Need DDR2 or DDR3 MB advice

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southpaw

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Upgrading my system to do H.264 video editing. Looking for advice and opinions on the 2 setups below. Not sure of DDR3 is worth the ~$190 price increase.

DDR2 System $899.96
ASUS P5Q Deluxe
G.SKILL 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
BFG Tech GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz


DDR3 System $1,084.95
ASUS P5Q3 DELUXE/WIFI-AP
2 X G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
BFG Tech GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz
 
southpaw said:
Upgrading my system to do H.264 video editing. Looking for advice and opinions on the 2 setups below. Not sure of DDR3 is worth the ~$190 price increase.

DDR2 System $899.96
ASUS P5Q Deluxe
G.SKILL 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
BFG Tech GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz


DDR3 System $1,084.95
ASUS P5Q3 DELUXE/WIFI-AP
2 X G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
BFG Tech GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz
Click to expand...

Neither. The DDR2 system, as configured, fills up all four memory slots with double-sided modules, which may slow down the memory performance by about 10 to 15 percent (which, in turn, might slow down application/gaming performance slightly) - while DDR3 memory currently holds no real-world performance advantage over DDR2 memory in today's systems. And consumer 32-bit versions of Windows (XP or Vista) will not see any of the additional 4GB of memory in the above DDR2 system; you will need a 64-bit OS or a 32-bit server OS in order to see all 8GB of that memory.

In addition, I'd get a different GPU than the 9800GTX+ as that card is a bit overpriced for its performance: It performs about equal to an AMD Radeon HD 4850, but costs a bit more money.
 
Why go for a 9800GTX+ for video editing? Assuming you're rendering to a file on disk, rather than rendering to screen, you don't need a very high-end video card. Something like an 8600GT will be enough. Faster HDDs will have a much larger impact on performance. So unless you're going to game on the same PC, the 9800GTX+ will be a waste.
 
E4g1e said:
Neither. The DDR2 system, as configured, fills up all four memory slots with double-sided modules, which will slow down the memory performance by about 10 to 15 percent (which, in turn, might slow down application/gaming performance slightly).....
Click to expand...

If the memory is listed as being run in 4up on a motherboard's QVL, and is listed as D/S, not S/S, does that equate to what you are saying?

Are you saying that the motherboard will run fine with all four slots filled, but will still be slower? (if D/S) But, if all 4 sticks were S/S, and on the QVL, you could run 4up with no speed penalty?

I want to make sure I understand this correctly, because I want to fill all the slots in my new build, damnit. But, I guess that means I need to find 4 sticks of single sided ram?

I guess QVL is just about compatibility, not performance, huh?

edit: the reason for this, is I want 8GB of ram, and I'm not here to debate why I need it- I'm here to get some info on how to do it properly on my build that will happen soon. (I've never filled all the ram slots before). :D

edit again: For example, on the QVL of the Asus P5Q-Pro, there are no 2GB modules listed that are S/S. There aren't any 4GB modules listed at all (the only 4GB listed are just sets of 2-2GB sticks, of course)

That's not to say the board can't handle 4GB sticks- it's just not on the QVL. So, for people that are running 8GB.... what are they doing to avoid a performance decrease from loading too many banks on the memory controller???
 
TOOL1075 said:
Are you saying that the motherboard will run fine with all four slots filled, but will still be slower? (if D/S)
Click to expand...

That's usually the case, assuming that all four sticks are exactly identical to one another. But if even one of those four sticks is slightly different, then anything could happen.
 
E4g1e said:
That's usually the case, assuming that all four sticks are exactly identical to one another. But if even one of those four sticks is slightly different, then anything could happen.
Click to expand...

right. so, what are the people who are running 8GB now doing about their performance decrease? Also, do you happen to have a link to some benchmarks that show the performance decrease?

thanks for the help.
 
E4g1e said:
The DDR2 system, as configured, fills up all four memory slots with double-sided modules, which will slow down the memory performance by about 10 to 15 percent (which, in turn, might slow down application/gaming performance slightly)
Click to expand...

Wait, what? Any sources for that statement?
 
Danny Bui said:
Wait, what? Any sources for that statement?
Click to expand...

I had said that the memory bandwidth might slow down when more than a certain number of banks of memory are filled on a motherboard due to the loading issues on modern ultra-high-speed memory controllers. I just worded it inappropriately. Generally speaking, dual-channel memory controllers work best with only four banks of memory used (note that four banks do not equal four sticks of memory; in fact, one D/S stick of memory already takes up two banks on the memory controller).
 
It would be interesting (and very informative) to see actual benchmarks showing the performance difference.
 
is there anybody out there?? lol

what? you want me to google??? lol

I actually have.... I shall try again I suppose...
 
Just go for the 8GB of DDR2 RAM. Little difference between that and 4GB of DDR3 RAM. Since DDR3 RAM is $190 more and offers less RAM, it's a no brainer.
 
Danny Bui said:
Just go for the 8GB of DDR2 RAM. Little difference between that and 4GB of DDR3 RAM. Since DDR3 RAM is $190 more and offers less RAM, it's a no brainer.
Click to expand...

lol I agree.

I think I started to post in this thread accidentally- I have no interest in DDR3 whatsoever- I just want to run 8GB without making my memory controller cry
 
A- Intel memory controller its a joke, CAS 3 DDR2 667 operates less than 3% below CAS5 DDR2 1200
B- The performance gap between 8GB DDR2 667 CAS 4 and 4 GB DDR 1333 CAS 6 is nonexistant outside the superPi world
C- just because a given 8GB config is not listed on the QVL does not mean that it wont work, my 4 sticks are debranded ADATA modules and would never make QVL for the P5W DH ( not even the branded Adata ones are sancioned for 4x1Gb operation LOL)
D-I believe that the P5Q can run 4gb modules of DDR2 667, but the money would be better spent on a 4x1TB RAID 1+0 array for unprecedent speed and safety.
 
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