My new computer... Some questions about Intel's X38

[SVakaTOR]

Hi there! I am about to spend my small amount of money on my last performance computer for like next 2 years.

Here is what I was looking for:

Mobo: Something on Intel’s X38 but with DDR 2
Ram: Here comes the problem. As far as I know the X38 supports only DDR2 800 (or something) so if I will be looking for 1066 one will it work? – This is just a theory coz I know it will be all up to the mother board I will select.

Another question about RAM: I wanted to go for Crucial BallistiX tracer {2* 2GB kit(1GBx2) DDR2 PC2-8500 Ballistix Tracer 240-pin } but recently found these OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 Vista Performance Gold 4GB Edition
Optional questions:
1. What is better to buy 4 of 1GB modulus or 2 of 2GB ones???

2. I have windows Vista 64Bit and will I need in future 8Gb of DDR2 6400??? LOL*:(

3. Which memory will be better for OCing Intel’s Q6600???


Next question about X38. I know that it does support nextgen PCI-E 2.0 and I have my HD2900XT - will they work together???

Mostly that’s all for now. Thanks

[Deux]

I only feel comfortable answering the last question so, Yes PCI-e 2.0 is indeed backwards compatible and I am fairly certain that you can put a 2.0 card in a 1.0 slot and it will work

[lee143]

1. Even if you get DDR2-1066 RAM, it'll automatically downclock itself to DDR2-800 RAM if the motherboard can't support that speed naturally. However, you can just set it back up with ratios.

2. If you buy 4 x 1GB sticks, it'll be cheaper and there is a greater selection of RAM you could use but if you won't be able to add more RAM.

3. No, you will pretty much never need 8GB of RAM unless you use your computer for heavy applications such as hardcore video editing, etc.

4. Both RAM will be the same because I'm 99% sure that your memory will be able to clock higher than the CPU. But the DDR2-1066 already CAN reach 1066 speeds while the 800 RAM may not be able to, depending on what RAM you have. If you have good overclocking RAM such as D9GMH, I'm sure you could reach that high.

5. Yes, it'll work. PCI-e 2.0 is backwards compatible.

[SVakaTOR]

Thanks everyone. Really appreciate it!:clap:

[SVakaTOR]

2. If you buy 4 x 1GB sticks, it'll be cheaper and there is a greater selection of RAM you could use but if you won't be able to add more RAM.


Hmmm here in sweden you can buy 2*2GB stacks for about 348$ and 4*1GB stacks will cost you 333$. Really not a big dial to pay 15$ more but with future upgrade.

http://www.komplett.se/k/kl.aspx?bn=10605&sortBy=p&minprice=&maxPrice=

[lee143]

Oh really? Then that's pretty good. I don't know if you'll want to get the 2 x 2GB sticks though. Depends when you'll be upgrading next. If you won't be upgrading for a while, you could just get the 4 x 1GB sticks now and get DDR3 later, you know?

[adamsleath]

i dont think those ocz 2gb sticks are going to give you any flexibility over 800 MHz. I think there are some expensive Mushkin 2x2gb sticks that clock "well"

oc for q6600 will be fairly low fsb anyway i would have thought. very unlikely you will need any more than 400x9 anyway with q6600; probably less...so <800 MHz maybe all you need, running 1:1

http://it-review.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1401&Itemid=91&limit=1&limitstart=1
http://it-review.net/images/stories/O/OCZ/VistaUpg/screen3.jpg


To keep the story short, over 2 days of testing we tried 5-4-4, 5-4-3 and finally came to a conclusion that the lowest stable latencies at DDR2-800 are 4-3-3. Running 3-4-4 or 3-3-3 resulted in tons of errors in memtest. This was a big surprise for us, modules rated at DDR2-800 5-6-6 work at DDR2-800 4-3-3. We did stretch the recommended voltage a bit and ran the modules at 2.1V, but 2.1V is nothing extreme so we felt comfortable with that.

those rams look quite good so long as you do not want to take them over 800MHz.

q6600 @ 3.2G for example: 355x9 or 400x8 on air possibly.

if you wanto push your ram speeds up go 4x1 stickkies.

[tormentor22]

Well i believe 2*2GB sticks are better since increasing th count of sticks to 4 wont give u any additional performance, and would block future ram upgrade, dont believe anybody will need over 4 GB as long as there are no heavy long hours work needed from the PC, at the end ure gonna build a PC not a server, but leave additional place that wont harm!

[SVakaTOR]

Exactly it always makes you feel comfortable with more space for future upgrade. However I am looking forward to get the new revision of Intel’s Q6600 in July directly after they will go down in price. I think it will give me a better overclocking performance since the input voltage will be reduced.

Just one more question. Is it worth of waiting till the x38’ll hit the market or should I buy a good P35-based MB. I mean will I really benefit in something from x38 in overclocking? Coz from what I have herd X38-based MBs made for DDR3 and they will reveal full power only with DDR3 modulus. I also know that DDR3 is not faster than DDR2 coz of the timings it has. The price is also a crucial factor between those memories and a potential costumer. SO?? :confused:

[SkItZo]

I read that X38 will ONLY support DDR3.

I could be wrong though.

[Anemone]

DFI will bring an X38 that supports DDR2. Others may or may not. The chipset works with DDR2 but if manufacturers choose to implement it on the X38, Intel just isn't going to support it.