Best speed of RAM for my mobo cpu combo?

[coremortality]

Can I run DDR2 800 with the E6600 or should I be running ram at the same FSB of 1066? I thought I read a post here on Anandtech where people were recommending slower ram to save money.

I'm building a new system that will be primarily a work system but will also be used for mild gaming (HL2, TF2, WoW). I'm going to be using the Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 with the E6600. I wont be doing any overclocking so I'm looking for the most solid performance possible out of the box. I plan on starting with only 2 gb but I may add another 2 if i decided to take the plunge with Vista.

Thanks.

-Eric

-edited to add additional information.

 

[cprince]

DDR2 800 would be okay for the DS3 motherboard. If you want to save some money, you could use DDR2 533. The different won't be much. See: http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2813&p=1

It's really not worth the money if you add another 2GB of memory unless you use Vista 64-bit edition. The 32-bit edition(like XP 32-bit) can only address about 3.12GB. So you have almost 1GB of RAM wasted.

 

[rdp6]

I just got the E6600 with that mobo (rev 3.3) with some G. Skill DDR2 800 (was cheap) from the egg. I also got a 650W silverstone PSU... anyways, the system runs fine at stock speed (ran superpi, etc, no problems). I also checked it out at 8x400 for 3.2GHz, where it ran games, etc. just fine for a couple days until I had to get the machine to its new owner (back to 2.4GHz now).

I have read that the G. Skill DDR2 800 is troublesome with the GA-965P-DS3, so YMMV. I could run the system at 9x300, but couldn't get to 3.0GHz with the 9x multiplier. I didn't try all that hard, as I am not a habitual overclocker, and also used that retail HSF that came with the cpu.

 

[blacklit]

Originally posted by: cprince
DDR2 800 would be okay for the DS3 motherboard. If you want to save some money, you could use DDR2 533. The different won't be much. See: http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2813&p=1

It's really not worth the money if you add another 2GB of memory unless you use Vista 64-bit edition. The 32-bit edition(like XP 32-bit) can only address about 3.12GB. So you have almost 1GB of RAM wasted.

all 32-bit windoze versions can use 2gb max save 2000/2003 adv server, which can use up to 3gb using a switch.

2gb is all you'd need.

 

[jpeyton]

At stock speeds, your memory is running at DDR2-533.

Given that DDR2-667 costs the same amount, I would get this 2GB kit.

Depending on your motherboard, 32-Bit Windows can use almost the full 4GB. I'm running Vista, and it's seeing 3.7GB out of 4GB.

 

[Blain]

Does the GA-965P-DS3 have issues with "high performance" memory that's rated to run more than 1.8V?

 

[FreedomGUNDAM]

I just picked up a 2GB kit (2x1GB) of G.Skill F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ from newegg.com for $85.00 shipped. My Gigabyte P965-DS3 (rev3.3) ran memtest for 24hours without any problems.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: coremortality
Can I run DDR2 800 with the E6600 or should I be running ram at the same FSB of 1066? I thought I read a post here on Anandtech where people were recommending slower ram to save money.

I'm building a new system that will be primarily a work system but will also be used for mild gaming (HL2, TF2, WoW). I'm going to be using the Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 with the E6600. I wont be doing any overclocking so I'm looking for the most solid performance possible out of the box. I plan on starting with only 2 gb but I may add another 2 if i decided to take the plunge with Vista.

Thanks.

-Eric

-edited to add additional information.

You need to multiply it by 2 to account for DDR2. DDR2-533 runs synchronously with a FSB of "1066" (which is actually a FSB frequency of 266, and is quoted at 4x because it sends 4 bits instead of 1, per cycle, hence "quad-pumped"). Basically if you're not overclocking, odds are your RAM will run at DDR2-533 speeds anyway, but seeing as a lot of good deals are around, if you pick up some cheap DDR2-800 you're set even if you do later decide to overclock.

Originally posted by: Blain
Does the GA-965P-DS3 have issues with "high performance" memory that's rated to run more than 1.8V?

Not for months now. I have the S3 which is apparently rated the same at 1.8V, but I've been running my Crucial memory at 2.2V and ~900MHz for months now, with no problems. First thing I did when I put it together was put one stick in, boot and change the VDIMM and then put the other in and away we go.