DDR2 or DDr3? (I'm kind of stuck)

[AppleCertifiedPro]

Hey Guys!

I'm building my new rig and everything in it sound except for the motherboard and RAM. I've been stuck as DDR3 has come out and im really confused on which motherboard i should get, and the RAM i should get. My current choice is the Striker Extreme with Corsair XMS2 6400C4 Pro. Can someone give some advice on what to do. If you are interested on the other parts they are:
-E6750
-Corsair XMS2 6400C4 Pro 4-4-4-12 (i think they are the timings)
-Sparkle 8800GTS 320MB (no SLI)
-Antec P182
-250GB WD Caviar
(thats about all the major parts)

Input is appreciated!

Thanks alot!

 

[systemlord]

First do you think you'll ever go SLI? If not then Intel's new P35 mobo is a big plus right now. The Striker is a great mainboard and Crucial's Ballistix is some of the best Ram out there and even comes with LED's for some bling. All you other pic's are great, but which GTS did you like the 320MB or 640MB version? In my opinion the 640MB seems a better choice as it has more Vram on board. Some games like GRAW as an option needs a 512MB card to run high quality textures, not to say that it wouldn't run well on medium.

 

[Track]

Yes, you want 680i SLi because of SLi.
But no, you don't want the Striker Extreme. Get the P5N32-E SLi instead.

As for RAM.. Don't even think about Corsair.
This is the best RAM available, and it only costs 130$!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231065

 

[systemlord]

Track is right about that G.Skill Ram its very popular and was my second choice in my PC build. Going SLI is costly and needs a pretty powerful power supply, then be prepard to get a PC case that will fit both cards. Theres nothing easy about building a new PC from the ground up. Best thing to do is go to a few websites and read the reviews about graphics cards, motherboards, RAM and cool big heatsinks for cooling your CPU along with RAM fans that keep ram cool.

Here are some websites you should check out, as this is how I came to build my PC. www.Anandtech.com, www.guru3d.com, www.HardwareLogic.com. This is the best way to get an idea of what your needs will be, and it will help you come to a good idea about what you'll be wanting. Also have a look at TomsHardware CPU & VGA card charts. This is the best way to do it right the first time.

 

[Sh4doW]

Track why not the striker extreme? that is the board I have just bought. what makes it inferior?

 

[IcY18]

It's not inferior, besides a lot of early issues with instability that should be fixed by now, it's just not worth the money for the features.

Also don't even consider SLi right now, it wouldn't do your money any good. Also DDR2 is going to be here to stay for awhile so don't worry about DDR3 at all, plus your mobo doesn't support it.

I'd look at either the Crucial Ballistix or G.skill listed above for ram. You didn't mention how you were going to cool your processor, maybe you plan on using stock, or the type of power supply you need. You may have this already figured out but just a little reminder

 

[sailer]

Hey Guys! I've been stuck as DDR3 has come out and im really confused on which motherboard i should get, and the RAM i should get.

Since you're building the computer now, I wouldn't even think of DDR3. If you were building 6 months to a year from now, by which time DDR3 should be better, then it would be a consideration. Get the best DDR2 you can find and it will keep you going good.

The Corsair is good ram, but the G.Skill and Crucial seem to be better in price/performance, as others have noted. As for SLI, if you have a big monitor, 24" or larger, then maybe its justified. Otherwise stick with a single card. You list a choice of 8800 GTS. I think a single GTX would be better than a SLI with the GTS model, but that's my opinion. Check the VGA charts for a more comprehensive answer.

 

[Synthetickiller]

I don't wanna take over this thread, but since the G skill you mentioned is so good for OCing, is it worth purchasing that over this:

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820148069

Cas = 5-5-5-15

If the DDR800 can do 5-5-5-15 @ 1066 or so, I'd most gladly buy it to save about 30 bucks a pack. (Now I sound like a chain smoker).

 

[Synthetickiller]

I also ran across other Crusial Ballistix ram:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565

Its ddr2 800, and appears to be around the quality/speed of the Geil DDR2 800.

Its 80 bucks for 2 gigs after a rebate.

Looks good to me for the price.

 

[sailer]

I also ran across other Crusial Ballistix ram:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565

Its ddr2 800, and appears to be around the quality/speed of the Geil DDR2 800.

