DFI Lanparty nF3 250Gb memory compatability

[jphi]

Two questions. I may very well have missed some key concept to memory/motherboard compatability along the way, I'm a bit new to this, be gentle



1. I'm having an insanely hard time figuring out if this OCZ memory will be compatabile with the DFI Lanparty nF3 250 GB -- I'm looking for 1GB (2x512) OCZ Memory (preferably extended latency platinum rev 2).

The board specs say "Supports single channel (64-bit wide) memory interface". The OCZ website for the OCZ Extended Latency DDR PC-3200 Platinum Rev 2 lists the single 512 module as:

512MB Module PN - OCZ400512ELPER2

and the pack of two 512 modules as:

1GB Dual Channel Kit PN - OCZ4001024ELDCPER2-K

So help a confused guy out -- is the pack of two 512M modules Dual Channel and thus incompatable with the DFI nF3 250 Gb? If so, where can I purchase a set of two modules of Single Channel 512M OCZ Extended Latency memory -- or do you simply purchase two individual 512M modules?



2. I read somewhere that the nF3 250Gb board would take 3700 or even 4200 memory as they are simply "overclocked 3200" -- is that true? What is the fastest rated memory that would be compatable with the board?



Many thanks in advance.

jphi

 

[krose]

1. - Dual channel just means that the sticks are matched for use with dual channel boards. You can use them just fine on a single channel. The OCZ is good RAM, but any PC3200 RAM with Samsung TCCD chips will work fine, although with two sticks you probably won't get much above 250-260 HTT.

2. - A lot of the high speed RAM (PC4000 - PC4800) you see now is TCCD anyways. There are some others that run at high speeds too but I'd stick with the PC3200.

 

[jphi]

Thanks krose! Exactly what I needed to know.

How does that pair of 36GB raptors work out for you -- I'm debating between getting a pair of those (in raid 0) or one of the 74GB raptors (cost is about the same for a pair of 36s or a single 74)...any thoughts on which one you'd go for based on your experience with the pair? I've read that the 36GB drives are pretty loud -- is it something that you notice?

Thanks again.

jphi

 

[naddicott]

I just installed and stress tested 2 sticks of OCZ Extended Latency DDR PC-3200 Platinum Rev 2 in a DFI Lanparty nF3 250 GB and they're running beautifully at 2-2-10-2 1T.

Check out the following thread-
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=329627

It has really good information on the many Bios options of your board, and there are some other gems in the parent forum as well (including one with Beta Bios links).

 

[jphi]

Many thanks naddicott!

 

[krose]

Originally posted by: jphi
How does that pair of 36GB raptors work out for you -- I'm debating between getting a pair of those (in raid 0) or one of the 74GB raptors (cost is about the same for a pair of 36s or a single 74)...any thoughts on which one you'd go for based on your experience with the pair? I've read that the 36GB drives are pretty loud -- is it something that you notice?jphi

I have had the Raptors in RAID-0 for about a year. I have never lost the array, neither on the VIA 8237 nor the nforce3. As far as speed, the rig ceratainly feels faster in RAID-0 than on a WD120 SE IDE. It really is the access time that makes them seem so fast, so in that respect for everyday computing I don't know if there's a difference in a single drive or RAID.

Where I do notice a big difference is when I encode MPEG2 to DVD. I did a test using a 1.5GB MPEG2 file. With the file located on the WD120SE, encoding back to the WD120SE took about 3.5 minutes. Encoding to the RAID array only took 1.5 minutes. With the file located on the RAID array, either encoding to the WD120SE or back to the RAID array took about 1.5 minutes. So yes the faster read/write times can help you, it depends what you're doing.

Be advised that if you overclock above 240HTT that SATA ports 1-2 will not function. You must use ports 3-4. This is a limitation of the chipset, not the DFI UT.