Confused on Intels memory, speeds, FSB, DDR2 vs DDR3 aaaaaarrrghhhh!

[Freezebyte]

EDIT: Post modified after doing more research

Ok, after plowing through website after website, and forum after forum, I think i've determined my light SFF game build and I just wanna go over it with everyone so I can see what you think and if I could do anything different, part wise. Currently and into the future, my uses going to be doing web surfing / multitasking with some light gaming. I hardly do any Photoshop and rarely do any encoding of videos. I'll be pretty much be running WoW and a few other games at 1680x1050 native rez of my monitor. I"m not the hardcore PC gamer like I used to be, i'll be recyling my 7800GTX OC from my Athlon 64 setup for the time being.

From that, even though this setup needs to last me awhile, I can't justify the price increase for a Quad core CPU so I decided to go dual. This setup WILL NOT be overclocked so I decided to save some more money and go with a less intensive mobo. I upped the RAM to 4gigs so im ready for Vista whenever I decide to make the switch, plus this board won't allow 4 chips of the same memory type due to DDR3 support.

I want this to play future games well, but I decided I don't feel like forking over a huge amount of cash for PC upgrades anymore, I play most of my games on my 360 downstairs. Mostly I'll be playing StarCraft 2, WOTLK, maybe Crysis and whatever strikes my fancy. Thanks for any suggestions or incite before I order this and get it built.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz
Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit
Motherboard: ASRock G43Twins-FullHD
Video Card: Reused BFG 7800GTX OC *Upgrading to GTX 260 or Ati 4870 in few months*
HDD's:1x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500gig SATA drive
PSU: Antec NeoHE 500w
DVD Drives: 1x ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA
Addon cards: 1x Audigy 2 PCI soundcard
Misc: 3x 80mm Antec tricool fans + Intel stock HSF
Case:Silverstone Sugo SG01-F

 

[Amd PhenoM]

DDR3 IS NOT WORTH THE PRICE RIGHT NOW

get quad if your really heavy into multitasking and photoediting
get duo if your heaving into gaming because of the higher stock speeds

for ram take your fsb of your cpu which is 1333 divide by 4 since it is quad pumped that gives you 333 times that by 2 to give you 667. so 800 would be more than enough ram to get you by since your mobo will just downclock it to 667. if you want to overclock then get 1066. someone please clarify i did my math right.

for ram (taking 800 as a ex) take your ram speed and divide by two then that will give you the max fsb that speed can run up to

so... 800 ram speed / 2 = 400fsb or 1600fsb

 

[eyk03]

Don't waste money on DDR2 1066 unless you're a heavy overclocker. And I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you're not, at least not yet.

And no board *requires* DDR2-1066, you can plug in DDR2-800 and it'll work just fine. That number refers to the dual channel speed of the RAM, so for example, for DDR2-1066, each stick runs to a speed of 533mhz x 2 sticks for 1066 total.

The FSB is, in simple terms (and among other things), essentially how quickly the CPU can feed data to the RAM. That number is multiplied by 4 (because Intel chips are quad-pumped) for that 1333 number. That Wolfdale chip has a 333mhz FSB, so 333x4=1333.

Now remember, the CPU's FSB (333) is how fast it can move data to the RAM, so obviously, there's going to be little benefit in running the RAM much faster than 333mhz. It's like baking pizzas when you only have one delivery car...it doesn't matter how quickly you can bake them because your car (bus) is the bottleneck. RAM at 333mhz is DDR2-667, so DDR2-1066 is overkill if you stay stock.

Higher speed RAM becomes useful when you're overclocking though, so if you pushed your FSB to 400, you could use DDR2-800, and if you've been blessed by the God of cpus and motherboards, even higher.

 

[nerp]

Just get DDR2-800 and don't worry about it. No chip at stock "requires" more than 667 and you can run your memory asych to FSB with a ratio so you can always function.

 

[JaBro999]

Hey Freezebyte,

I noticed you have 2 GB (2x1) of RAM on your list of components to buy. I think that you'd be better off going with a 4GB (2x2) kit of DDR2 800 RAM.

You can get this kit for $70 after MIR at Newegg (other comparable kits are not much more w/o MIR):
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231148

That DDR2 800 RAM will support a 1600 MHz FSB (4 x 400) for a modest CPU overclock with a 1:1 FSB/RAM ratio, and you won't have to worry about a RAM upgrade for some time.

As for quad vs. dual core, it really depends on what you are using your system for (what highly multi-threaded apps do you run?), what your budget is, and how long you will be using this system (quad core might extend the longevity of your system). In other words, there is no one "right" answer to that question.

Just my $0.02.
-jb

 

[Freezebyte]

EDIT: Changed setup to 4gigs

 

[JaBro999]

While I can't speak from first hand experience with overclocking the Intel Core 2 Duo/Quads, it seems that the 45nm parts OC very well. With a decent MB you can almost guaranteed a 20% OC just by bumping the FSB to 1600 MHz - maybe w/o even having to adjust the CPU voltage. One caveat - you may need to invest in a better fan/heat sink to replace the stock coolers that come on the retail Intel CPUs. It all depends on how aggressive you want to be and how much time you're willing to put in to finding the limits of the CPU/FSB/RAM. These forums have a lot of information and advice on the topic.

 

[Freezebyte]

Modified post

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: Freezebyte
I'm still running XP right now, so 4gigs would be a waste.

I"ve been hearing almost every single person overclocks these new Intel chips, is it really that easy?

It still sees 3.5 of the 4, not a waste IMO.

 

[Amd PhenoM]

looks good except for the gtx260 or the 4870 you might need a bigger psu. make sure the psu has the right pciE pins

 

[Freezebyte]

Originally posted by: Amd PhenoM
looks good except for the gtx260 or the 4870 you might need a bigger psu. make sure the psu has the right pciE pins

It does, and others have stated that it will power them just fine

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Originally posted by: Freezebyte
I'm still running XP right now, so 4gigs would be a waste.

I"ve been hearing almost every single person overclocks these new Intel chips, is it really that easy?

Grab 4GB anyway... Otherwise you may limit your vid card and CPU.

 

[Amd PhenoM]

DUAL CORE ARE BETTER THAN QUAD!!

also you sure you want a psu with 3 +12v rails?

 

[Freezebyte]

Originally posted by: Amd PhenoM
DUAL CORE ARE BETTER THAN QUAD!!

also you sure you want a psu with 3 +12v rails?

Huh? I've run this PSU for nearly a year, its worked fine

 

[Amd PhenoM]

o ok. anyhow if you want the best of crysis you will want the 4870 x2 or gtx280. 4870 x2 got better benchmarks.

 

[Freezebyte]

Im not gonna spend that much on a GPU upgrade

 

[Amd PhenoM]

sigh well dont forget that ATi beats nShitias rear end anyday. Hd4 series > GTx2 series

 

[Amd PhenoM]

sigh well dont forget that ATi beats nShitias rear end anyday. Hd4 series > GTx2 series

 

[FalseChristian]

Originally posted by: Amd PhenoM
sigh well dont forget that ATi beats nShitias rear end anyday. Hd4 series > GTx2 series

I can tell by your response and your nick-name that you're an DAAMIT fanboy. The GTX 260 Core 216 equals roughly the 4870 and the GTX 280 is the fastest SINGLE GPU out there.

To the OP: you can't go wrong with either card.:thumbsup:

 

[nerp]

Yeah both cards are great.

I just ordered a 4850 Gigabyte card with a Zalman cooler on it. I can't wait to watch my performance over my old x1950Pro dramatically increase.