Best RAM for i7 9700k – Buyer’s Guide

Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB Kit

Previously DDR4 memory modules were costly, but with the price drop last year, they have reached the price the same as of DDR3 modules or even less. Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3200 MHz costs about a third of the price of the DDR3 modules from this lineup.

As we already know, this company is well known for computer hardware and released some of the best memory modules in the market. The kit of this module comes with two $30 fans for extra cooling along with the heatsink and a compelling option.

Also, these modules run at 1.35V instead of the 1.20V, which clearly shows why users want fans with them.As I’ve mentioned before that these modules run at a rating of 1.35V, so placing that close to each other can cause some heating issues.

Those who are going to use two modules can go with these 3200 MHz modules, but for future expansion, you might need fans with them. Also, the 2666 MHz is an excellent option if you are willing to save some money, but the 3200Mhz offers better value for its price. 

Related: Best RAM for Gaming 2021

Those who don’t want to spend the extra $10 can even consider the 2666 MHz modules. Also, I found this 2666 MHz a better option over other competitors in the market as they offer the same OC headroom and features but for a low price.

Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB Kit offers excellent performance for their price, but there are some bad or cons of these modules too. If you consider buying their kits, you will get the fans also, which gives better thermal performance and costs only $30.

The price of the DDR4 2666 MHz modules are the same as of the DDR4 3000 MHz, and you can consider buying this one. The bad thing I found in these modules is their limited overclocking ability as compared to other memory sticks.

The fans bundled in the kit but they cost you extra $30 which increases the total price of this sticks and makes them slightly more expensive than other modules.

These DIMMs give a premium performance for an affordable price, and those who like to have these bundled fans found these DIMMs better than others. Those builds which don’t have any fan over then processor, these bundled fans will be more practical in those builds and offer excellent cooling in them.

The 1.35V rating takes it a bit away from the top tier RAMs list, and these modules lie in the mid-range category. For i7 9700k these modules offer the best performance for their price as they are not much expensive and fit best with this processor.

Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB

In addition to the Vengeance LPX series there we have something identical but from the different lineup and offers features that look more appealing. The PRO series comes with RGB lights on the top that look attractive, and these modules give excellent price to performance ratio. 

The kit of these modules comes in 4×8 GB configurations and offers 3200 MHz clock speed, which is compatible with most of the motherboards. The fastest modules in this lineup come with a clock speed of 4000 MHz, so this one got a mid-range spot in this series. As I’ve mentioned before these modules, come with RGB lights, and these look attractive in color coordinate builds.

Skill introduced RGB lights while Corsair adopted this trend back in 2017, and with time this trend goes to its new peak, and vendors start building full RGB memory modules.

Corsair did their best in the performance and aesthetics of these modules, and that’s why it attracts customers (Yes! You) towards it. There are some modules in this lineup that come at the clock speed of 4000 MHz, but some modules even hit the 4600 MHz rates.  Corsair claims that these sticks have ICs that offer high overclocking potential without doing any physical damage to the RAM.

Related: Best RAM for Ryzen 5 2600

These sticks are from the same series mentioned above, but the thing that makes it different is the presence of RGB lights. The effects of the RGB lights are controllable through the iCUE software, and there is a controller included with it and has several different color effects.

The overclocking headroom of these modules are impressive, and you can overclock them up to 4000 Mhz.  One best thing in these DIMMs is that Corsair offers an impressive lifetime warranty and you can replace them in any fault; however, there are some limitations on the warranty.

The thing that disappoints me regarding these modules is they are a bit expensive over the competitors, and I would recommend you to go with the non-RGB variant if you are low on budget.

The iCUE software is just used to change the RGB lights in the kit, and you need to have the software just to change the effects of lights on these modules. Except for these things, it’s one of the best choices and a compelling option over the LPX series.

Skill Trident Z Royale Gold 16 GB

As we already know and I’ve mentioned in this list that G. Skill brings the RGB trend in memory modules, and this started from their Trident series. The G. Skill Trident Z is available in two colors where the first one is in Chrome and the second on in Gold, the one we have there on the list.

Performance-wise they are the same, but the Chrome colors reflect more colors in the build as per my observation. There are eight lights placed under the light’s reflector, which seems to be assembled by some crystals and gives excellent looks.

The price of 3200 MHz memory modules is way higher than any other vendor, and these sticks are not recommended for mid, and budget range builds. Those who like to have RGB lights, great aesthetics, or if budget is not a problem can go with these modules.

This additional money offers you to store your data temporarily in sticks that are likely to come from a jewellery store. The company itself uses the word Diamond to represent the crystal-like lights diffusers, which have eight RGB lights with an RGB controller.

There is a price difference of 40$ between the Gold and Chrome heat spreaders as they are using different metal coatings.

Related: Best RAM Ryzen 1700

It’s one of the most expensive and attractive choices in the market as these modules are available in two different colors and you can select them according to your motherboard contrast.

The heatsinks are made up of aluminium and are fully polished that reflects other lights in the build. Under the light diffusers, there are eight controllable lights, and you will get an RGB controller with them to change the effects. These memory modules come at 4000 MHz to 4600 MHz range while there is an overclocking headroom to push them up to 4800 Mhz.

One of the wrong things that we mostly found in RGB memory modules is their price, and that’s the same case with this one as it’s a premium option and much more costly than other options.

Even it’s available in two different color coating, and there is a price difference of $40 between them. Also, the RGB controllers included with these DIMMs are not compatible with some of the motherboards in the market, and if so with yours, you will not be allowed to change the effects.

