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Need Help in Deciding Memory for New Build

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jaydub

New Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2008
I'm trying to decide whether I should go DDR2 or DDR3 for my next build. For purposes of this discussion, cost is NOT as issue. Known components will be:
- Intel Q9550 quad-core CPU @ FSB 1333
- X48 Northbridge
- 4GB of either DDR2 CAS 4 or DDR3 CAS 7

I don't really intend to overclock, but I do want fast yet stable performance, and I figure you guys probably know more about his than most. My understanding is that Core 2 likes the memory to be in synch with the FSB. So, the two options are:
1. Go DDR2 and run the memory at DDR 667 (333x2) IN SYNCH with a FSB of 1333 (333x4).
2. Go DDR3 and run the memroy at DDR 1333 (667x2) or DDR 1600 (800x2) OUT OF SYNCH with a FSB of 1333 (333x4). This presumes that DDR3 can be run at 2x or 2.4x the speed of the FSB (is that possible?).

- Which option would provide better performance? Although DDR3 might appear to be the better choice, I'm not so sure given the FSB bottleneck and higher latency of DDR3.
- Is it possible to run DDR3 at 2x or 2.4x the speed of the FSB. If I go DDR3, I will be getting either a Asus P5E64 WS Evolution or a Gigabyte GAX48T-DQ6.

Thanks in advance for your time.
 
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If cost is not a issue going ddr3 would be smart because that's going to be the standard, you want to run your ram as fast as possible because it will give you more speed, it does not work best synced with cpu. It also depends on the mobo about what dividers you can use to get certain clocks on your ram.
 
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