"AMD Only" DDR2 from China for Use in Intel System?

[dylricho]

Has anyone had any luck with buying so-called "AMD only" DDR2 from China for use in an Intel system?

I can't find any DDR2 that is advertised compatible with Intel at all, so this appears to be the only option.

Ideally looking for 4 × 4 GiB DDR2-800. Basically nonexistent otherwise.

The board is an ASUS P5Q PRO.

 

[kapqa]

intel Ram DDR2 very expensive, so i would say, no , not compatible.
(please prove wrong cause i am still interested in a 2x4GB buy of DDR2 for old Intel System)

 

[stinger608]

Oh hell, I've run all kinds of different DDR2 in the P5Q that I have, without issues.

I'd say, if it's cheap enough, go for it.

 

[jesdals]

Could be a problem if dimms are dualsided when using all slots but havent used my Asus PQ5´s for a long time

 

[xrror]

It might only work with AMD memory controller. I have in my notes this now ancient blurb quoted from OCZ - which yea was for promoting some sticks WAY back but the important part is the address lines:

"
With 11 column address bit support by the AM2 memory controller, the number of addresses in each row or page can be as high as 2048 individual entries for a page size of 16kbit. Unlike modules based on standard 10-bit column address chips with an ?8k? page size, the new Titanium AM2 Special modules take advantage of the AM2 controller?s feature set and provide a single rank solution with 2GB density using ?16k? pages. This allows the controller to stay ?in page? twice as long compared to standard memory architectures, thereby achieving unparalleled performance.
"

 

[Nike_486DX]

problem is that intel ram controllers wont properly work with high density sticks (4gb per stick). On the other side the amd cpus had their ram controllers tweaked for ddr2 & ddr3 (for example Phenom II X6 supports both ddr2 and ddr3), so these cheap "amd only" ddr2 sticks are primarily designed for those users who decided to put a II X6 (or a II X4 but that one is kinda irrelevant in 2022) on a ddr2 mobo and want to put usable amounts of ram into it (16gb in 4x4gb config for example).
As for any normal desktop intel motherboard (lets say P35 and lower), you are limited to 2gb per stick (4x2gb is ur max amount in that case). With 4gb sticks these mobos just wont post. For later P45 mobos it may be different tho, as those came with revised chipset and may actually run 4gb ddr2 sticks.

 

[Shrek]

I believe single Rank DDR3 is AMD only, so I assume the same is true of DDR2

 

[dylricho]

problem is that intel ram controllers wont properly work with high density sticks (4gb per stick). On the other side the amd cpus had their ram controllers tweaked for ddr2 & ddr3 (for example Phenom II X6 supports both ddr2 and ddr3), so these cheap "amd only" ddr2 sticks are primarily designed for those users who decided to put a II X6 (or a II X4 but that one is kinda irrelevant in 2022) on a ddr2 mobo and want to put usable amounts of ram into it (16gb in 4x4gb config for example).
As for any normal desktop intel motherboard (lets say P35 and lower), you are limited to 2gb per stick (4x2gb is ur max amount in that case). With 4gb sticks these mobos just wont post. For later P45 mobos it may be different tho, as those came with revised chipset and may actually run 4gb ddr2 sticks.

I suppose I should preface all of this by saying that the system isn't intended to be a daily machine. I'm wanting to grab some independent data from the LGA775 platform with the 20 CPUs I have for a project I'm working on. I have an AM4 system for daily use.

The P5Q PRO is a P45 board. There aren't too many stories on the 'net about posting with 16 GiB, but there are at least a handful. Of course, people aren't very specific enough on the modules and configurations used, so it's nigh on impossible to use them for reference.

I may instead opt to grab a DDR3 board since second-hand DDR2 sells for kidneys these days.

 

[stinger608]

second-hand DDR2 sells for kidneys these days.

Really???? Well crap, I should sell a bunch of the DDR2 that I have.

 

[Shrek]

I would sell mine, but those DDR2 machines I have are still being used.

