DDR2 1066 or DRR3 1333 for E6750

X

Xile

n00b
Joined
Jan 4, 2008
Messages
3
I’ve been out of the comp building for a few years and am trying to catch up. I’m planning on building a new computer and trying to decide on whether or not to purchase an E6750 or E6600. My dilemma is that I don’t want to pay $200+ for DDR3 1333 memory when the DDR 1066 is only about $80.

So my question is this. If I purchased an E6750 and 2gig of DDR1066 would it work? If it does will the processor be scaled down and run slower? This is the system I’m planning (any comments or recommendations on the system build would be much appreciated):

1x GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
1x Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
1x EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
1x Rosewill RP550-2 ATX12V v2.01 550W Power Supply 115/230 V CSA,UL,TUV, FCC
1x G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
1x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
1x ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

Thanks!
 
You show DDR2 800 in your list which will work fine with the processor. FYI FSB and memory speeds don't need to be the same. In fact anything over DDR2 800, unless you are overclocking, is just a waist of $ in my opinion (I have DDR2 800 and am overclocking just fine with it).
 
Youve misunderstood...1066/1333 is the front side bus speed of the CPU in QDR (Quad Data Rate) so your FSB with a 1066 cpu is actually 266. Take this number and multiply it by two (for DDR, double data rare) and you get 533. If your going to run your CPU at stock speeds, all you would need is DDR2-533 ram, or pc4200. 1333 fsb...same thing, divide by 4 = 333, mutiply by 2 = 667. DDR2-667, or PC5300. The higher speed memorys are for people who overclock very high. Dont waste your money on DDR3 right now, you wont get past 500mhz FSB (2000 QDR) with out some serious hardware.

Also, like the above poster mentioned, they dont need to be the same speed, however, the lower one will bottleneck the other.
 
Thanks for the excellent replies gentlemen, and thanks for showing me the math nissanztt90. I guess I'll just stick with the DDR2-800.
 
Sure thing, DDR2-800 will be fine for even a decent amount of CPU clocking as well, i would however suggest you look for a kit with a CAS of 4, instead of 5. Im not sure if there is a significant price differential or not.
 
Doesn't look like the price difference is much at all. What's the benefit of getting memory with a CAS of 4 instead of 5? How much of a performance increase would you expect to see?
 
nissanztt90 said:
Youve misunderstood...1066/1333 is the front side bus speed of the CPU in QDR (Quad Data Rate) so your FSB with a 1066 cpu is actually 266. Take this number and multiply it by two (for DDR, double data rare) and you get 533. If your going to run your CPU at stock speeds, all you would need is DDR2-533 ram, or pc4200. 1333 fsb...same thing, divide by 4 = 333, mutiply by 2 = 667. DDR2-667, or PC5300. The higher speed memorys are for people who overclock very high. Dont waste your money on DDR3 right now, you wont get past 500mhz FSB (2000 QDR) with out some serious hardware.

Also, like the above poster mentioned, they dont need to be the same speed, however, the lower one will bottleneck the other.
Click to expand...

super informative

CPU speed = FSB X Multi
RAM speed = FSB X RAM divider

Q9450 speed = FSB X 8 ………. Q9450 @ 4000Mhz means FSB = 500 (which is maybe the max that Yorkfields would reach)
based on what you said….. using 1066 RAM means 533FSB which is like a dream with the Yorkfields (except the Extreme family)
so 1066 RAM would be enough for Yorkfield (OC)

E8500 speed = FSB X 9.5 ………. E8500 @ 5000 means FSB = 526 (which is easy for the Wolfades)
based on what you said … 667 RAM (DDR3@1333) is enough for Wolfades (OC) / I don’t know if Wolfades can easily go beyond 667 but I don’t think so

so unless you have a CPU running at something like 625Mhz FSB, DDR3 is pointless
so DDR3 is pointless with Yorkfield
so unless you are planning to go above 5000 with some chip like the E8500, DDR3 is pointless (533 RAM X 9.5 E8500 Multi = 5000)

my question here, if we forget the relationship between the RAM and the CPU and the FSB and overclocking and all that stuff, should a DDR3@1600 act faster than a DDR2@800? I mean if we stabilized all the other things and changed the DIM’s…would it make a difference?

E8500 @ 4553 (on air)
 
For the most part, what you said it correct. The thing with ram is you want the speed to be matched to the FSB. Anything different, and one will bottleneck the other. For instance, if your FSB is 400, using DDR2-800, they will both be running at the same speed. If instead you used DDR3-1600, your ram would be running twice as fast as your FSB, which is more or less a waste because the FSB will be bottlenecking it at 400.

Basically, take what your FSB goal is, and multiply it by 2, thats the DDR2-xxxx ram you want. In my opinion, right now, DDR3 is pointless, since motherboards cant go much higher than 500ish FSB with out spending a ton of money. DDR3 is really only for the uber high end stuff, and not econimical for most people right now. So for an FSB of 533, which is ridiculously high (currently), DDR2 is fine, and there is plenty DDR2-1066 available.
 
I have a question here, basically I’m aiming for the Q9450
and planning to use some advanced water cooling system (2 big rads…etc) through a SS TJ07 case though I know I maybe over-cooling the Q9450

now I’m planning to pick any available high-end X48 board by the time Q9450 is available
since X48 will (officially) support DDR3 only, I’m I now over-RAMing the Q9450?

