DDR2 and DDR3 Ready boards

toblarone45 · 2 Mar 2009 at 20:07

Right i was just browsing and for a possible new machine which would be slightly more future proof i was looking for a mobo that supports both ddr2 and ddr3 - i found that asus do a p5qc on their site but couldn't see it here - do overclockers uk do them? (or any other similar boards?)

and also if they do/don't is it a worth while route to take or not?

bremen1874 · 3 Mar 2009 at 02:56

I can’t see any benefit in getting a board that’ll support DDR2 or (not and) DDR3 memory.

Decide what sort of memory you want to use and buy a board to suit. If you’re going down the socket 775 route and are planning to keep for more than 12 months then stick with DDR2.

If you have some cunning plan that seems to make that board a good idea then please explain your thinking and I’m sure someone will comment.

booyaka · 3 Mar 2009 at 11:28

agree - DDR2 is so cheap anyway (£40 for 4gb) unless you need DDR3 etc - just stick with DDR2 board for now

fro5tie · 3 Mar 2009 at 14:18

I have a Gigabyte P35C-DS3R which has 4 x DDR2 and 2 x DDR3 slots. Nice motherboard think its about £70

magicroundabout · 3 Mar 2009 at 15:20

i've a Foxconn P35 AP-S which supports 4 slots DDR2 and 2 slots DDR3. Good little board and only getting rid as i want full x16 Crossfire from a X38

bremen1874 · 3 Mar 2009 at 16:53

Has anyone that's had a board that'll take DDR2 or DDR3 ever actually used the facility?

I could see the point of the boards that would take AGP or PCI-E video cards as people may have had a decent AGP card they wanted to reuse while waiting to upgrade.

As there's no real benefit to using DDR3 on a S775 board what's the point?

toblarone45 · 3 Mar 2009 at 18:16

booyaka said:
agree - DDR2 is so cheap anyway (£40 for 4gb) unless you need DDR3 etc - just stick with DDR2 board for now

true and that's while i'll use DDR2 until the DDR3 price comes down.

bremen1874 said:
As there's no real benefit to using DDR3 on a S775 board what's the point?

Tbh i'm just looking forward to the future proofing - i'm not looking for the whole i7 build but would like to be able to use DDR3 when applications start utilising it

Addicted · 3 Mar 2009 at 18:20

there's no point getting a board which has 2x DDR3 slots as most DDR3 is triple channel now anyway!

manic111 · 3 Mar 2009 at 18:21

I don't see the point to be honest mate. It'll only be socket 775 boards that have this feature, as all the i7 chips require DDR3, and, as has already been pointed out, the benefits of using DDR3 over DDR2 with a 775 chip is minimal.

I've got a P35c-DS3R which has this capacity, and don't see myself using it. By the time I feel like I need to upgrade to DDR3, I'll also want a shiny new chip, which will mean a new mobo.

reflux · 3 Mar 2009 at 18:22

No point really - it's false economy. DDR3 at the moment is nothing more than the icing on the cake for a fast system. The only reason to use it is for Core i7, which won't run DDR2. By the time DDR3 brings any benefit, it'll be in the form of 2ghz kits for all, mid-lifespan, in a year or so.

Just get a decent DDR2 board and stick with it. The combo boards tend to be fairly poor performers anyway.

toblarone45 · 3 Mar 2009 at 18:39

Right guys thanks for the responses - i think i'll stick with DDR2 then

but at least that's one motherboard i can tick off my options list

magicroundabout · 4 Mar 2009 at 10:31

i got the foxconn for thinking i'd be future proofing and hoping ddr3 would actually have an advantage over ddr2. that was a year ago and still see no need to buy ddr3 (unless going i7)

Hence the reason i've just got myself a dedicated x38 ddr2 board instead