 

[AlwaysHope]

I suppose I should preface all of this by saying that the system isn't intended to be a daily machine. I'm wanting to grab some independent data from the LGA775 platform with the 20 CPUs I have for a project I'm working on. I have an AM4 system for daily use.

The P5Q PRO is a P45 board. There aren't too many stories on the 'net about posting with 16 GiB, but there are at least a handful. Of course, people aren't very specific enough on the modules and configurations used, so it's nigh on impossible to use them for reference.

I may instead opt to grab a DDR3 board since second-hand DDR2 sells for kidneys these days.

Makes you wonder why Intel have the p45 based boards as having support for 16GB total eh? There's obviously got to be a way for 4GB DDR2 DIMMs to work on these boards.

I believe single Rank DDR3 is AMD only, so I assume the same is true of DDR2

Testing a 1st gen dual rank DDR3 system right now with AM3 socket board, after multiple tests already can confirm all is well, at least with 800 series chipsets.

 

[timta2]

I remember looking into this years ago, when all of those eBay listings had warnings for Intel users, that basically said don't even think about trying it and wasting our time and money. After researching it for a while and seeing things similar to what's been said in this thread, I decided I wouldn't bother.

 

[AlwaysHope]

I remember looking into this years ago, when all of those eBay listings had warnings for Intel users, that basically said don't even think about trying it and wasting our time and money. After researching it for a while and seeing things similar to what's been said in this thread, I decided I wouldn't bother.

Sounds like a marketing campaign to get end users buying up 2Gb modules instead & like I posted above, why on earth would Intel design P45 boards to support 16GB total ram with 4 slots on ATX boards then?

 

[Shrek]

I have a Q45 chipset PC and it can't handle single rank 4GB DIMMS

 

[dylricho]

I would sell mine, but those DDR2 machines I have are still being used.

That is okay, thank you.

Makes you wonder why Intel have the p45 based boards as having support for 16GB total eh? There's obviously got to be a way for 4GB DDR2 DIMMs to work on these boards.

I agree. For what it's worth, there are ASUS and Gigabyte boards based on the P45 chipset which support 16 GiB of DDR3 as well, when Intel's official documentation states 8 GiB DDR3 or 16 GiB DDR2. And then the P5Q PRO supports 1,600 MT/s FSB natively, which again isn't officially a thing from Intel.

Grand Theft Auto V appears to stutter quite badly with 8 GiB, despite the minimum recommending only 4 GiB. This is with a Core2 Quad Q9505, RX 460, and the game installed on a Crucial MX500. I expected it to be passable, but it doesn't mirror what I see on YouTube. There are YouTube videos with a worse GPU and the next Quad down giving better frame rates. All with the same amount of RAM.

I remember looking into this years ago, when all of those eBay listings had warnings for Intel users, that basically said don't even think about trying it and wasting our time and money. After researching it for a while and seeing things similar to what's been said in this thread, I decided I wouldn't bother.

I'm starting to lean in that direction as well. Not only is it costly, but for it to ship from China, most likely chosen at random, and then have the hassle of shipping it back if it arrives faulty/dead... I don't know if I'd want the hassle versus just buying a DDR3 board.

In hindsight, I should have looked into this prior to picking this board, but it's not the end of the world. I knew SODIMM DDR2 was expensive as I was looking for a 4 GiB module for my laptop, but I thought perhaps the situation for desktop might have been a little better. 1 GiB and 2 GiB modules are cheap as chips.

I have a Q45 chipset PC and it can't handle single rank 4GB DIMMS

That is good to know. Thank you Shrek.

 

[Keullo-e]

Really???? Well crap, I should sell a bunch of the DDR2 that I have.

Let's be millionaires, I have also hella lot of DDR2 as well.

 

[Shrek]

On ebay DDR2 2GB is just over $4 each

I'd say that was reasonable.

 

[Keullo-e]

On ebay DDR2 2GB is just over $4 each

I'd say that was reasonable.

Yeah not bad. And IMO 8GB is fine for those platforms.

 

[eidairaman1]

Has anyone had any luck with buying so-called "AMD only" DDR2 from China for use in an Intel system?

