X3 720 and 4x2GB 1333Mhz.

[RadnorHarkonnen]

Hello all

I'm moving now to make my "wish" list. The list still a bit messy. But the big question is:

Can AM3 CPUs handle 4xDDR3 at 1333mhz (total 8Gb) ?


My list of other components (just if anybody has an opinion that want to lay out):

4870 512Mb CF
or
4850 1Gb CF ( with custom coolers )

And for the Motherboard:
MSI 790FX-GD70
or
Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P

The price is similar to both choices. In the GPU side ill have more framebuffer on one hand, and more muscle on the other hand. That seems like an easy decision, but less framebuffer in a near future might cripple two perfectly good 4870s. I have models already "preselected" for both GPUs. I would love to get 2x4870 1Gb, but goes way out of my budget.

Another opinion is about the boards. I have already had products from both brands, they were both rock solid. Just a personal insight if you have one. They are both excelent OCer's with great reviews all around. The memory will not probably be Top of Line, but not totally OEM. Something like Kingston, Mushkin, Corsair or others. Im looking for more memory here, and not so fast one. Honestly it is not worth the Eurobucks spent there.

Some of you might think that the motherboard are overkill for the computer being assembled, but i always have overkill board and PSU. Adds alot to stability and life of the system. I have a Corsair TX750 atm, so no problem in this department. My case is a NXZT Lexa, with decent airflow, but will undergo a "small modding" for lower temps and lower noise. Can't touch the case because this one got "The Wife Seal of Approvement". I will have this PC in the living room, and although many of you won't understand the importance of this "seal", i'm sure some of you will consider it very important.

Thank you for the input. All opinions are welcome.

Edit: typ0 f3stival

 

[imported_SLIM]

This link suggests you'll need to run your memory at 1066 if all four slots are in use. I doubt that would affect an amd system too badly as you'll be able to improve the latency which typically gives better performance for amd.

I'm curious why you are set on a true crossfire setup rather than an X2 or even 4890 oc?

 

[RadnorHarkonnen]

Originally posted by: SLIM
This link suggests you'll need to run your memory at 1066 if all four slots are in use. I doubt that would affect an amd system too badly as you'll be able to improve the latency which typically gives better performance for amd.

I'm curious why you are set on a true crossfire setup rather than an X2 or even 4890 oc?

Checking your link now. Thanks

About the CF, i have sen many chart, and ussually (for the price) any of the CFs beat the 4890. About not going for X2 ( the 4870X2 and 4850x2 2GB) are way pricier. I can get here a 4850 1Gb for about 100? and a 4870 512mb for 140?.

Other of my fears will be driver compatibilities. I bet there are much more people with 4850 CF than with a 4850x2. So im betting safe. Either way it is cheaper in this moment ( or week if you prefer) to go for a CF.

And do not forget about the coolness factor. I don't have the best taste ever, but i think it is cool. Some buy expensive cellphones, others buy jewelry,shoes..... i'm doing a CF. Another reason is there will be two GPUs connected to two 2.0 16x PCI-E bus, while in a X2 case you got two GPUs sharing the same PCI-E. Although benchmarks (for now) say that there is almost no diference, in a near future, that might make a diference.

Edit: Seems the current 10h (Deneb) family of AMD CPUs ( the 720 included ) suffer from that problem. Ill need to go 2x4GB to avoid that problem. I would prefer every channel filled, but seems ill have to wait for a fix, that will probably never come, because it seems to be a IMC problem and not a BIOS problem, ill keep reading.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Can AM3 CPUs handle 4xDDR3 at 1333mhz (total 8Gb) ?

For the most part at 1333 from what I have seen you are good - be sure to follow the recommended QVL and instructions to be safe. It gets a bit more tricky at 1600 (Will you be our lab rat?) but I'll bet yah the guys at XS would provide excellent guidance if that is of interest to you.

On the QVL lists I've looked through G.Skill seems to be popping up on Gigabyte mobos and may be worth a look.

What is your resolution? At 16x10 I'd say 512Mb would work just dandy in the majority of cases but above that rez 1Gb is the only way to go.


edit: OCZ Platinum AMD Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 seems to be the ticket on the Gigabyte board over at XS (has the Chew Seal of Approval). Post over in this thread any questions you may have about going 4x2Gb.

 

[RadnorHarkonnen]

For now im playing at 1650x1080 in a 22" format.

The big problem is, for example, the massive increase in textures that software houses are now adding.

Crysis for example. Resource hog ? Yes and no. If you check benchmarks you will see a 4850 1Gb speeding over a 4870 512mb. Because at that resolution, 512Mb starts to fall short. I'll never upgrade to a 30" ( my wife would kill me, the TV is a 32", if i'm not mistaken), but I might jump to a full 1080p monitor in a near future.

GTA IV is another game very heavy on VRAM.

I know a bit of the problems of 512Mb because i have a 4850 512 right now (that goes to my little brother), and sometimes feels it won't pull off more frames just becuase of VRAM.
Don't ask why, i'm a gamer from the times computers had 80kb of Ram. Just a gut feeling.

Still thinking about the ram problem. 1066 might not be too bad at all with good timings. Specially if i can get Unganged mode for the Dimms. Then i couldn't care less about being in 1066 Mhz.

 

[wolfman11]

I am running 4x2gb at 1333 in the rig in my sig with no issues... So at least for that hardware it is no problem.