ianmc74

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Building my first gaming computer with room for expansion. About a $1200.00 budget. I've heard DDR3 is the new gen ram that will outpace DDR2. My question is do you think I need it for a gaming computer? Do you think its worth the investment? :??:
 
what processor are you getting? Intel Core 2 or Core i7. At your budget I'll assume your getting a core 2 in which case the answer is no. Also If your thinking of getting DDR3 for a future upgrade then don't bother either. By the time you upgrade from core 2, core i7 will likely see newer revisions allowing it to use ddr3 rated higher then 1.6v.

If your building core i7 then your only choice is DDR3
 

Ryun

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DDR3 will eventually outpace DDR2, yes, but you're looking at spending a lot more on DDR3 and added price does not justify the extra performance -- most benchmarks you'll find out there show maybe a 2-3% difference at best -- unless you're using this for memory intensive software or trying to save energy (DDR3 uses less power than DDR2).

If this machine is just for gaming, video editing, image editing, etc. more gigabytes of DDR2 RAM will yield you better results than less gigabytes of DDR3.
 

ianmc74

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Dont mind spending the money so much(ouch)!, but if DDR2 will be outpaced in the next year or so, I thought I would get a motherboard that supports DDR3. Runing with an E8500 processor btw. I can get the Asus P5q3 deluxe for about $200.00.
 

Sad Panda

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By the time you get around to upgrading again, i7 will be the new standard and you will have to upgrade your MOBO anyway to support it.
Remember that i7 is a package: if you get an i7 you have to get an x58 MOBO and DDR3 memory. So if your not getting an i7 for this build, its pointless to spend twice as much to get DDR3 memory.
 

ianmc74

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Point taken. Thank you guys so much for your help! I will be going with DDR2, prolly 1066. I will be posting in "new system build" "2nd Chance 1rst Build" with my changes in the next day or so. If you get a chance, please look at it and give me your input.