Ram 1600 vs 1333

[ToomeyND]

I'm going to be buying a Mac mini soon, probably the mid-level quad core. I want to max out the ram to 16 gb, purchasing from amazon.

The two options I noticed are the 16 gb crucial vengeance that is 1600 MHz c10. It's $120 right now.

The other is the crucial sodimm 1333 MHz c09 . This ram is only $90.

I don't do any photo or video editing. I use a lot of ms office, web browsing, watching movies, and the occasional handbrake. Is the 1600 MHz worth the extra $30? As it is, I think I could get by with 8 gb, but given the higher price/gb, I'd rather just max it out now and be done with it.

As always, your help and insight are appreciated.

 

[paulrbeers]

I'm going to be buying a Mac mini soon, probably the mid-level quad core. I want to max out the ram to 16 gb, purchasing from amazon.

The two options I noticed are the 16 gb crucial vengeance that is 1600 MHz c10. It's $120 right now.

The other is the crucial sodimm 1333 MHz c09 . This ram is only $90.

I don't do any photo or video editing. I use a lot of ms office, web browsing, watching movies, and the occasional handbrake. Is the 1600 MHz worth the extra $30? As it is, I think I could get by with 8 gb, but given the higher price/gb, I'd rather just max it out now and be done with it.

As always, your help and insight are appreciated.

The Vengeance will be slightly faster, but overall system speed will probably be anywhere from 0-10% faster with Vengeance (depending on if the process you are doing requires high memory bandwidth or not). I am using standard 1333mhz in my 2012 with no issues. In fact, compared to the Apple standard 1600mhz that came with my Mini, the system benchmarks the same (largely due to the fact that the 1333mhz is CL9, and the Apple 1600mhz is CL11 so the two are comparable). There is nothing wrong with saving yourself a few bucks and going with 1333mhz.

As a side note, I actually picked up some Corsair Vengeance when it was on sale at Newegg a couple weeks back. I want to benchmark it comparing 1333mhz CL9 to the 1600mhz CL10 to see if the extra cost has any affect. I just haven't had time to get around to it (might try tonight).

Anyway, you probably won't notice the slower 1333mhz RAM in any normal tasks you do.

 

[Giuly]

The Corsair Vengeance go on sale once in a while for $99 or $109, so you might as well keep an eye on it and get that one.