Stick with DDR2 or move to DDR3?

sup3rcarrx8 · Jun 26, 2009

I'm contemplating on whether or not to use DDR3 in my next computer. Is it the right time to upgrade my systems to the DDR3 chips or maybe wait a bit longer? I noticed on Newegg that the prices are not too shabby. If i move to DDR3, will i notice any noticeable speed differences in terms of real word performance such as intensive gaming and normal usage? Thanks for any input! :screwy:

zbo · Jun 27, 2009

It depends, do you plan to use 775 with DDR3 or upgrade to 1366/1156 and use DDR3?

sup3rcarrx8 · Jun 27, 2009

I will most likely upgrade to DDR3 and stick with a slightly faster speed for OC'ing.

Michael Biehn · Jun 27, 2009

sup3rcarrx8 said:
I'm contemplating on whether or not to use DDR3 in my next computer ... will i notice any noticeable speed differences in terms of real word performance such as intensive gaming and normal usage?

Funny you mention this, AnandTech recently posted a really informative article about bandwidth increases with higher speed/tighter timing DDR3 memory. It doesn't have a direct comparison between DDR2 and DDR3, but it does have a section detailing real world benefits of higher speed/lower latency DDR3. So, to answer your question, yes you will see speed differences with DDR3 as opposed to DDR2, however, depending on the platform you choose to be on (1366 vs 775), making the upgrade might not be worth it. Like zbo said, it really depends on whether or not you decide to stay with s775. With the OCZ Blade PC2-9600 4gb kit, staying with DDR2 is looking more attractive than ever, and you will get very high speeds for a fraction of the cost of upgrading and entire system.

sup3rcarrx8 · Jun 27, 2009

Guess i'll be sticking with DDR2 for a little longer then. Thanks for the article!

Michael Biehn · Jun 28, 2009

No problem, it's a great read as is most of what is posted on AT

MongGrel · Jun 28, 2009

The OCZ blades work pretty snappy here

Rich'[ard] · Jun 28, 2009

sup3rcarrx8 said:
Guess i'll be sticking with DDR2 for a little longer then. Thanks for the article!

yeah, ddr3 is pretty pointless for socket 775.
socket 775 cpus weren't built for it, th extra bandwidth from ddr3 doens't benefit Core2's.

i'd say only switch to ddr3 when you go i7..but i guess it's compulsory by then

DocClock aka MadClocker · Jun 29, 2009

Rich'[ard] said:
yeah, ddr3 is pretty pointless for socket 775.
socket 775 cpus weren't built for it, th extra bandwidth from ddr3 doens't benefit Core2's.

i'd say only switch to ddr3 when you go i7..but i guess it's compulsory by then

I thought that current cores could handle all the memory bandwidth that the chipset can throw at it?

The P35 chipset and up can all handle ddr3.
I can't compare 'cause the investment in ddr2 was enough already, even though this board of mine is ddr2/3 ready

Rich'[ard] · Jun 29, 2009

DocClock aka MadClocker said:
I thought that current cores could handle all the memory bandwidth that the chipset can throw at it?

The P35 chipset and up can all handle ddr3.
I can't compare 'cause the investment in ddr2 was enough already, even though this board of mine is ddr2/3 ready

yeh, i guess it will help when overclocking with FSB, but the extra bandwidth it has over ddr2 doens't really do anything, becuase you want to be running your RAM and FSB at 1:1 ratio. so you'd get better benchmarking scores with higher bandwidth ram, but when it comes to gaming or normal usage.

it's not like everybody runs at 600mhz+ FSB all day long :santa:

i think that's how it goes anyway. i might be wrong.

Bo_Fox · Jul 6, 2009

heard there would be 4GB DDR3 sticks out in a few months.

Rich'[ard] · Jul 7, 2009

Bo_Fox said:
heard there would be 4GB DDR3 sticks out in a few months.

24gb RAM in an i7 system

that will be nuts.
but i'm sure speed will be compromised for the more GB.

Bo_Fox · Jul 7, 2009

Yep, 24GB is the maximum supported on most X58 motherboards today. At least it should be enough for Vista! *grins*

Stick with DDR2 or move to DDR3?

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