Is It Worth Getting RAM with XMP

I am in the middle of building a new PC and just about ready to order parts, with the RAM side I am going for 8GB. But as always money is tight so shopping around for the best deals. Looking I can get 2X4GB for £XX but can get the same timings ect, with XMP for £XX extra.

Planing to do mild over clocking with a I7 and Z87 and with that speeding up the RAM. I understand that with XMP it does most of the work for you, but from a money saving point is it worth getting?

Which CPU are you going for? Did you get a unlocked 'K' series one i.e. 4770k or 4670k? Those are the best for overclocking as all you really need to do is adjust the CPU multiplier and voltage, which does not affect the RAM.

I think a 1600Mhz CL9 at 1.5 will be sufficient. Something like this: http://www.ebuyer.com/264750-g-skill...2800cl9d-8gbxl

I was looking for some 2x5gb kit recently and honestly couldn't find anything without xmp or with a substantial price difference.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ChinesePate

I was looking for some 2x5gb kit recently and honestly couldn't find anything without xmp or with a substantial price difference.

---

I think you mean 2x4Gb? I've not heard of 5Gb DIMMs?

I think this memory is a good deal, so long as you don't need it in a hurry:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ADATA-XPG-Se...I1MSLDNZXG9LYG

ah yes, it's a typo :)

Isnt XMP just a memory profile setting for Intel systems to read into? Afaik, it just a new user helping feature and nothing else.

Not really. XMP is just an extended SPD memory profile which provides memory settings to XMP-aware motherboards, but it's nothing you couldn't configure yourself, if the memory and memory controller supports it, it'll run it, with or without XMP. It's convenient, can help with avoiding memory-damaging mistakes, and I'd probably use it if whatever I bought had it, but it wouldn't sway my purchasing decisions by any real degree.

XMP just has pre-defined timings and voltages for your ram. You can set all of this yourself.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by aidanjt

Not really. XMP is just an extended SPD memory profile which provides memory settings to XMP-aware motherboards, but it's nothing you couldn't configure yourself, if the memory and memory controller supports it, it'll run it, with or without XMP. It's convenient, can help with avoiding memory-damaging mistakes, and I'd probably use it if whatever I bought had it, but it wouldn't sway my purchasing decisions by any real degree.

---

This is the long and short of it. I certainly wouldn't spend any extra for XMP.

Definitely don't need to spend extra for XMP, depending on your usage you probably won't even see much advantage in lower latencies or high bandwidth; I tend to go for the cheapest pair and I can get that look good in the system. Good luck with the build!