Roger's Selection of Best Electronics on the Earth: Best PC Gaming Ram 2012

What's the Best Ram for PC Gaming?

This lens is both a top 10 list and learning guide to understanding what type of ram would be best for your gaming PC in 2012.
Before you go be sure to vote for what you think is the best PC gaming ram available for 2012, see what other gamers voted for, and leave a comment in the discussion section with your feedback.

Top 10 Best Rated PC Ram/Memory for Gaming

When it comes to ram gamers look for stability, reliability, speed, and the best overall value for their money. This top ten list is based upon customer feedback, ratings, and most importantly your feedback in the voting section.

If you need to know whether this ram is compatible with your motherboard, then see the learning guide section below and your motherboard's specifications. If you are building a PC, then make sure to buy ram altogether so that you can take advantage of the double data throughput that you get with multiple channel kits.

#1.) Corsair Vengeance

Corsair's Vengeance ram is the most popular among gamers today. It's fast, reliable, and inexpensive when compared to other brands. Most are gravitating towards 4x4 GB sticks for a total of 16GB. While you certainly could upgrade to 32GB, 16GB is more than you need right now, and by the time you really need more than that you'll probably want to build a new rig anyway.

Specifications for the featured model include 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 SDRAM, 1600 speed, timing 9-9-9-24, includes quad channel kit, 1.5V, and includes Corsair's lifetime limited warranty.

Corsair Vengeance Blue 8 GB (2X4 GB) PC3-12800 1600mHz DDR3 240-Pin SDRAM Dual Channel Memory Kit CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B
Amazon Price: $40.99

Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 2133MHz PC3 17000 Dual Channel 240 Pin Desktop Memory CMZ8GX3M2A2133C11R
Amazon Price: $55.99

Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10)
Amazon Price: $79.99

Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (CMZ32GX3M4X1600C10)
Amazon Price: $159.99

2.) Kingston Technology HyperX

Kingston is another trusted name for memory in the gaming industry and is the world's overall PC leader in memory sales. This model utilizes the HyperX module with faster latency timing for higher performance and speed.

Kingston also has faster models in the Genesis and the XMP T1 Series (fastest) if you're willing to spend a little bit more.

Technical details: Cas Latency 9 DDR3 1600, 1.65V, dual channel kit included (also available in additional sizes), and includes a lifetime limited warranty from Kingston.

Kingston Technology HyperX 8 GB (2x4 GB Modules) 1600 MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Kit (PC3 12800) 240-Pin SDRAM KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX
Amazon Price: $36.99

Kingston Technology HyperX 16 GB Kit (4x4 GB Modules) 16 Quad Channel Kit 1600 (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM KHX1600C9D3K4/16GX
Amazon Price: $74.99

Kingston HyperX Blu 16GB Kit (2x8 GB Modules) 1600MHz 240-pin DDR3 Non-ECC CL10 Desktop Memory KHX1600C10D3B1K2/16G
Amazon Price: $74.99

3.) G. Skill Ripjaws Series

The Ripjaws Series from G.Skill is available in a wide variety of packages, speeds, and timings and is preferred on many PC Building enthusiast sites (like Tom's Hardware). It's a super durable and high-performance customer award winner that comes with a lifetime manufacturer's warranty. I've used it on several different builds and never had an issue.

G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) Ripjaws X Series DDR3 1600MHz 240-Pin PC3-12800 Desktop Memory F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
Amazon Price: $43.98

G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) Ripjaws X Series DDR3 1600MHz PC3-12800 240-Pin Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM
Amazon Price: $59.69

G.skill Ripjaws X Series 16gb (4 X 4gb) 240-pin Ddr3 Sdram Ddr3 1600 (Pc3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800cl9q-16gbxl
Amazon Price: $92.00

4.) Corsair Dominator

Corsair Dominator is an extreme performance and overclocking stabile memory that uses Dual-path Heat Xchange cooling technology and comes with removable heat sinks. A Lifetime Warranty is Included.

Technical details for the featured model (CMP8GX3M2A1600C9) include 8GB (2 x 4GB) of DDR3 1600 Ram with 9-9-9-24 timing (Cas - 9) and used as dual channel kit.

Corsair Dominator 8 GB 2 x 4 GB PC3-12800 1600mHz 240-pin CAS 9 Dual Channel DDR3 Core i3, i5, i7 Memory Kit CMP8GX3M2A1600C9
Amazon Price: $57.99

Corsair Dominator 16 GB 4 x 4 GB PC3-10666 1333mHz 240-pin CAS 9 Dual Channel DDR3 Core i3, i5, i7 Memory Kit CMP16GX3M4A1333C9
Amazon Price: $130.99

Corsair 32 GB Dominator DDR3 1600MHz 240-Pin SDRAM CMP32GX3M4X1600C10
Amazon Price: $209.99

5.) Corsair XMS3

Corsair's XMS3 is another really good option for your rig. It's available in all capacities but I suggest you purchase all the ram you need at the same time to take advantage of the multiple channel architecture in order to take advantage of the better data throughput.

Again, 16GB, in my opinion is plenty while 8GB should run most games just fine.

Corsair XMS3 4 GB 1333MHz PC3-10666 240-pin DDR3 Memory Kit for Intel Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD CMX4GX3M1A1333C9
Amazon Price: $19.99

Corsair XMS3 8 GB (2 x 4GB) 1333 MHz PC3-10666 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit CMX8GX3M2A1333C9
Amazon Price: $34.00

Corsair XMS3 16GB (4x 4GB) PC3-10666 1333MHz DDR3 Memory Kit for AMD and Intel Dual Channel Processors CMX16GX3M4A1333C9
Amazon Price: $74.95

Top 10 Desktop DDR3 Gaming Ram Continued

#6-10

8GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-14900 1866MHz Sniper Series (9-10-9-28) Dual Channel kit

The recently released G. Skill Sniper Gaming series is already creating a lot of buzz in the gaming community. It's available in low voltage and a wide variety of kits and sizes. Lifetime Warranty included

Buy Now

Patriot Memory Gaming Series 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR2 PC2-6400 5-5-5-12 Dual Channel Kit PGS28G6400ELK

Patriot Extreme performance gaming series Ram is 100% tested and verified gaming ram that with lightweight aluminum heat-dispersing shields. Stable for overclocking and extreme performance use. Lifetime Warranty included.

Buy Now