For the i7 9700K these modules are bit expensive but for this gaming powerhouse if budget is not a problem for you, go with this kit.

Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB

In addition to the best Ram for i7 9700K, we have the 32 GB kit of the Corsair Vengeance LPX which is identical to the one we have mentioned above from this lineup but offers excellent performance.

Likewise, the 16 Gb modules, this one also lacks RGB lights and comes in straightforward black colored aluminium heat spreaders. The good thing about these sticks is they offer slightly better performance and clock rates than the one with low memory in this lineup.

Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB modules are most demanding in high-end gaming builds, and even users prefer to have a kit of them which includes two modules and costs slightly lower than buying these sticks separately.

The release price of these modules was very high, but due to some price drops in the past two years, their price now stands somewhere near to the hundred-dollar figure. These modules are not the Corsair high-end product as they have some premium options, too, while this one lies in the range category.

Also, these modules don’t offer any RGB lighting or other looks related stuff instead of a low-profile aluminium heat spreader which is available in four different colors, and you can select them accordingly to your motherboard contrast.  If you are an RGB fan, I would recommend you to go with the Vengeance RGB sticks which are siblings of these and both of them come from the same series.

As we already know 32 GB memory kits are rarely available in the market, but these Corsair Vengeance kits are generally available, and you can easily get them from any store.

The value proportion of these modules are considerable enough, and they offer the best performance and aesthetics for their price. The motherboard compatibility of these 32 GB DIMMs is limited to some motherboards, but these modules are compatible with most of the motherboards in the market.

These Rams are available in the four different colors, and you can select them according to your motherboard. Also, there are a few 32 GB models available from which this one is there.

The bad thing I found in these modules is there are some DIMMs that offer even more clock rates and overclocking potential for the same price value. The XMP timings of these DIMMs are very poor as compared to other competitors in the market.

One of the other bad things in these DIMMs is that they lack RGB lights and those who like to have 32 GB memory are not likely to build an entry-level or cheap gaming PC, and we already know most users prefer them. Overall, these modules are useful if you are making a high-end machine with i7 9700k; otherwise, you can go to the 16GB modules listed above.

Kingston HyperX Predator

Predator series memory modules started with the DDR3 interface, and with their success, Kingston continued this series to DDR4 memory modules too. Design-wise the company has not changed much in this series as they still come in the old black colored design that gives attractive looks.

One thing that you will only find in some earlier models of DDR4 modules is the presence of RGB lights as they were absent in the DDR3 and some earlier DDR4 models.

With their release, the company has not released any specific software to control the effects of RGB lights however they are designed in such a way that you can control them with software like ASUS Aura Sync, Gigabyte Fusion Application or MSI Mystic Light.

These sticks come in various configurations, but I would recommend you to go with the 2×8 GB configuration and at least 2993 MHz if your motherboard supports them. The use of the kit will allow you to get an advantage of dual-channel technology as you can experience it only with more than one stick installed.

Also, these modules come with a clock rate of 2933 MHz up to 4800 MHz, and you can consider them according to your budget and motherboard compatibility. We have seen different modules in the market, but there might be no other that gives excellent performance and aesthetics for an affordable price.

These memory modules offer great value for its price as they have RGB lights and every other thing required in gaming build. The XMP performance of these DIMMs are excellent, and they also come in highly overclocked versions.

The overall overclocking headroom of these DIMMs is remarkable enough, and you can quickly push their clocks to new limits. The bad thing I found in these modules is as I’ve mentioned that Kingston has not released a separate software with them and you have to rely on some third-party software’s, and you can only change RGB effects if your motherboard supports them.

Patriot Signature Line 16 GB

The gaming world where most of the builds have RGB memory modules with very high overclocking potential, we almost forget that some builds don’t support memory over 2666 Mhz.

Packed in a black colored heat spreader, Patriot released one of their best memory modules targeted towards the budget users. These modules come with memory up to 32 GB, but if you are low on the budget, I would suggest you go with the 2×8 GB modules.

All these modules run at 1.2V, and you don’t have to worry about any thermal issues in them. If you are building a mainstream gaming build, they will offer you excellent gaming performance for their price.

The heatsink of these modules are colored in black and is made up of aluminium for maximum heat dissipation over it. We got some latest AMD Ryzen series processors that run 3200 MHz memory modules without overclocking, but for those who don’t support that, these modules offer excellent value.

Patriot Signature gives subtle looks as well as premium gaming performance for affordable price value, and that’s the thing that attracts me toward it. One thing that might disappoint me regarding these sticks is they lack RGB light but picks colors in color-coordinate builds.

If you are looking for DIMMs that performs well for the price you are paying and ignore the aesthetics you are good to go with Patriot Signature Line DDR4 series RAMs.

Patriot Signature Line 16 GB DIMMs offers excellent value for their price and offers superior performance in mainstream and budget builds. The double-sided aluminium heatsinks provide a tremendous thermal solution to these DIMMs, and you don’t need any RAM fan or other thing for cooling.

The best thing in these DIMMs is the company offers a lifetime warranty with them, but this is limited to some things, and I would recommend you to look over them. These memory modules lack RGB lights; however, they have a matte black colored heatsink with a white color company logo on it, and it picks colors in the color-coordinate builds.

There are some highly overclocked memory modules available too in the market which you can consider over it, but this one offers excellent performance for its price.