Its 80 bucks for 2 gigs after a rebate.

Looks good to me for the price.

That one looks like that better of the two Crucial products. Better price and better performance. What more can a person ask?

 

[Track]

Also don't even consider SLi right now.

Thats the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

In a year when the 8800 GTX costs 200$, buying another one instead of buying the 9800 GTX for 650$ is the best thing you can do. Just like with the X1900s. If I had a CrossFire motherboard and an X1900 card, I would get another and not the 8800 GTX.

And thats beside the fact that X1900 did not support DX10 or SM4.0 and the 8800 GTX does! And the 9800 GTX is not going to support DX11 or SM5.0 so image quality will be the same.

And THAT is beside the fact that nVidia has NO REASON to come out with a new card, be it the 9800 GTX or 8900 GTX because they have no competition and their 8800 GTX hasn't droped in price since it launched 8 months ago!
If you want to believe the rumor that an 9800 GTX will launch in December and it will have the G92 core in it, then go right ahead, but don't think you can bullshit us with that crap.

 

[Track]

Track why not the striker extreme? that is the board I have just bought. what makes it inferior?

Its much more expensive than the P5N32-E SLi, and it's exactly the same thing.

You should send it back and get your 150$ back after getting the P5N32-E SLi.

If you want to waste your money on a motherboard, then get the eVGA 680i SLi *A1* version. But it's also mostly0 meaningless.

 

[xrodney]

Was thinking about same, but for price 4GB DDR3 i can get 16GB DDR2 whitch give me more improvements.
So far DDR3 is not worth a price at least not for someon with limited income and i think it will stay that way at least till 2nd half of 2008.

 

[little_scrapper]

go witht he Ballistix from newegg for $85!!! Best deal around ANYWHERE!!!

 

[systemlord]

Remeber people DX9 will still be around for some time as DX10 isn't going to become mainstream overnight. I only see a few DX10 games for early to mid 2008, there will still be lots of DX9 games coming out. As for DDR2 its in its prime right now where DDR3 is still to new & to pricey to consider in my opinion. I prefer to put my money in one monster of a graphics card and with new cards coming out so often, it seems a waist to buy two as they have about a two year life span.

 

[akahuddy]

Crucial Ballistix DDR2 can't be beat right now... I just bought some yesterday.

Don't listen to Track either. He rarely knows what he's talking about.

 

[jeb1517]

Crucial Ballistix DDR2 can't be beat right now... I just bought some yesterday.

Don't listen to Track either. He rarely knows what he's talking about.

QFT

 

[systemlord]

All 680i mobo's had problems out the door, both EVGA & Asus. But it had more to do with the 680i chipset than the brand of mobo itself. Thats all behind us now as Nvidia has fix the problems that in my opinion almost kill the 680i launch. Every mobo will have its share of problems at first no matter who makes them. If I were to go for the 680i I would go with the Striker Exteme, I just love Asus boards.

 

[geofelt]

Right now, DDR3 is not price competitive with DDR2. I think it won't be for at least a year. In memory, unless you are an overclocking entusiast, sufficient quantity is more important than the speed for a C2D processor. The differences due to specs are in the low single digits. You would see most improvement for the $ from a faster cpu or vga card. Unless you forsee the need for a better vga card than the 8800GTX, don't bother with SLI. Remember that all current components will be superceeded by better, faster, cheaper stuff in a couple of years. Get what suits you now. As to the motherboard, the performance differences are minimal. Look at the specs, read the reviews and experiences, and get the board that has what you will need. Download the manual from the motherboard site, and get the board that seems understandable to you.
---good luck---

 

[ryanthesav]

get the striker...kicks butttt

 

[kona]

Dude....just like there was not really any immediate advantage of DDR2 over good DDR400, there is no immediate advantage in the case of DDR3 vs good DDR2. There are a few boards out there w/ the new P/G35 chipsets that will take either DDR2 or DDR3. I would look for one of those and buy up some of this DDR2 at the amazing prices that are out there. Besides, by the time that DDR3 has matured enough to give it an actual/real world advantage over good DDR2 you will likely be ready to upgrade your rig. This way you won't have to do another expensive upgrade for better DDR3 and will instead be doing only one expensive purchase. The good DDR2 RAM that is out there right now you can overclock for a while anyway which is the big benefit to a core 2 anyway right?

