DDR 2 DDR3 is it worth upgrading?

[bubs]

Hi

I have a Pretty good pc with Q6600 processor, 4gb Ram, and a (Radeon 4890 2gb), my mobo is asus p5b deluxe. It plays most games without any problems at all. I have had my mobo for appox 4 years because i upgraded from dou core to quad. But i have noticed it has become pretty sluggish on windows 7, and when my comp first starts up the ram is up to 50% for ages. Just lately i have been playing GTA 4 ultra high everything and i surpose its playable. But because my mobo has lasted 4 years i have thought about getting a new mobo with 2.0 pci express for my now 4890 2.0 pcie card. and also while i am at it should i get a lga 775 mobo that fits DDR3? My current mobo allows upto 8gb, but my 2 other ram slots dont work. So my question is:

1. if i get a mobo with ddr3 will it be a lot better than if i get one with ddr2?
2. will my radeon 4890 work better in a pcie 2.0 slot rather than the current 1.0 im using.
3. Or should i think bugger it and get a new mobo 1366 and i7?

I am new to this site and its nice to meet everyone

 

[arroyo]

1. no it won't be better (unless you play in Super PI)
2. no it would be the same
3. If you only have cash, than yes.

 

[neoreif]

Hi

I have a Pretty good pc with Q6600 processor, 4gb Ram, and a (Radeon 4890 2gb), my mobo is asus p5b deluxe. It plays most games without any problems at all. I have had my mobo for appox 4 years because i upgraded from dou core to quad. But i have noticed it has become pretty sluggish on windows 7, and when my comp first starts up the ram is up to 50% for ages. Just lately i have been playing GTA 4 ultra high everything and i surpose its playable. But because my mobo has lasted 4 years i have thought about getting a new mobo with 2.0 pci express for my now 4890 2.0 pcie card. and also while i am at it should i get a lga 775 mobo that fits DDR3? My current mobo allows upto 8gb, but my 2 other ram slots dont work. So my question is:

1. if i get a mobo with ddr3 will it be a lot better than if i get one with ddr2?
2. will my radeon 4890 work better in a pcie 2.0 slot rather than the current 1.0 im using.
3. Or should i think bugger it and get a new mobo 1366 and i7?

I am new to this site and its nice to meet everyone

Good day Bud! And WELCOME to TPU!

my opinion would be to get the i7/1366 platform! With that you would also definitely get the DDR3 and PCIE 2.0 which would be a definite boost to your computing expereince! Wait for the other "experienced guys" here at TPU to give their 2 cents and Im quite positive that they'll have a similar recommendation/suggestion as mine!

 

[TVman]

not worth upgrading!!! wait for the boards with usb3,sata3,and PCI-E 3.0 do come out and six core cpus it is ressesion, dont waist your money!!!

 

[KieX]

It depends on what resolution you plan on gaming. 1920x1200 and above are more graphics card intensive, whereas lower resolutions will be more processor intensive.

So if playing at lower res, the i7 would make a big difference. Although i5 and AMD Phenoms rule the bang-for-buck at that.

If you are playing at a higher res, then just overclock your processor a little if it's possible so the graphics card can do it's thing without bottlenecks.

Either way overclocking your processor and/or graphics card would give you a marked improvement without the additional cost of components. Albeit a quite small increase in electricity bills

 

[bubs]

wow what good responses of everyone and thanks 2 you all. i do play at 1920x1080 on my 47" HD tv in the living room(after a couple of months trying to presuede the wife lol) I think looking at the replies i think i will old onto my cash and try a wee bit of overclocking. I am currently studying comptia a+ so i surpose it will be an experience to overclock as i have never done it before. Nice to meet you all and thank you very much for you helpful and nice responses

 

[arroyo]

You should push your system up to the point that you can smell burning silicon...than start overlocking! You have a whole lot potential in your system..go for it!

 

[Hayder_Master]

1. no it won't be better (unless you play in Super PI)
2. no it would be the same
3. If you only have cash, than yes.