I can't find any DDR2 that is advertised compatible with Intel at all, so this appears to be the only option.

Ideally looking for 4 × 4 GiB DDR2-800. Basically nonexistent otherwise.

The board is an ASUS P5Q PRO.

Go by the qvl of Asus support page.

We just recently dealt with this in another thread. AMD only is guaranteed to work in AMD but a major crapshoot on intel.

 

[AlwaysHope]

I agree. For what it's worth, there are ASUS and Gigabyte boards based on the P45 chipset which support 16 GiB of DDR3 as well, when Intel's official documentation states 8 GiB DDR3 or 16 GiB DDR2. And then the P5Q PRO supports 1,600 MT/s FSB natively, which again isn't officially a thing from Intel.

Grand Theft Auto V appears to stutter quite badly with 8 GiB, despite the minimum recommending only 4 GiB. This is with a Core2 Quad Q9505, RX 460, and the game installed on a Crucial MX500. I expected it to be passable, but it doesn't mirror what I see on YouTube. There are YouTube videos with a worse GPU and the next Quad down giving better frame rates. All with the same amount of RAM.

Do you know what OS & version of it they are running it on in the video?, also what particular drivers they use?. All those details matter when comparing like this.

 

[Calenhad]

The only way to be certain is to try. You will likely need to run slower timings than they are rated for, if they are recognised by the motherboard at all.

 

[AlwaysHope]

P5Q pro supports 16GB of DDR2, memory controller is in the P45 chipset. Go to page 9 of the motherboard manual, download from here.
The evidence of its support is clearly indicated in the motherboard manual.
I have the same board, but have never tried it with full 16GB of DDR2 as yet.

 

[dylricho]

Do you know what OS & version of it they are running it on in the video?, also what particular drivers they use?. All those details matter when comparing like this.

Of course, but not many channels disclose this information.

So far, I've found:

• Core2 Quad Q9550
• Windows 10 Pro
• 6 GiB DDR3 instead of 8 GiB DDR2
• GDDR5 version of the GT 1030

• Core2 Quad Q6600 and Q8400
• Windows 10 Home
• 4 GiB DDR2
• GTX 950

No texture popping issues whatsoever.

I'm using the latest stable driver for both my RX 460 and RX 570, which is 22.5.1, but I also tried an older one (21.5.1) which was installed courtesy of Windows Update when I finished setting up Windows 10 21H2 on the machine. I replaced the driver using DDU, and the game is installed on a Crucial MX500, and not a hard drive like in some of these videos.

P5Q pro supports 16GB of DDR2, memory controller is in the P45 chipset. Go to page 9 of the motherboard manual, download from here.
The evidence of its support is clearly indicated in the motherboard manual.
I have the same board, but have never tried it with full 16GB of DDR2 as yet.

The issue wasn't whether it supported it, but rather the type of modules that it supports. The QVL list of course won't be exhaustive and there are only a few 4 GiB modules referenced in it that can be used for all four slots:

• Samsung M378T5263AZ3-CF7 (chip: K4T2G084QA-HCF7);
• Qimonda HYS64T 512020EU-2.5-A (chip: HYB18T2G800AF-2.5);
• Aeneon AXT960UD20-25D (chip: ?).

4 GiB modules seem quite expensive these days, and so I was asking about all this so-called "AMD only" memory that you see on the likes of eBay and AliExpress (because it's basically all there is), and wondering whether it truly was incompatible with Intel. They don't claim why it's "AMD only," but a little digging online seems to suggest that Intel chipsets don't enjoy the higher density modules, suggesting that these might be specifically for AM2 processors.

 

[theFOoL]

Yeah that "ONLY" is just a trick. You can use DDR2 on any Intel/AMD system. The whole "ONLY" is too scare you

 

[AlwaysHope]

Yeah that "ONLY" is just a trick. You can use DDR2 on any Intel/AMD system. The whole "ONLY" is too scare you

True, I've used non QVL ram on many systems here & all is working well. QVL listing is only what vendors can get their hands on at the time of official testing, other than that, its overhyped.