New Build Help, Gigabyte EP45-UD3P vs EP45T-UD3P

Fibrizo

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Feb 27, 2009
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18,510
hi!, i like to know which one is better for a new built. as far as i know EP45T have ddr3 but i have read that it's unstable. (correct me if I'm wrong)
EP45 seen to be very stable, but It uses DDR2.

My systems specs

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115131 received as a Gift

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Coolerhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003&Tpk=xigmatek s1283 i saw frosty tech review and it's seen to be pretty good

Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3Phttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128369
or
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3Phttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358

RAM Memory Waiting For Motherboard, Maybe 4GB of:
CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145229
or
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145218
open to suggestions.

EVGA 01G-P3-1155-TR GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit GDDR3http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130469 again, open to suggestions here

Antec Nine Hundredhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021already have it

PC Power & Cooling S75QBhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009 do you have a better suggestion in it's price range?

wont do overclocking (YET) neither intense gaming (standard graphics are enough for me), mainly to watch, encode and manipulate movies and videos. so any suggestions highly appreciated
 

bilbat

Splendid
Here is a good, quantitative article on the difference between DDR2 and DDR3:

http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2989&p=1

You especially want to look at the tables here:

http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2989&p=5

comparing the right-hand two columns, as, using the same chipset, you're getting an 'oranges to oranges' comparison...

I would advise against Crucial or Kingston - I've seen a lot of problems with them both here, though their DDR3 seems to fare better than their DDR2 ever did. Just as an example, I was going to put together a little 'mathematical', calculated comparison of 1066 DDR2 and DDR3; the only DDR3 1066s I could find at NewEgg were Crucial and Kingston. NEITHER one listed the actual latencies - both simply stated CAS7; I tried looking on their 'product' and 'support' websites; neither one had a search facility to find full specs for a given stick, neither one listed full (say 7-7-7-21) specs! (and you want to know this pre-purchase: 7-7-7-21 is a different than 7-7-7-28!) This means to me, that neither one needs my memory dollars!

There is certainly no inherent unstability with DDR3; it may just be a bit more difficult to 'tweak in'... For my money, unless you have to use DDR3, say to run an i7, stick with good DDR2 from G.Skill or OCZ!
 
I, on the other hand, have had a lot of success with Crucial. Just goes to show ... not quite sure what :) but it just goes to show.

I do agree with bilbat. If you do not need to use DDR3, don't. Spend your money elsewhere.
 

bilbat

Splendid
You may have just not yet had your problems with Crucial; one of the problems I've seen here with it is that it would appear to 'degrade' over time, causing a once-successful overclock to quit functioning - I think my count here of this particular problem is up to four, now...

I think, though, with pretty much all memory, you can tweak it in, it just may present a few more obstacles...
 

Fibrizo

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Feb 27, 2009
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18,510
ok, so should i go with ddr3 or ddr2?
please just list the Pros And Cons Of The boards and why should
take one over the other
 

bilbat

Splendid
This is actually a very involved question. I can easily tick off the board features, but deciding 'which one' requires more digging. The most important thing I'd need to know is a pretty broad question: "what are you planning to do with it?"

You will get better memory performance out of the DDR3 board, but, the memory will be more expensive; and it may be, for your use, you would be better served by having more less-expensive memory (say, 8G of DDR2) than less, costlier memory (2 or 4G of DDR3)... Likewise, the processor selection; if you just want something for surfing the web, and doing Twitter, YouTube, and MySpace, a cheap dual core would suffice; if you mainly want good gaming performance, you're probably better off with a pricier, high-speed, very overclockable dual-core like an E8500 or E8600; if you want a work-horse, for things like video editing, CAD, programming - activities whose programs are likelier to support multi-core threading, a Q9550 or Q9650 quad would be best...

So, you see, the question is like 'how high is up?' - it depends upon what you mean by up!!
 

Fibrizo

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Feb 27, 2009
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ok I already have the Intel Q9400, 2.66Ghz, 1333Mhz Bus, blablabla
so, It's better for me just to buy the EP45 and 4Gb ddr2 Ram, than buying the EP45T with 4Gb ddr3 ram?
The performance gain is no worth the extra money?
 

