Old DDRII with a Q9400

[Toryglen-boy]

An oldie but goldie!!

have an old PC that i was thinking of using for something, its a Core 2 Quad Q9400, i have should 4 sticks of Kingston PC5300 DDRII sitting around the place, should they be ok to run on it? or does it need something faster ...

Noob question i know, but its been a while!!

thanks

 

[cmndr_andi]

Hi there,

The PC2-5300 stuff should be fine, though it may restrict your CPU overclocking (depending on what board you are using) and in memory-heavy applications you may experience less performance compared to running PC2-8500 RAM. However, it should get you up and running without trouble- plus DDR2 is expensive, so replacing the 5300 with 8500 is not cheap.

If you are overclocking, you may find that using all four sticks (instead of two) does limit your overclocking - due to extra strain put on the memory controller.

May I ask what make and model number board you are using?

 

[Idleman]

Yes. It will also run on faster memory, PC6400. Will also run on ddr3 1333mhz memory, depending on mobo and bios updates.
Always best to check mobo memory compatability.

 

[Toryglen-boy]

thanks guys, not planning on overclocking just running it at stock, its a Gigabyte PS35-DSL3 board, not too fussed on uber speed, just as long as it will run stable at stock

i can pickup 4Gb of PC8500 locally, for pennies, would that be better?


thanks!

 

[cmndr_andi]

thanks guys, not planning on overclocking just running it at stock, its a Gigabyte PS35-DSL3 board, not too fussed on uber speed, just as long as it will run stable at stock

Board looks good, just make sure that after you install the memory you go into the BIOS and ensure that it is running at its rated frequency, voltage and timings.

i can pickup 4Gb of PC8500 locally, for pennies, would that be better?

If it really is a good deal then I would. It will offer you better performance in memory-heavy tasks and if it is a 2x2GB kit then it will put less strain on the motherboards memory controller.

 

[Toryglen-boy]

thanks, its appreciated