Need a PC and can't really wait for BF.

Now that's out of the way, I'm building a new rig. Got the i7-2600K and ASRock Z68 Pro3-M combo from Microcenter for $360 incl. tax (yay!). Trying to pick out a pair of 4GB (x2=8GB) DDR3-1600 RAM. Would like to find a good deal if possible (I keep missing out on those rebates) but willing to pay around $40-50.

Thank you.

there has been no gaming ram for a while, i think there was nice 7cas laptop ram a month ago, but besides that its all been cas9.
I think newegg has 7 cas 2x4gb sticks for about $100
Ive been watching the ram like a hawk waiting for some gaming pc sticks.
Seeing cas 9 hit 16gb for $56 bucks has me hoping we may see gaming ram hit $16gb for 100ish in cas 7 gaming quality

there has been no gaming ram for a while, i think there was nice 7cas laptop ram a month ago, but besides that its all been cas9.
I think newegg has 7 cas 2x4gb sticks for about $100
Ive been watching the ram like a hawk waiting for some gaming pc sticks.
Seeing cas 9 hit 16gb for $56 bucks has me hoping we may see gaming ram hit $16gb for 100ish
Well actually gaming's 2nd priority for this build. Maybe I should just get some cas9 for now and upgrade later. Any recommendation for 8GB?

Thanks.

well if gaming is secondary, any of the deals that keep hitting will do,
do what i did to watch for them.
do a search for each of the following 'dimm' 'ddr' 'ddr3'
in each search there is an rss icon, use it and subscribe to the rss, i would suggest using google reader.
so in your rss reader you have 3 feeds
check it morning noon and evening and you should be able to catch one of the 30-40 8gb 8cas kits when they show up.
since their common terms, it could get annoying having email alerts setup, and with the way kits have been showing up you shouldn't have much problem.

well if gaming is secondary, any of the deals that keep hitting will do,
do what i did to watch for them.
do a search for each of the following 'dimm' 'ddr' 'ddr3'
in each search there is an rss icon, use it and subscribe to the rss, i would suggest using google reader.
so in your rss reader you have 3 feeds
check it morning noon and evening and you should be able to catch one of the 30-40 8gb 8cas kits when they show up.
since their common terms, it could get annoying having email alerts setup, and with the way kits have been showing up you shouldn't have much problem.
Any brand/series I should avoid?

as for brand, corsair, mushkin kingston good names, never owned gskill but havn't heard negatives about them.

as for brand, corsair, mushkin kingston good names, never owned gskill but havn't heard negatives about them.
Lol, that sure narrows it down ;P I guess any DDR3 will do then. I usually stay away from OCZ since I've had some bad experiences. Fingers crossed there'll be a good Corsair/Kingston deal in the next few days.

Thanks.

Lol, that sure narrows it down ;P I guess any DDR3 will do then. I usually stay away from OCZ since I've had some bad experiences. Fingers crossed there'll be a good Corsair/Kingston deal in the next few days.

Thanks.

OCZ doesn't make memory any more.

OCZ doesn't make memory any more.
I've narrowed down two sets.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226240
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231402

Which is better in your opinion(s)? 4GB of 1600 @ 7-8-7-24 or 8GB of 1333 @ 7-7-7-21?

You can get an 8GB set of 1600MHz for less than that, methinks.

This RAM will be $35 today between 1-3pm pacific as newegg's shell shocker deal.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311

You'll likely only notice the difference between cas7 and cas9 in benchmarks. There's also probably little if any difference between the two you linked. They'll both default to lower speeds anyway and you have to go into the BIOS to run them at the rated speed.. Mushkin had to relax the timings to get it to run at 1600 and the Gskill will probably do 1600 as well when set to the same timings. At least they're both rated at 1.5V though. A lot of times you'll see RAM rated at faster speeds and timings but requiring more voltage so essentially you're just paying extra for the same RAM that's rated slower when run at 1.5V.

This RAM will be $35 today between 1-3pm pacific as newegg's shell shocker deal.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311

You'll likely only notice the difference between cas7 and cas9 in benchmarks. There's also probably little if any difference between the two you linked. They'll both default to lower speeds anyway and you have to go into the BIOS to run them at the rated speed.. Mushkin had to relax the timings to get it to run at 1600 and the Gskill will probably do 1600 as well when set to the same timings. At least they're both rated at 1.5V though. A lot of times you'll see RAM rated at faster speeds and timings but requiring more voltage so essentially you're just paying extra for the same RAM that's rated slower when run at 1.5V.
So basically I should save my money and get cas9 rams? Should I still look for 1.5V though or is 1.6+ ok?

Thanks.

I wouldn't get anything rated above 1.5V.

I wouldn't get anything rated above 1.5V.
I bought the pair you linked. Thanks for the help.