+1 for all except no.2 there is i little tip about it, no different between pci-e 1.1 and 2.0 with all cards but between pci-1.0 and 2.0 there is about 5% only more performance with this card cuz this card have high memory bandwidth so there is some kind of bottlenicking but it is too small don't worth to upgrade mobo for it, i see best chose as next step think about upgrade the whole system to core i7 and dx11 card, but in this time your system look very cool for me

 

[bubs]

LOL im up for overclockering to be honest, but i scares me a bit because all the techs i know round me put the fear of god into you about overclocking. Because i have have never done it before i come across this card for my mobo. DOes this seem ok?

http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=41

Many thanks to all. Cant believe what a good site this is. I was expecting to be flamed for asking a question. LOL

 

[Indra EMC]

I Think it's worth buy, if you are love benchmarking. but in daily use, DDR 3 and DDR 2 here's no significant effect to your computer .

 

[KieX]

LOL im up for overclockering to be honest, but i scares me a bit because all the techs i know round me put the fear of god into you about overclocking. Because i have have never done it before i come across this card for my mobo. DOes this seem ok?

http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=41

Many thanks to all. Cant believe what a good site this is. I was expecting to be flamed for asking a question. LOL

This thread here should give you a nice amount of information so you know everything there is to it. It is a longish OP, but since you're doing a Comptia A+ this should also be good to refresh whatever you've studied so far: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=30480

Being well informed is the best tool against damaging things. To be sure you don't kill your computer make sure to have good cooling. Stock cooling almost never is. Get RealTemp and use something like OCCT. That way you can see what your temperature are like under load. If you are already hitting 80C under load, then overclocking could be a bad idea.

Then you can try out the guide you linked to, or look at this forum's Overclocking section as it has lots of threads for your processor. And if in doubt, always ask!

 

[InnocentCriminal]

Welcome to TPU!

For me DDR3 is worth it due to the lower power consumption. I can run my 1333MHz sticks at 1600MHz with only 1.65volts where as DDR2 can't even hit 1333MHz let alone get away with using less than 1.8v.

I have an ASUS P5E3 which you could have for £50 inc delivery. It's a lot like your current board but better. A cheap stop gap but then again that £50 could always go towards a new build.

Don't forget to fill in your System specifications.

 

[Goodman]

Welcome to TPU!

For me DDR3 is worth it due to the lower power consumption. I can run my 1333MHz sticks at 1600MHz with only 1.65volts where as DDR2 can't even hit 1333MHz let alone get away with using less than 1.8v.[/url]

You may want to rephrase that about DDR2 there are DDR2 1333 (my board also supported) but as for the voltage you're right though but who cares really...?

http://news.softpedia.com/news/1333-Mhz-DDR2-From-OCZ-35551.shtml

EDIT: looks like these are prototype & also an old article but maybe they got some by now?
What i'm sure though is that they are DDR2 -1200 out but verry expensive

LOL im up for overclockering to be honest, but i scares me a bit because all the techs i know round me put the fear of god into you about overclocking

That's because they never OC anything in there lives or are such noob that they don't know what they're doing... overclocking is not dangerous (unless you go extreme like ln2 cooling) as long as you go little step by step & have good cooling & monitor your temps... you'll be fine.

 

[bubs]

@InnocentCriminal

where on earth did you see that mobo for £50? I found this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-371-AS which is double. I tried ebuyer and could not find it : )

 

[Helper]

Upgrading to a newer chipset mobo and DDR3 RAM isn't worth the price premium over what you have right now. Your motherboard is more then good enough even for overclocking your CPU. So is your RAM and the rest. You probably won't push 4 GB of RAM in anything else other then those stupid, unbalanced games like GTA4 or Crysis either. The difference between PCI-E 16X 1.0 and 2.0 is like %1-5 for you so. Fine-tune (overclock) your system. Don't upgrade unless you go on an i7 system. Notting else is really worth it for the money you pay, for the extra performance you get.

 

[InnocentCriminal]

You may want to rephrase that about DDR2 there are DDR2 1333 (my board also supported) but as for the voltage you're right though but who cares really...?

http://news.softpedia.com/news/1333-Mhz-DDR2-From-OCZ-35551.shtml

EDIT: looks like these are prototype & also an old article but maybe they got some by now?
What i'm sure though is that they are DDR2 -1200 out but verry expensive.

I've never seen DDR2 higher than 1200MHz. I've seen support for DDR2 1333 but never heard of any modules able to support that speed.

where on earth did you see that mobo for £50? I found this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=MB-371-AS which is double. I tried ebuyer and could not find it : )

Um.... I actually said I have it for sale, it's my back up board in-case my Blackops fails. Saying that though, Helper is right. You don't really need to upgrade but I know what the itch is like. It's a hard one to stop.

