Upgrading to DDR3 on p35

kare

kare

kare

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20 Nov 2009
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Hey,

I've got a Gigabyte P35-DS3R (with an Intel Q9550) with 2GB of DDR ram.

I want to upgrade to a 4GB dual channel kit. As the motherboard supports both DDR2 & 3 is it worth going for the latter?

I realise there isn't much more performance increase but i'd like to future proof myself a bit so when I eventually upgrade to core i7 platform I will have the correct memory already.


If the ddr3 route is sensible then can I use faster ram modules than the motherboard supports e.g. PC3-12800 (The motherbaord goes up too 10600). I was looking at the Corsair XMS3 (MY-203-CS)

And I would also be looking to overclock my system aswell does ddr3 on the p35 platform overclock ok?



Many thanks!
 
The P35 chipset supports both DDR2 and DDR3 but I'm pretty certain (could be mistaken, but I don't think so) that that particular board can only take DDR2.

From the GIGABYTE spec:

Supports DDR2 1066* memory for outstanding system performance.
Click to expand...

Intel® P35 chipset also offer options for both DDR2 and DDR3 memory support...
Click to expand...

And on the compatible memory list there is only DDR2 : http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/MemorySupport/motherboard_memory_ga-p35-ds3r.pdf
 
I can confirm it has both DDR2 and DDR3 slots. I just want to know if its ok to use PC12800 even though on gigabytes website it supports up too 10600.

Will I be ok overclocking with these modules ?
 
With the same CPU, you'll see almost no real world difference between DDR2 and DDR3 on the same board assuming the DDR2 is not holding you back from a faster CPU OC. The limit is the memory controller. Regardless of the faster memory there is almost no real world gain. You'll see improvements in benchmarks but at most you'll see a 2% - 5% gain in memory intensive tasks.

On that board, go for the 4GB kit that is the least expensive. 1066 is plenty fast enough to get all the speed out of your CPU.
 
I have the same board and a Q9550, i swapped from 8gb of DDR2 to 4gb of DDR3, didnt notice much difference tbh

I could only manage 3.7Ghz oc though, although a haven't tried it running the RAM at lower speeds.

If you're looking for future proofing for an i7 system wont you need tri channel memory not duel channel??
 
i7 CPUs come with dual channel controllers in the 8** series. Proper DDR3 could be used on this board and also in dual channel with a P55/H55/H57 board later.
 
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