Fibrizo

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Feb 27, 2009
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sorry for double post didn't allow me to edit.

I mainly do video editing and encoding, some CAD and a few games, i don't really care about super graphics, I'm ok with normal settings in games, also i basically play strategy games and old games. Most of the newer games also comes in Xbox and PS2-3 so i do not play a lot on PC.
 

bilbat

Splendid
Yeah - I think you'll be happy with the DDR2 model - post back when the toys arrive, and I'll walk you through a nice, easy, low-voltage, easy-on-the-hardware overclock by say, 20% to 3.2GHz...
 
I have the EP45 running DDR2 800 and its stable as a rock only a few apphangs in 5 months
I went with DDR 2 800 because after alot of reviews and posts i read you relly wont see a gain in RL
see other spec in my sig been very happy with this rig GL m8
 

bilbat

Splendid
The only compelling reason to get 1066 is if you both can, and intend to, run your system clock above 400 MHz (i.e., FSB above 1600...) I'm running a 9550 at 450 sys-clk, 1800 FSB, so, as the lowest memory multiplier is 2.0, 800 RAM simply would not allow this!
 

Fibrizo

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Feb 27, 2009
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ok, went down to microcenter, to buy a case, and saw a core i7 D0, for 200+tax, so i did some research and found that the core i5 is about to be released.

Now, should i wait for the core i5 to be released or buy a core i7, still my brother is going to buy the parts for the Q9400 for us, but i wanted to check on the core i7 for my monster PC XD
 

bilbat

Splendid
The i5 will be a less expensive (read 'lower performance') nehalem stepping, not faster; take a look around here and read the experiences of the folks who are already 'saddled with' existing x58/i7 setups - they're not, for the most part, a happy crew...
 

Fibrizo

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Feb 27, 2009
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ok, so i should go with the i7 920, and any x58 board and will be better than waiting for core i5?
also, does anybody know when will 1366 board drop it's price?, cause they are very expensive at the moment.
 

bilbat

Splendid
No no - you're not getting it - not 'no Gigabyte', no i7; this is entirely new technology: the i7 itself is a new litho mask; the x58 is, too; the QPI bus is new; the 'uncore' clocking scheme is new; the 'tri-phase' memory technology is new - requiring new memory architecture; all the BIOS are new; there are bound to be gliches and 'gotchas' galore; give 'em six more months to iron this stuff out, and then consider i7 technology...
 

rockyjohn

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Another difference between the two boards is the maximum memory - 8 GB for the EP45T and 16 GB for the EP45.

http://www.gigabyte-usa.com/Products/Motherboard/Products_ComparisonSheet.aspx?ProductID=2914,3015

However this should not be a sigficiant issue as THG reported that essentially anything more than 3GB is wasted except for professional applications.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/memory-module-upgrade,2264.html

If you can afford the i7, can use the faster machine, and want to plan for the future, then it would seem to me that is the way to go. However if they are problematical today due to the new technology, the question you have to ask yourself is are you willing to deal with the headaches of being an early adopter or can you afford to wait 6 months until things shake out - either just sticking with your exisiting system or maybe doing a small tweak upgrade that you will essentially walk away from in 6 months. If no to both of those - then consider upgrading now without i7 but recognize the costs thereof.

It seems like your applications make CPU speed a critical item which might make it worthwile to stick with the i7 - either now or 6 months from now. And then 2 or 3 year from now you could hopefully upgrade the CPU and have another significant booost in performance.

How long do you expect to use the new system - particualry the mobo? If for several years, then maybe waiting 6 months is a small tradeoff to set you up for a faster machine and better upgrade path in the future.

Are you sure the i7 deal is still on at Microcenter? I tried looking it up online the other day and they did not even list the i7. But at $200 it is a great deal. Maybe even worth purchasing now if you decide to upgrade to a new system later.

Regarding the Crucial memory, I don't know about the P45 but I purchased it for my P35 - using vendor numbers right off the Gigabyte compatibility list. I had significant timing issues with it and wish I had purchased something else. I know at the time (naturally I learned this after purchasing the memory - I did not check as I thought I was safe using the mobo list) many others were posting on forums about similar problems - I wonder how Gigabyte determines compatibility.