Hi everyone,

I am planning to build a new OC'd system with Intel's upcoming Q9450 quad processor. Due to its 8x multiplier I am anticipating on running a FSB of somewhere in the 480-500 mHz range, which seems feasible based on everything I've read so long as I can get a motherboard capable of that throughput.

My question is this: Is high speed DDR2 (such as 1066 to 1200) capable of this while being stable, and in a system which is for the most part always on? Or is this maxing out that technology and I would be better off going with DDR3-1333?

Additional RAM overclocking is not really a want of mine, though if there was headroom I would probably bump things up slightly (I'm guessing the DDR3 would be the only choice if I were to also OC the RAM at these speeds?). I'm also not wanting to run liquid cooling or any sort of major cooling apparatus apart from fans blowing over them.

I plan on running Vista x64 and do a lot of video production, so the DDR2 is appealing for getting 2GB sticks without breaking the bank. I'm planning to buy 2 sticks with my build and 2 additional sticks down the line.

So what are your thoughts? Thanks in advance for your help.

I would stick with DDR2 highend (1066 or 1200 as you suggest) these speeds are obviously guarenteed by the manufacturer and will be stable. 1200mhz part will give you 600mhz FSB with 1:1 ratio which i believe is more than enough to OC the Q9450. DDR2 is still cheaper at that speed and with better timings.

EDIT: not to mention the extra price of DDR3 motherboards.

Motherboards don't reach 600FSB without extreme settings. 500FSB is feasible. Go with a 2x2GB stick from G.Skill that OC's to 1000 easily and run it 1:1. I've got a Q6600, Abit IX38, and 4x1GB DDR2-800 OCZ Ati Certified. I've gotten 3.33GHz 1900FSB DDR2-950 stable, and 3.6GHz 1800FSB DDR2-900 stable. Going to go home tonight and get 2000FSB stable (my ram reaches 1050 so...). I wouldn't get DDR3 till it reaches no more than 100$ per 2GB. Wouldn't necessarily use it till the FSB limits get higher either. Better to go with DDR2.

Stick with DDR2 and a P35 board. They play very well together. Crucial ballistix tracers PC8500 are excellent overclockers. Im running them at 1064 with 4-4-4-12 2.3v and its prime stable for over 8hrs.

Thanks for the input everyone. I think I'm going to go with that G.Skill DDR2 since they have 2GB sticks. I'm also pretty sure I'll be going X38 instead of P35 due to the higher stock FSB, which I'm assuming should be more reliable at 500mHz. That is unless the P45/X48 chips come out before I'm actually building.