replace mb, ddr2 or ddr3?

[Samdbugman]

i am trying to decide on a mb with at least a 710 southbridge to see if i can unlock any cores on my phenon x2 955 BE. i have 2 x 2 gb sticks 800 ddr2 patriot memory now. what i am confused on is the memory. either the cores unluck or they dont, but either way will i see any preformance increase with ddr3? with the price of ram now, the price is the same, but i save roughly $100 sticking with ddr2 board. thanks all.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

DDR3 is quickly becoming the standard, though it depends if you want to have to spend more $ on ddr3 as well as a new motherboard, I would say make the jump then later on down the line you will only have to upgrade the cpu. Also you should be able to fetch a bit for your current ram to offset the cost a bit. I am sure you meant PII 555 not 955

 

[Samdbugman]

thats what i was thinking, but i figure in 2 years i will do a full new build. for the short term im wondering about the preformance difference. and i have an AMD phenom x2 955
be.

 

[brandonwh64]

The board i have in my HTPC is a 785G with a 710 SB and it unlocks my phenom II 720 to X4 easy! the board is relatively cheap and can OC very well and it also takes DDR2

 

[Samdbugman]

duh! blonde at the controls here i have phenon x2 550 BE.

 

[MohawkAngel]

Asus M4A785-M Cheap motherboard for DDR2 cna use the 1066mhz that can overclock it to 1200mhz. Easy bios features to unlock the cores, lot of onboard features great bang for the bucks.

 

[Mussels]

i suggest DDR3 for sure, simply beacuse DDR2 1066MHz is problematic for many. it often requires high voltages and is especially troublesome if you try and run 4x sticks of it.

DDR3 doesnt need high voltages or have any real compatibility issues with 4x sticks upto 1600Mhz, so its my choice.

 

[MohawkAngel]

The 1066 was problematic before but not with mobo made especially to handle the power of 1066 and even overclock it

 

[Graogrim]

I would tend to agree with the DDR3 recommendations. 4 gigs is not terribly expensive and if you're going to spend the money upgrading anyway you might as well have some headroom.

 

[TheMailMan78]

i suggest DDR3 for sure, simply beacuse DDR2 1066MHz is problematic for many. it often requires high voltages and is especially troublesome if you try and run 4x sticks of it.

DDR3 doesnt need high voltages or have any real compatibility issues with 4x sticks upto 1600Mhz, so its my choice.

This man speaks pure truth. Belive me 1066 on 4 sticks is VERY hard to get and be stable. The best I can do is 800. My vote also goes to DDR3.

 

[freaksavior]

ddr3 dude, ddr2 is getting expensive and not worth going ddr2 anymore. Plus i3/i5/i7 and amd is almost all ddr3.

 

[Mussels]

The 1066 was problematic before but not with mobo made especially to handle the power of 1066 and even overclock it

i've used heaps of boards, P965, P35, P45, x48, 780G, 785G - and all of them had issues with 4x sticks of ram at 1066. They either required lots of tweaking and testing with higher voltages, or they ram sticks were too close together and overheated without active cooling.

i've seen over 20 systems with these problems on DDR2, so its not like a one off or anything... those without problems are the more unique ones.

 

[JrRacinFan]

Go ddr3. If you're already buying the motherboard might as well get the little extra upgrade. ALTHO!! Another point, if you're purchasing the motherboard SOLELY based on attempting to unlock your 550BE, could save your money and upgrade just the cpu using your existing ddr2.

 

[MohawkAngel]

i've used heaps of boards, P965, P35, P45, x48, 780G, 785G - and all of them had issues with 4x sticks of ram at 1066. They either required lots of tweaking and testing with higher voltages, or they ram sticks were too close together and overheated without active cooling.

i've seen over 20 systems with these problems on DDR2, so its not like a one off or anything... those without problems are the more unique ones.

I got no problems at all on mine. No need to tweek everything. Must be some boards that sucks at 1066 must recognize it true.

Anyway im keeping my stuff so waiting for people to sell their 1066 to replace the 800 i bought since the 1066 at that time was not cheap.

 

[Mussels]

I got no problems at all on mine. No need to tweek everything. Must be some boards that sucks at 1066 must recognize it true.

Anyway im keeping my stuff so waiting for people to sell their 1066 to replace the 800 i bought since the 1066 at that time was not cheap.

you're on AMD, so its related to the memory controller in your CPU as opposed to the mobo.

 

[MohawkAngel]

Thats great then