Is ddr3 1333 any good?

[elitejp]

My friend has a computer that has a amd motherboard which only supports 1333 at the most (Im pretty sure its using ddr2 currently, 1 stick at 800). Its an old computer and they switched out the mobo without any real thought into what they were doing. The system itself isnt really worth investing much into but I was thinking as using it as a way to step up to a better build over a period of several months. Like buy a ssd, better power supply, ddr3 ram and then after all that is bought to switch out the cpu and mobo and go with an intel i5 or something of that sort.

I have 2 main questions about this route.

1. If I buy the ddr3 1333 is it considered a really slow memory compared to 2000 or whatever is currently available?
2. The manual for the mobo states that it has four dimms in which they have tested 2g per dimm at a total of 8g. The manual also states that the board can use up to 32g total (8g per dimm) Would I be all right buying 2 4g 1333 (8g total)?

 

[DominionSeraph]

Wait, what motherboard is this? I'm not aware of any motherboard that would both support DDR2 and 32GB DDR3.

And DDR3 1333 is fine. That's what Sandy Bridge is specced for.

 

[jacktesterson]

I remember once owning a ECS K7S5A (I believe, top of head) that supported DDR1 and DDR2.

Not familiar with any board that does DDR2 and DDR3 though...

 

[DominionSeraph]

Not familiar with any board that does DDR2 and DDR3 though...

There are, but I've only seen 8GB/8GB. I can't imagine anything with 4 slots for DDR3 and still having DDR2 slots.

 

[Cerb]

I remember once owning a ECS K7S5A (I believe, top of head) that supported DDR1 and DDR2.

That would SDR and DDR, not DDR and DDR2.

OP: you can't just swap in DDR3, in place of DDR2. Some boards, especially AMD socket AM2+/3 ones, supported both, with 2 slots for each, usually. In the case of a CPU for AM2/AM2+/AM3, however, you'd need to make sure the CPU also supports DDR3, if it is using DDR2 now.

If it uses DDR3, RAM is RAM. CAS 7/8 1333 and CAS 8/9 1600 are perfectly fine, and faster speeds tend to be either slower for most uses, or just not any faster (AMD 'APU' CPUs being exceptions, due to the IGP).

 

[elitejp]

I will check the dimm slots later when I plan on reinstalling the OS or I can just open it up and take a looksie. They forgot their administrator password after having switching out the mobo and cpu a few months back. So I highly doubt that there would be any vital information that they need.

Well it sounds like 1333 is fine and I think I will just pick up 2 sticks at 4g a piece. But I might see if I can talk to customer support and see if the mobo can actually handle this.

Just on a bit of a side note (because im sure 8g of ram is more than they will ever need) what happens when you mix ram and have a stick at 2g and another at 4g? Does it work the same as if you had 3 2g sticks?