I guess when you screw up it comes back at ya (or at least it did for me).

About a month ago I bought an AGP 8x Radeon X1950 GT (256 GDDR3) for an Athlon XP 3000+.
I thought it would be enough to run the latest games, turned out the GPU was but the CPU wasn't.

Anyway, I finally decided to bite the bullet on an upgrade but I wasn't gonna throw the graphics card on a drawer and I sure as hell wouldn't gonna be able to get even half of what I payed for.


After a stroll on a couple of computer stores I was given a seemingly good alternative, the ASROCK 4CoreDUAL-SATA2 motherboard.

It's for Core2 DUO/QUAD CPUs but supports DDR1 as well as DDR2 and AGP 8x as well as PCI Express (but I think only 4x, not 16x).

Seemed good right?

Just one thing though, I wanted to pair it with an Intel Core 2 DUO E4400 or E4500 CPU until I read that the Core2 CPUs actually have performance drop when they're paired with DDR that isn't of the same timings meaning, a 1066FSB CPU should be paired with 533 DDR2 and a 1333 with a 667. But what about the 800MHz FSB 4x00 series?

It would either have to be paired with 400 or 800 MHz RAM. Only problem, this MotherBoard supports DDR1 up to 400 and DDR2 up to 667, not 800.

So, which DDR1 or 2 should I get to have the minimal performance loss?

ddr800 4-4--3-8 super talent $93 at the egg plant

set at 1:1 at stock

oc same run at 1400fsb for the chip, lower the multipler, 700fsb for memory

you oc the chip - lower the multiplier so you can get a good ratio

1) Don't Worry About matching the speeds. You simply adjust the CPU/RAM to run at the same speed. Even if you don't the is likely not much of a performance loss. In many cases, it is probaby a boost.

2) The ASRock is NOT a good motherboard. You should likely be looking at a P35 motherboard. This will support the upcoming Penryn processors. Also the ASRock likely has few if any OCing options. If getting a 4xxx CPU, you will definately want to OC or you don't want those chips. Their default FSB is simply too low. However, once you set it to a decent FSB, they rock.

I feel that's a little harsh on the ASRock board. Indeed it's not the best motherboard available, but you've missed the point of issue. He's just bought an AGP graphics card... and a P35 based motherboard will only have PCI-E.

As someone's already said. Get some DDR2 RAM.

Sorry to be a pain in the butt but both first two posters missed the point of the post.

a. I CAN'T get a MoBo that only supports PCI-E, otherwise I WOULD.
The AGP card I bought cost me DOUBLE what this MoBo costs and a little more than what the CPU costs.
b. If I get this MoBo then I do so fully aware than I won't be overclocking and that I won't be able to put 800 MHz DDR2, only 533 and 667.

So, provided I get to keep my AGP card any other MoBo/CPU/DDR2 scenario is VERY welcome. If no other alternative exists then, which RAM am I best getting?

I could be wrong, but I haven't come across a modern motherboard for s775 that supports AGP (other than the aforementioned ASRock board).

In response to your comment "I won't be able to put 800 MHz DDR2"

Yes you will be able to put that RAM into the motherboard, it just wont run at 800MHz, it'll run at 667MHz...

I'll leave the recommendation of what brand to someone else, I don't know what's the best atm.

Oh no, not brand, I meant 533 or 667!!!

Which of the two will have the best performance (or less performance loss) between the two.

As for 800, the manual (downloaded the pdf) says:
2 x DDRII DIMM slots
- Support DDRII667/533
- Max. capacity: 2GB
- 2 x DDR DIMM slots
- Support DDR400/333/266
- Max. capacity: 2GB
After a second thought you're probably right but I don't know if it'll be worth it (getting a much more expensive 800 to only run it at 667, perhaps by the time I upgrade It'll already be too old too...)

Hi Keeperos,

I have buy the 4CoreDUAL-SATA2 for my wife last month with a E2160 cpu.

I used my old kingston value 2x512mb ram ddr-400 and it run very well.

My wife use it for internet, torrent, divx and some dvdshrink.

She is very satisfied of it, she had my old xp 2600+ before that.

The kid play some games like BF2 and Flatout 2 with the old 6600GT agp, and it's all right too.

I got some crucial rendition ddr2 last week (60$ can for 2gb ddr2-667) and it's now even better.

She did not restarted the pc for two weeks lol.

You should be ok with your 1950gt and some ddr memory.

Note that you can't use more than 2gb with this motherboard.

You can use ddr2-800 but will be clocked to ddr2-667.

djbrad

Thanks for the info, but the question remains.

Do I get 533, 667 or 800 (for future MoBo upgrade)?
Mind you the 800 costs about 30% more than the 667 (62 VS 78 for 2x 1GBs)

Yes, I missed the AGP portion.
Not sure if you can sell it and get a PCI-E.

AGP cards tend to be more expensive than the PCI-E version of the same model.

No, I can't sell it for anything close to its' original value and I'm not going to take a hit for only a month of using it.
Thus, I really am locked to the AGP slot and unless someone knows of another motherboard, to the ASROCK 4CoreDUAL-SATA2.

So, what I really need is a suggestion on the most appropriate DDR (1 or 2) for the Core 2 DUO 4400/4500 CPU.
I already have 1GB DDR400 but another GB (to get to the much required 2) costs as much as 2GBs of DDRII667 (and more than 2GBs of DDRII533).

So, which of the 3 will offer the best performance with these particular CPUs?
The DDR400, the DDRII533 or the DDRII667?
Is it worth it to pay the extra money for the 800 (which will run at 667 due to the limitations of this MotherBoard)?

I'd say it's an absolute must to buy at least DDR2 800.

Not because you'll see the benefits now... but because it should save you money in the long run when it comes to upgrading...

hopefully 800 will mean you get more life outta your RAM.

The board supports dual channel DDR2-667 memory for a total of 10.6GB/s of bandwidth. The board supports all 800mhz and 1066mhz FSB Core 2 CPUs. (but not 1333 FSB) The board isn't an excellent overclocker either, so even with overclocking that 10.6GB/s of memory bandwidth will be more than enough for the FSB.

With this in mind, I'd say it's pointless to buy faster memory that you don't need and that your board won't even support. My recommendation would absolutely be a 2GB (2x 1GB) DDR2-667 kit from a decent brand like Corsair. If you are going to upgrade the motherboard later, then DDR2-800 memory wouldn't be a bad idea. If you do get faster memory, it will still work in that board - just with the frequency reduced to 667mhz.