I know I may answered my question in my previous post but I just want to make sure,
if I was over-cooling the Q9450 with that WC plan…at least I’ll have a good view through its side panel
but I’m afraid I’ll pay A LOT $$ for a high-end X48 + DDR3@1333 and end up with the same OC/stability results that I could’ve had if I picked a P35 MOBO+DDR2@800/or 1066max

and what’s really killing me here, that’s X48 will have the same short life time like the X38 since Nehalem and further chips will be using a new Socket
so in 2009 I’ll end up with a X48 mobo that doesn’t support Nehalem and didn’t give me any real performance difference over other boards during 2008
and with a very expensive DDR3 that would be cheaper in 2009 and that didn’t offer me any additional performance during 2008-01-06

should I drop the X38 idea? And get some P35 or X38 that supports DDR2?
should I spend that extra money on the Q9550 since it’s higher multi (8.5 instead of 8 in the Q9450) will match my water cooling plan?
based on this is $600 the average that I would pay for a 2x2GB DDR3@1333 RAM?
 
Yeah you pretty much got everything right. Find a motherboard that can do an FSB higher than the fastest DDR2, then consider DDR3. Since we have DDR2 that goes up to 1300, that means you need a motherboard capable of an FSB of 650+ before you need DDR3.

The best option i think right now would be a p35 or x38, with some real high end DDR2, and go for the higher-multi Penryn. And yes, all DDR3 is pretty expensive.

but I’m afraid I’ll pay A LOT $$ for a high-end X48 + DDR3@1333 and end up with the same OC/stability results that I could’ve had if I picked a P35 MOBO+DDR2@800/or 1066max

Yeah pretty much. P35 + real good DDR2. Dont forget, 4 sticks wont overclock as well as 2, and higher density chips wont overclock as well as lesser density chips. Really the only pointless thing about DDR3 though is that there is no motherboard with an FSB that can really take advantage of it yet. Yeah its gonna have alot higher bandwidth, only to be slowed back down by the FSB. I would think the much higher bandwidth would help though if you were fulfilling your memory capacity.
 
super thanx you really cleared everything here
I would think the much higher bandwidth would help though if you were fulfilling your memory capacity.
Click to expand...
much higher memory bandwidth or board bandwidth?
if memory... then comes my n00b question again.... if we put OC and CPU FSB aside.. will a DDR3@1600 perform faster than a DDR2@800? yes a chip like Q9450 will not use that extra 800 (1600-800) but it would make the PC faster since data is being sent to/from the faster? right?

X38 supports DDR2 as well. Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6, Asus Maximus Formula, etc. are all DDR2-based X38 boards.

However, I would avoid the X38 chipset in a basic MB rec since the P35 provides 99.9% of the performance at something like half the cost. X48 is just X38 with official 1600mhz FSB support, which most X38 boards do now anyway...
Click to expand...
my last shot at X48….would some models support DDR2?
what's the best best most expensive P35 board out there?
 
firas said:
super thanx you really cleared everything here

much higher memory bandwidth or board bandwidth?
if memory... then comes my n00b question again.... if we put OC and CPU FSB aside.. will a DDR3@1600 perform faster than a DDR2@800? yes a chip like Q9450 will not use that extra 800 (1600-800) but it would make the PC faster since data is being sent to/from the faster? right?


my last shot at X48….would some models support DDR2?
what's the best best most expensive P35 board out there?
Click to expand...


1. Technically speaking, yes, DDR3@1600 will obviously perform faster than DDR2-800, but realisticly speaking...no, not really. The FSB is what connects the CPU to the memory. Matching your memory speed to your FSB speed is the absolutely best, and most cost efficient route to take. Anything else would be a diminishing return. If you want an FSB of 533, you want DDR2-1066. If you want an FSB of 333, you want DDR2-667. If you want a Core 2 Duo with an FSB of 1066.....and your not going to OC, then all you need is DDR2-533 because 1066 divided by 4 = 266. Mulitply times 2, and thats the memory speed you want. Alot of people see higher numbers and automatically thing its better and faster.

2. You dont need an expensive board for a good overclock. The gigabyte P35 DS3L is under 100 dollars, and will overclock as well as the one that costs 180. The differences are generally extra features on the motherboard like another PCIe slot or RAID. The chipset is what makes for the better overclocking since you wont have an unlocked CPU multiplier.
 
The chipset is what makes for the better overclocking since you wont have an unlocked CPU multiplier
Click to expand...
so will X38 be better than P35 (OC)?
I was thinking of these 2 P35 boards: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L & ABIT IP35 Pro
and these 2 X38 (supports DDR2): ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA & ASUS P5E
I saw some good reviews about all of them but I’m leaning towards the X38 boards cuz … well… I gave the board around $300 budget (when I was aiming for X48) but still hate to pay $200+ for the same performance and OC results

EDIT:
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2989&p=7
Far Cry - HOC River
DDR2-800: 102.91 FPS
DDR3-1333: 103.18
 
Really high end ddr2 isnt just for extremely overclocked intels and people who unknowingly waste money :p there are amds too. We try to make up for our poor processing power with lots of memory bandwidth.

But yes, DDR3 is still in that "ZOMG new stuff!" phase that all new hardware goes through. It took a while for ddr2 to get better than ddr1 and a while longer for it to become worth the extra dough. Look at it now though.
 
let's make it simple: pick out the mobo you want, and then get ram that it supports. the memory standard won't make a difference either way, outside of your wallet that is :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top