picking the right ddr3 memory?

buzz12

Junior Member
Oct 21, 2007
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i am planing to build a new rig that will last for at least 2 years with future upgrading option in mind, i had my eye on the asus p5e3 deluxe for the below reasons:
1. supporting the next 45nm intel cups.
2. future pci-e 2.0 cards when they come out!
3. ddr3 will become cheaper in time, but to pay for a price premium is a must in my case!

and since im going to start off with a q6600 front side bus @ 1066 (quad pumped = 266), i was wondering which drr3 ram speed would be the best with my q6600 to get a 1:1 ratio for fsb with ram? giving the fact that im an overclocking newbie and overcloking my rig is highly considered.
any ideas?
thanks in advanced!
 

Cutthroat

Golden Member
Apr 13, 2002
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You don't need DDR3 yet, the memory speed for a 1:1 ratio with a 1066MHZ fsb is DDR2-533. If you were to overclock your Q6600 to 3.6GHZ your fsb will be 1600MHZ and with a 1:1 ratio your RAM speed will be DDR2-800.
 

buzz12

Junior Member
Oct 21, 2007
23
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dear cutthroat, thanks for the quick reply.

the asus p5e3 uses ddr3 ram, whereas the p5e only uses ddr2 mamory!, so in order to be future proof, i have to go with the drr3. is the same applied to ddr3 memories?
like what you just said ddr3-533 to get the 1:1 ratio? or am i wrong?
i dont think they have ddr3 less than 1066mhz anymore!
this ddr3 ram is making me go crazy!
please assist?

 

Rebel44

Senior member
Jun 19, 2006
742
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It wont be "futureproof" anyway because Intel will use new socket for Nehalem which will be released in Q4 2008..........

Just buy Q6600 + 4GB DDR2.
 

Cutthroat

Golden Member
Apr 13, 2002
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The point was you should just buy a motherboard which supports DDR2 because you do not need DDR3, and you won't for quite some time. Just get an X38 based motherboard which supports PCIe 2.0, and some good quality DDR2-800 RAM.

Don't get hung up on futureproofing, it's not worth it. For DDR3 RAM you are going to pay 2-3 times as much and won't gain anything more than 10% performance, you likely wouldn't even notice the difference.
 

buzz12

Junior Member
Oct 21, 2007
23
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thanks alot guys! :)
this really helped me pick exactly what i need, and yes futureproofing is not worth thinking of in this case.
im going to stick with a good solid overclocking x38 chipset motherboard with ddr2, that supports pci-e 2.0

but for future knowledge what is the expected ddr3 ram speed to work with a q6600 ?

again thanks very much, cutthroat and rebel44.
 

The-Noid

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2005
3,117
4
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I would not purchase anything less than PC2-6400 as this leaves your overclocking headroom to 400 fsb and also provides the best price/performance.

Right now you can get many C4 sets of PC2-6400 for very cheap. Check the egg.
 

Cutthroat

Golden Member
Apr 13, 2002
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Originally posted by: buzz12
but for future knowledge what is the expected ddr3 ram speed to work with a q6600 ?

Since DDR3 specs start at 1066MHZ there will be no RAM that matches a Q6600 at a 1:1 ratio. You could go with DDR3 and run at a 1:2 ratio, but it would not provide you with enough performance increase to matter. Stick with DDR2-800 so you have some overclocking headroom.