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I am looking into building my first computer and am currently stuck on what RAM to buy. I've landed on G.Skill's Trident Z, but while shopping I noticed the same RAM was priced at two drastically different prices.

As far as I can tell, the only difference between these two options is the model. Can anyone help me understand why they are priced so differently?

Here are some links at NewEgg for reference:

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  • Unfortunately, this question will get a lot of opinion-based answers. It's the free market, there may be supply constrictions on the more expensive model, there may be unlisted differences, there may be unpublished quality control problems with the cheaper one, it might be a listing error... dozens of other speculative answers.
    – MountainMan
    Commented Sep 20, 2018 at 23:48
  • The only difference is the RAM timings. The timing makes such a marginal difference in performance, that you wouldn't notice any real world difference. The performance timing differences would be within a nanosecond or less. Get the cheaper set and save yourself $50.
    – DrZoo
    Commented Sep 21, 2018 at 0:44

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There is a difference in the specifications of the two models you are asking about. If you scroll to the bottom of the two pages you linked to, you will see that the "Timings" of the cheaper model are "16-18-18-38". For the more expensive model, the "Timings" are "14-14-14-34".

For more information on what these numbers mean, read this article (it is a little old, but should explain the concept). The short explanation is that lower numbers are better.

Whether the lower timings of the more expensive model will be worth the additional cost in your case is difficult to tell. You could look for a review of different RAM models using the applications or games you use the most; that might give you an idea of whether you will see the benefit of the lower timings.

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  • Thank you! I'll do some more research on RAM timings before I make my decision then.
    – Sage Hemm
    Commented Sep 21, 2018 at 1:11

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