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Building a rig, should I use 780i (DDR2) or 790i(DDR3)

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dim1014

Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2008
Hey guys, I'm kind of new to all of this so I apologize of some of what I write isn't clear and thank you in advance for reading and helping me. I am building a new computer and have encountered a dilemma. Here's some background.

Q9650 / Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme (haven't decided on fan yet, any suggestions?)

EVGA GTX 280 FTW Edition

CM690 Case

The dilemma I am having is whether I should get the EVGA 780i FTW board and get 8 gb (4x 2 gb) DDR2 800 OCZ ram, or for about 150$ more get a 790i FTW Digital board with probably 4gb of OCZ ram. I want my system to be as efficient as possible for gaming and such, and to provide possibility for further upgrades. It seems like DDR3 has not hit its potential yet so I'd be better off getting the 780i and having 8 gb of ram. Also I know the new processors that are coming out (Nehalem) won't even support LGA775 boards so maybe it doesn't even matter what I get because to do next gen upgrades a new board would be needed anyway? (if I were to ever upgrade my cpu)

Would the 780i bottleneck me in any way? (considering the graphics card and processor I am getting?).

If I wanted to overclock the Q9650 from 3.0 ghz or 3.6 ghz (400 mhz fsb), would I be able to do that without a hassle on a 780i? (considering DDR2 800 ram is also 400 mhz and the board supports that?) From what I can I see, with air cooling, a 790i board would be overkill because I wouldn't even be able to overclock high enough to make use of its increased FSB, am I right?

And lastly, what do you guys think of this setup? Any comments/suggestions are welcome.

Thanks in advance for the help, I really appreciate it.
 
Motherboard

I have also been looking for a new motherboard. From all of the things that i have found out the 780i or 790i are only good if you actually plan on running SLI since i has so many problems. Like the post above me says get a board that uses P45 or X48. As expensive as it is i would reccommend the ASUS Rampage Extreme to anyone (X48)(DDR3). Nvidia based motherboards are not that good. These otherchipsets can however run crossfire. If youve got the money for DDR3 now then get it because it will soon be the standard and you will find yourself with RAM you cannot use on future high performance setups.
 
I have also been looking for a new motherboard. From all of the things that i have found out the 780i or 790i are only good if you actually plan on running SLI since i has so many problems. Like the post above me says get a board that uses P45 or X48. As expensive as it is i would reccommend the ASUS Rampage Extreme to anyone (X48)(DDR3). Nvidia based motherboards are not that good. These otherchipsets can however run crossfire. If youve got the money for DDR3 now then get it because it will soon be the standard and you will find yourself with RAM you cannot use on future high performance setups.

Sorry forgot to mention with the GPU you are getting you will not need SLI for a long time as it is a very powerful card (currently only beaten by a 4870X2) You will be able to play any cross platform games and more with no problems.
 
DDR3

Thanks for the input guys. I think I'll go with DDR3 to prevent being left in the dust for RAM updates.
2 questions now
1) what DDR3 boards do you guys recommend? I heard the rampage but that one is way expensive so I'm not sure if I want to shell out. Are there any other good options?

2) With my aircooling setup, the FSB on a DDR3 motherboard would be overkill right? Like Both my DDR3 RAM and the motherboard FSB will probably be at DDR3 1600(this is 800 mhz right?) and my cpu will only be at 400 mhz. And if its overkill, will it be a problem? Thanks.
 
I have also been looking for a new motherboard. From all of the things that i have found out the 780i or 790i are only good if you actually plan on running SLI since i has so many problems. Like the post above me says get a board that uses P45 or X48. As expensive as it is i would reccommend the ASUS Rampage Extreme to anyone (X48)(DDR3). Nvidia based motherboards are not that good. These otherchipsets can however run crossfire. If youve got the money for DDR3 now then get it because it will soon be the standard and you will find yourself with RAM you cannot use on future high performance setups.

I have to agree on the Rampage extreme but with the new x58 technology coming out, wouldn't it be a waste to splurge on an expensive motherboard, only to find it being outdated in ~3 months?

That being said, I'll go with the cost efficient P5Q Pro, which uses a p45 chipset.


Thanks for the input guys. I think I'll go with DDR3 to prevent being left in the dust for RAM updates.
2 questions now
1) what DDR3 boards do you guys recommend? I heard the rampage but that one is way expensive so I'm not sure if I want to shell out. Are there any other good options?

2) With my aircooling setup, the FSB on a DDR3 motherboard would be overkill right? Like Both my DDR3 RAM and the motherboard FSB will probably be at DDR3 1600(this is 800 mhz right?) and my cpu will only be at 400 mhz. And if its overkill, will it be a problem? Thanks.

2) Not really. You could set the divider to something like 4:5 or 1:2 which increases RAM bandwidth. For your case, you could use 1600mhz or 1.6ghz RAM.
 
right I remember the divider. Are there any cons to doing that? I remember reading something about inefficiency or instability ( on the oc guide on these forums)?
 
I was going to mention about the X58 but the thing is that all the ones i have seen for pre-order say they will only accept the new i7 CPUs which are expensive also.

Im sorry i cant really help with prices as im from England and pay in Pounds (£'s). The stuff here is way more expensive as we have to pay like almost 20% tax on almost everything unless you are an established business.

For example Rampage extreme on newegg costs $390 = around £200

But.. It costs £300+ to buy it here
 
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