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which mobo?

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Jay-Z

Registered
Joined
Jul 16, 2008
I'm gonna buy the Q9450 processor, but I'm not sure which mobo I need to buy.
Would it be better to have a mobo which supports both DDR2 and DDR3? I wanted to buy the Asus P5E but it only supports DDR2. I guess that problem comes with all mobo's with the X38 chipset?
What is a good motherboard that supports DDR2 and DDR3?
And which chipset? (P45, X48?)

Other problem on the Asus P5E:
I've looked on the asus site for my mobo:

www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=572&l4=0&model=1873&modelmenu=1



when you look at Memory Features; Dual-Channel DDR2 1066, you see that they say this:

While in DDR2 1066 mode, ASUS´s exclusive technology offers a choice of FSB 1333 - providing great performance for 3D graphics and other memory demanding applications.



What does this mean exactly? My mobo supports 1600 MHz FSB right? is the max frequency on DDR2 1333 now?
 
I'm gonna buy the Q9450 processor, but I'm not sure which mobo I need to buy.
Would it be better to have a mobo which supports both DDR2 and DDR3? I wanted to buy the Asus P5E but it only supports DDR2. I guess that problem comes with all mobo's with the X38 chipset?
What is a good motherboard that supports DDR2 and DDR3?
And which chipset? (P45, X48?)
I've not heard great things about mobos that support both RAM types. I would get one or the other.

Other problem on the Asus P5E:
I've looked on the asus site for my mobo:

www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=572&l4=0&model=1873&modelmenu=1



when you look at Memory Features; Dual-Channel DDR2 1066, you see that they say this:

While in DDR2 1066 mode, ASUS´s exclusive technology offers a choice of FSB 1333 - providing great performance for 3D graphics and other memory demanding applications.



What does this mean exactly? My mobo supports 1600 MHz FSB right? is the max frequency on DDR2 1333 now?

They're talking about the RAM ratio. Say if you're running fsb 333 (1333mhz) you can run the RAM at 1066. This is called a RAM divider. For example, if you're running 1:1 your ram would only be running at 333 (or 667mhz) rather than it's rated speed. Until you get up to 500fsb 1:1 ratio won't give you 1000mhz RAM speed. But if you change the ratio to 5:6, for example, your RAM speed will go up by that ratio to the FSB :)


As far as choosing a board, what are your overclocking goals? Are you wanting to run a multi-gpu setup like crossfire/SLI?
 
All right, I think I get it.. so you can set the frequency at the rate you want? And you can also have RAM with 1600MHz with 1600 FSB?

No, I don't want to run crossfire (at least not yet, maybe in the future) I'm going to buy the Radeon X4870.

The DDR2 and DDR3 is not a good option if i understand you correctly? But what can go wrong if you take it? I'm only wanting it to buy for the future, because I'm going to buy DDR2 for now.
 
All right, I think I get it.. so you can set the frequency at the rate you want? And you can also have RAM with 1600MHz with 1600 FSB?

Actually the RAM would be running at 800mhz at 1600mhz FSB. If you're at 400fsb in BIOS, that = 1600fsb (it's times 4) but RAM would be at 800 (it's times 2). It can be a little confusing at first.

No, I don't want to run crossfire (at least not yet, maybe in the future) I'm going to buy the Radeon X4870.

The DDR2 and DDR3 is not a good option if i understand you correctly? But what can go wrong if you take it? I'm only wanting it to buy for the future, because I'm going to buy DDR2 for now.

You can if you really want. If you're doing light overclocking you'll probably be fine. In your other thread you mention 1600mhz RAM, you're not going to get that from DDR2, it'll have to be DDR3.

Unfortunately I can't recommend a motherboard that supports both, I've never used one :(
 
Actually the RAM would be running at 800mhz at 1600mhz FSB. If you're at 400fsb in BIOS, that = 1600fsb (it's times 4) but RAM would be at 800 (it's times 2). It can be a little confusing at first.
Ok, so it's best for me to buy just 800MHz RAM? (that's already 1600 actually?)
EDIT: No.... I see what u mean already... so i better take 1200MHz RAM?

You can if you really want. If you're doing light overclocking you'll probably be fine. In your other thread you mention 1600mhz RAM, you're not going to get that from DDR2, it'll have to be DDR3.

Yes, I'm going to overclock the memory anyway, so it would not be a problem then? I'm going to buy DDR3 in the future.
 
If you get a really nice set of RAM (not necessarily expensive tho) you'll be able to push it about as far as you want within reason. 1200mhz is pretty high up there as far as DDR2 goes though.
 
What do you guys think of these two mobo's?

-Asrock X48TurboTwins-WiFi
-MSI X48C Platinum
 
i would take MSI over Asrock anyday of the week but i still have a hard time suggesting MSI at all.. have you thought about any others?
 
Tho both those brands don't make boards for the extreme overclocker, I would choose the MSI.

Be advised tho those boards don't overclock well. They're more for the set-n-forget with a little tweaking for a little performance increase. If you're looking for the high FSB/Raw cpu speed, these boards aren't gonna do it.
 
But they both have FSB at 1600MHz.. What else won't overclock well then? 1600MHz is enough for me tho. Do you mean you want higher then 1600?

But I'm not an extreme overclocker anyway.
 
But they both have FSB at 1600MHz.. What else won't overclock well then? 1600MHz is enough for me tho. Do you mean you want higher then 1600?

But I'm not an extreme overclocker anyway.

What those brands "state" and what they "do" are 2 totally different things. If you want to throw your money away on something that is not tried and true, then go right ahead. But then don't be disapointed after spending that money and your board does not reach that desired speed.
 
i would take MSI over Asrock anyday of the week but i still have a hard time suggesting MSI at all.. have you thought about any others?

I wish I had more choice, but I couldn't find any mobo's with a X38/X48 chip and FSB 1600MHz and DDR2/DDR3 support..
Maybe you know something?
 
What those brands "state" and what they "do" are 2 totally different things. If you want to throw your money away on something that is not tried and true, then go right ahead. But then don't be disapointed after spending that money and your board does not reach that desired speed.

Damn.. not cool to hear that. But do you have a good alternative? A board that supports both DDR2 and DDR3?
 
dont get a hybrid Ram board, they have voltage issues. as in if your running DDR2 and you up the voltage. its uppping it more then your selecting. please get a DDR2 only or DDR3 only board...
 
dont get a hybrid Ram board, they have voltage issues. as in if your running DDR2 and you up the voltage. its uppping it more then your selecting. please get a DDR2 only or DDR3 only board...

Ok, then which of the following boards do you guys recommend? (you can bring up any other type too)

-GigaByte GA-X48-DQ6
-Asus Rampage Formula
-Asus P5E (probably the one I'm going to buy)
-GigaByte GA-EX38-DS4
 
i would take one of the 2 gigabyte boards... Brollok's said he had issues with the P5E board. the other im not sure on, might be a good one...
 
did some googling and guess GigaByte GA-EX38-DS4 is indeed a better choice
 
Don't get an X38. The DQ6 and the Rampage are both nice boards :thup:

Why not? what's the benefit of those boards? they cost more money too.
What is the benefit of having a X48 over a X38?
 
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