 

[bubs]

Ahhh sorry bout that!, There are things wrong with my mobo tho, and to be honest i dont think there is much life left in it. For example i have 4gb ocz ddr2 800mhz ram. But when i try to add more ram i have which is a different make but same speed it dont work my computer dont seem to finish the bleep at the POST. But if i take that ram out and try 2 different sticks they do the same thing. Also with the 4gb i have installed in my mobo on cpu-z it says that each stick is 400mhz, although i have tried 4 different types of ram and the all say 400mhz which aint right becuase on the label of the ram stick it say 800mhz. And my mobo to be honest is too old. When i shut down my computer, i have to leave it for a about 10 - 20 mins before i can switch it on again. I aint by any means an expert but i am learning.

 

[InnocentCriminal]

I suggest you get that RAM MOBO up on the forums or on eBay and buy my P5E3 off me.



The only expense then is purchasing some DDR3 but as it stands, DDR3 is pretty much on par to DDR2.

 

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

If u already have a ddr2 board dont bother otherwise .. DDR3 ftw

 

[Black Panther]

Hi
when my comp first starts up the ram is up to 50% for ages.

Hello and welcome to TPU!

Your RAM usage doesn't sound quite right. I have an E8400 - it's overclocked but RAM usage doesn't make a difference whether I run it at stock speed or overclocked. My RAM usage never exceeds 35% (I'm with 8 FF tabs open) and btw I got 4GB RAM too. And I'm running Vista x64 which is much worse RAM hog than your OS!
My mobo's inferior to yours, mine's a P5B and I'm running a pci-e card which could run on a 2.1 pci-e slot but my mobo's slot is just 1.0!!

Check your background processes.
After you startup your pc, type msconfig and check on the programs which start running at startup.
You'd be surprised to see various google applications, quicktime, adobe, office and all the rest...... The OS loads them at startup and keeps them in memory so that IF you actually use them they load quicker.
Just disable all the programs which you recognise. If there is some application which you don't know what it is, just post

 

[erocker]

No, you need to upgrade nothing. If you are a gamer, get a 5850/5870. No part of your system is holding you back.

 

[Helper]

Hi
I have had my mobo for appox 4 years because i upgraded from dou core to quad. But i have noticed it has become pretty sluggish on windows 7, and when my comp first starts up the ram is up to 50% for ages.

There are things wrong with my mobo tho, and to be honest i dont think there is much life left in it. For example i have 4gb ocz ddr2 800mhz ram. But when i try to add more ram i have which is a different make but same speed it dont work my computer dont seem to finish the bleep at the POST. But if i take that ram out and try 2 different sticks they do the same thing. Also with the 4gb i have installed in my mobo on cpu-z it says that each stick is 400mhz, although i have tried 4 different types of ram and the all say 400mhz which aint right becuase on the label of the ram stick it say 800mhz. And my mobo to be honest is too old. When i shut down my computer, i have to leave it for a about 10 - 20 mins before i can switch it on again. I aint by any means an expert but i am learning.

When you think of what you wrote there, doesn't some of those excuses sound ridicilious? I mean dude...

OK let me say, first off, your motherboard doesn't usually cause sluggishness over your system, unless it has some of it's settings wrong or it's broken. It's mostly your parts that are connected to your computer or your OS, those are what cause slow performance. I don't think that there is anything wrong with your mobo hence you don't mess with your BIOS.(tuning/overclocking) Your mainboard could be 8 years old too. It's fine as long as it's doesn't have any REAL issues, and is capable for your needs. It's not like it's going to be dead. It can live at least 4 years more as long as you don't misuse it.

Mixing RAM is a VERY BAD idea if you don't know what you're doing. You need so do their settings. And RAM needs to be similar in some of it's specs wise, in order to work without any issues. I'm not going to go in detail here but I will if you inform me about the RAM that you wanna mix. The "D" in "DDR" stands for dual or double. So DDR2-800 is 400X2=800. That's not that hard to guess thinking of it or Googling it eh?

Yes, your mobo IS OLD. But that doesn't make it bad. One can tell that's it's a good mainboard just by looking at it. It was one of the best motherboards of it's time, and it makes an awesome combination with a Q6600. You don't need another mobo unless you go on AN EXTREME OVERCLOCK. That's when you'll need a X48 motherboard. Other then that, that mobo is just as good in daily overclocks for that CPU and it's a real good motherboard in other things such as mobo components, BIOS options etc. It's not some old M-ATX ECS trash. Know the value of your P5B Deluxe man. Why do you need to keep your PC closed for 10-15 mins when you shut it down? What do you do when you restart it? Do you always do that? Oh man think of what you're doing...

