Socket 939 Motherboards and Memory

[Vicious38]

Does DDR 466 MHz Memory work with Socket 939 Motherboards? If so which would be better for a system for gaming, with nVidia 6800 Ultra and Athlon 64 FX-53... OCZ DDR PC-3700 Platinum Enhanced Bandwidth Dual Channel OR OCZ DDR PC-3700 Gold Revision 3. If not and it only supports DDR 400 MHz Memory then should I go OCZ DDR PC-3200 Platinum Enhanced Bandwidth Dual Channel OR OCZ EL DDR PC-3200 Dual Channel Platinum?

 

[Demo24]

well buying RAM higher that Pc3200 bascially just gives you headroom to overclock. I beleive AMD is the same as Intel in that they only "offically" support Pc3200.

 

[Vicious38]

Well I mean, its not like I can put in a DDR 500 MHz into something that only supports 400 MHz can I? It'd be like putting DDR2 in the 939 Motherboard

 

[Noworkia]

yeah, DDR2 does not work in a DDR mobo.

But if you plan to OC the system, high rated memory will allow increase the memory bus speed.

 

[Peter]

As with any other platform and its RAM slots, you can put faster-rated stuff of the same technology in. Remember that the clock and timing are supplied by the mainboard. The DIMMs just have to be able to cope. No one will care whether or not the DIMMs have headroom above this requirement - until you decide to overclock, of course.

However you can obviously not put an entirely different tech in. DDR2 DIMMs will neither fit nor work.

 

[Slave2TheGrind]

Think of the frequency rating as a manufacturer suggested maximum rating. Memory that is rated at DDR500 will work perfectly fine at DDR400 speeds (this is determined by the freq. of your bus) However, if you plan to overclock your system, DDR500 memory can give you much more headroom than DDR400 memory. If you don't plan on doing any overclocking, DDR400 memory is definately cheaper. Also, I suspect that some/most/all of the DDR400 Low Latency memory out on the market is the same chip as the DDR500 but with clocked down to 400 to get better timings.
As far as which memory you listed above is best, I'm not sure but I plan on using Crucial Ballistix DDR500 in my up-and-coming rig. I'd say you will probably be safe with any of them.

 

[imported_Aelius]

It's not a clear cut issue on A64. Even if you don't overclock. Trust me I spent the better part of the last 6 months researching this topic in anticipation of building a new system.

You can buy two packs of Ballistix and neither one will match the other's performance and they very well might not even function at their rated stock speed on the identical system. It's probably poor quality control since some of that RAM can function very well at its rated stock speed.

However most other RAM acts like you would expect. Intel is easily holding the RAM crown this time around simply because no one has written a balanced BIOS for A64. It's not an issue with the RAM chips of one maker vs another but rather the compatiblity based in the BIOS.

Hence you will find that Micron based chips (used in the Ballistix) tend to work best on A64 while others do not. There have been revisions of various kinds to adapt the RAM to fit the BIOS. Kind of odd since it should be the other way around. Either way if you go with A64 there is no clear answer other than OCZ PC3200, PC3500, and PC3700 Enhanced Bandwidth RAM (also Micron chips).

Personally I'm waiting to see if the latest Hynix revision by OCZ works well on A64 or not. Initial partial reviews show that it works well in single channel. Still waiting for OCZ to release their full review which they claimed would be complete by early last week. Still waiting.

If you want a 100% guarantee that you will get good performance on A64 then I recommend you go with the EB line. Outside of that you will find no guarantee. It's a gamble. A very expansive one.

 

[Vicious38]

So if I put a OCZ DDR PC-3700 Platinum Enhanced Bandwidth Dual Channel into the Socket 939 MSI Motherboard it will just allow me to Overclock easier? If I choose not to Overclock, would it cause compatibility problems? I don't want to spend 500 Dollars on Memory for a motherboard that says they only support DDR 400 MHz Memory and I stick in a 466 MHz

 

[imported_Aelius]

Originally posted by: Vicious38
So if I put a OCZ DDR PC-3700 Platinum Enhanced Bandwidth Dual Channel into the Socket 939 MSI Motherboard it will just allow me to Overclock easier? If I choose not to Overclock, would it cause compatibility problems? I don't want to spend 500 Dollars on Memory for a motherboard that says they only support DDR 400 MHz Memory and I stick in a 466 MHz

If it doesn't work then it's either bad RAM or bad motherboard.

If you contact OCZ they will help you troubleshoot the issue and if the EB still doesn't work then they will help you RMA it to get new sticks.

Simple as that.

There is absolutely no question that OCZ EB line of RAM is the most compatible RAM for A64 on the market. Period.

Maybe that will change six months from now. Who knows.

 

[Fuhglee]

Originally posted by: Slave2TheGrind
Think of the frequency rating as a manufacturer suggested maximum rating. Memory that is rated at DDR500 will work perfectly fine at DDR400 speeds (this is determined by the freq. of your bus) However, if you plan to overclock your system, DDR500 memory can give you much more headroom than DDR400 memory. If you don't plan on doing any overclocking, DDR400 memory is definately cheaper. Also, I suspect that some/most/all of the DDR400 Low Latency memory out on the market is the same chip as the DDR500 but with clocked down to 400 to get better timings.
As far as which memory you listed above is best, I'm not sure but I plan on using Crucial Ballistix DDR500 in my up-and-coming rig. I'd say you will probably be safe with any of them.

I just got the MSI K8N Neo2 and two sticks o' Corsair 3200XL memory. The 3200XL series are made with Samsung ICs that are technically designed to be PC500, but at PC400 speeds you can get 2-2-2-5 latencies in dual-channel mode. They shold work fine at PC500 speeds and the Samsung-spec higher latencies if you decide to overclock later.

Anand's posted an article about this: http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2128&p=10
(read the next page too.)