 

[AppleCertifiedPro]

First of all i would like to say that SOME Asus problems are faulty as most people know.

I think I will stick with the DDR2 because of what Kona has said and i totally agree. DDR2 should be around for a while. I checked out the Crucial and the G Skill RAM, they both look good. But the Crucial will meet my needs and i'm gonna take that one.

My plan for the graphics card is something similar to Tracks, I will buy one 8800GTS 320MB and then SLI it when time comes (hopefully when there is another time drop). I'm not much of a gamer but i still like to play CS and Halo once in a while.

Back to the motherboard. I plan to get one which is DDR2 compatible, the Striker is a bit expensive, but it looks to me like a popular motherboard which has features which i will utilize. If anyone has a suggestion for a mobo i'm open to suggestions (Asus/gigabyte only, if possible).
(Looks to me like this is a pretty hot topic)

Thanks for the input guys!
Much appreciated!

 

[systemlord]

All the P35 mainboards are really good, you can just about pick one blindfolded, Asus or Gigabyte make a great P35. You also be 45nm ready and from what I'm hearing those P35 are turning out to be great overclockers. Its no shock that there great OC'ers there meant to replace the OC'ing masterpiece The Asus P5B's.

 

[IcY18]

Thats the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

In a year when the 8800 GTX costs 200$, buying another one instead of buying the 9800 GTX for 650$ is the best thing you can do. Just like with the X1900s. If I had a CrossFire motherboard and an X1900 card, I would get another and not the 8800 GTX.

And thats beside the fact that X1900 did not support DX10 or SM4.0 and the 8800 GTX does! And the 9800 GTX is not going to support DX11 or SM5.0 so image quality will be the same.

And THAT is beside the fact that nVidia has NO REASON to come out with a new card, be it the 9800 GTX or 8900 GTX because they have no competition and their 8800 GTX hasn't droped in price since it launched 8 months ago!
If you want to believe the rumor that an 9800 GTX will launch in December and it will have the G92 core in it, then go right ahead, but don't think you can bullshit us with that crap.

Track,

You are ,for lack of a better word , an idiot, all i simply said was that it is not worth dumping over $1000 for graphics card when it will be outperformed in a year. While you bring up some other issues that can even backup why i said that, my reasoning is still justified. First being that you obviously have no clue how nvidia prices their high end products like the 8800GTX, just like the 7800GTX and 7900GTX, the 8800GTX will not come down in price. I'm sure you thought the 7800GTX would go down in price once the 7900GTX came out, but of course it didn't. Nvidia will simply stop producing 8800GTXs and the price will not drop below $400 w/o rebates. So your dream of a $200 8800GTX is far from true, even more so from that fact that you said nV doesn't have a reason to release a new card, they have no reason to lower the price before one of their new products comes out, which would be the only time they would lower it

Secondly the reason the X19x0s become so cheap was because the competition was blowing them away so they needed to lower prices to compete. Again like you said that is not the case here.

Third, SLi runs hotter, requires a bigger power supply, and the drivers don't work 100% of the time, making it well worth just getting a single better card later than getting 2x8800GTXs now.

Lastly, i never said anything about an 8900GTX or 9800 so i'm not sure where that rant came from but apparently you needed to vent that.

 

[geofelt]

Regarding your vga upgrade strategy: A 8800gts-320 will cost about $300. It is a fine card, and you will be happier than you think with it. If you get two, in sli, you will have spent $600. What you will have is a system that still has only 320mb of memory, and is not as fast as a $500-$600 8800GTX-720. In addition, you will have paid more for a sli capable motherboard, and possibly more for a psu capable of driving two vga cards.
The next generation of highest end vga cards will have perhaps twice the performance, and be priced about the same as the 8800GTX it replaces. I doubt that anyone really will need more than that in the next few years. I would suggest that you take the extra $ that you would spend on planning onfor SLI and use it elsewhere. Get the best 8800 card you feel comfortable paying for. Enjoy it. When it becomes inadequate, sell it on e-bay, and replace it with the new generation card that you want.