Whatever dude, don't upgrade. No i7, no big performance gain for you. You'll be throwing away your money... it's not necessary.

I've never seen DDR2 higher than 1200MHz. I've seen support for DDR2 1333 but never heard of any modules able to support that speed.

This is the fastest MHZ RAM that I know of

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313009

I've known it for 2 years. But it does that speed on CL6. There are some RAM kits that could do that speed in CL5. Such as Corsair's Dominator 1111s or some of those new OCZ/G-Skill 1.8 V PC-9600s. But not all good RAM can do that. You need to have a pair of very highly-binned RAM. Although my Reapers are DDR2-1200. They don't do PC-9600. They can't go any higher then 1150 no matter what I do. I had a pair of HyperX DDR2-1200 too. It didn't do 1200 either. I used it at CL4, DDR2-1000. Not only that, speeds over DDR2 1300 aren't common for daily usage. Just like how speeds over 5 GHZ aren't common. But that doesn't mean that one can't stable it's RAM at 1300. It's easily possible with on the right hands with the right RAM.

For me DDR3 is worth it due to the lower power consumption. I can run my 1333MHz sticks at 1600MHz with only 1.65volts where as DDR2 can't even hit 1333MHz let alone get away with using less than 1.8v.

That's why it's DDR3 mate. It's designed to reach faster speeds at lower voltages. Like how DDR2 is compared to DDR. But you got something wrong there. RAM doesn't take much juice. In fact, it nearly takes the least wattage in your system. It usually doesn't overheat either. But a DDR2 RAM at 1300 MHZ will kill a DDR3 RAM at 1333 MHZ. Since it has lower latencies, it makes it better clock-per-clock. DDR3s main advantage is it's huge bandwidth and that's it's high speeds. Like 1800 or 2000. If a DDR3 RAM can do more then 2000 at CL7, then that RAM will smoke most DDR2 RAM. But a DDR2 RAM at CL3 DDR2-1000 can still win on some areas. So both are good to their own.

 

[bubs]

@Helper i appriciate that explaination and it was very informative, but when i do a windows shut down. If i try to turn it straight back on it wont come straight on. I have wait for a 10 mins or so before i can reboot. Also i have checked all the connections and i have a new PSU and even a new power cable just incase.

 

[overclocking101]

1. if i get a mobo with ddr3 will it be a lot better than if i get one with ddr2?
1: If its socket 775 then NO IT COULD BE WORSE
2. will my radeon 4890 work better in a pcie 2.0 slot rather than the current 1.0 im using.
2: nope same
3. Or should i think bugger it and get a new mobo 1366 and i7?
3: I did this but with 1156 its cheaper and close to the same.

 

[InnocentCriminal]

That's why it's DDR3 mate.

Really?! Zombie Jebus, I'm in the wrong profession.

It's designed to reach faster speeds at lower voltages. Like how DDR2 is compared to DDR. But you got something wrong there.

I did?

RAM doesn't take much juice. In fact, it nearly takes the least wattage in your system. It usually doesn't overheat either. But a DDR2 RAM at 1300 MHZ will kill a DDR3 RAM at 1333 MHZ.

Please show me a DDR2 module rated at 1300MHz that runs on 1.8v or less. JEDEC's maximum voltage for DDR2 1.9 but I expect these high-end DDR2 modules to use 1.9 or more. That Kingston RAM you've linked too is 2.3 to 2.5v - that's the same as DDR(1).

Since it has lower latencies, it makes it better clock-per-clock. DDR3s main advantage is it's huge bandwidth and that's it's high speeds. Like 1800 or 2000. If a DDR3 RAM can do more then 2000 at CL7, then that RAM will smoke most DDR2 RAM. But a DDR2 RAM at CL3 DDR2-1000 can still win on some areas. So both are good to their own.

If you notice in my post I actually stated that for me DDR3 was the better option due to lower voltages required, even if the difference is minimum it can aid in OC'ing (if that's your bag) or if you're like me and like power saving, it's obviously better. So, where am I wrong?



In my opinion, if the OP has a faulty MOBO and isn't really wanting to fork out for a complete new system, then definitely pick up a cheap DDR3 motherboard (as one is available) or look for a replacement