory is installed, the actual memory size displayed will be less than the size of the physical memory installed." I would like to use it on 64bit OS. So as I see one socket of the motherboard could recognize the 8GB RAM or just 4GB?
    • < – lina555 – 2015-06-07T16:54:48.750

2@lina555 32GB max for the motherboard as a total, divided by 4 sockets, so 8Gb max per socket. The 4Gb limit is a limitation of a 32bit OS and can be ignored if you're going 64bit. – Jarmund – 2015-06-07T16:59:21.137

Asked: 2015-06-07T14:39:06.297

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