RAM choice for Asus P5Q3-deluxe and E8400 ?

[kienphan]

Hi guys,
I just got an Asus P5Q3-deluxe-wifi and E8400 from a friend so I have to get other parts for a new computer
Can you guys please help me on finding the most compatible components for them.
I plan on overclocking the E8400 to 3.6GHz or maybe 4GHz.

RAM: I plan to get the Corsair TR3X6G1600C8D 6GB (3x 2GB) PC-12800 (1600MHz) DDR3 RAM ($208), will this work well if I OC the CPU to more than 3.6GHz.
Is the PATRIOT PC3-12800 6GB KIT (2GBX3) INTEL XMP 8-8-8 DDR3-1600 ($135) good enough?
2GBX3 OR 3GBX2 which is better?
C9 OR C8 which is better? I see the C8D is highest in price, but it doesnt seem to be worth it as my build is not extreme.

CPU cooler: I plan on getting the Kingwin XT-1264 as it is one of the cheapest, is this good enough for OC to over 3.6GHz?
Videocard: XFX 9800GT 512MB DDR3 with Artic Cooling GPU & Mem Sink Installed for $96 OR
the newly release HD 4770 512MB for $128
I plan to upgrade to 4850x2 2GB when it gets cheaper though. I plan on using 3 LCD's (24,22,22) is 2x 4770's sufficient for this set up.

The Case I bought has 500W PSU, is this enough for crossfire, should I just get the secondhand 9800GT and wait for PSU and VGA price to drop before upgrading as I'm not in any rush to upgrade.

Its so hard for me to decide on the RAM and the VGA card problem, the info I've been reading is overwhelming lol

Thanks a lot guys.

 

[xthekidx]

I would like to see you find 3gbx2. I don't think they make them.

DDR3 is a waste on LGA 775, but since you already have the DDR3 board, I guess its fine. Get a 4gb, not 6gb. 6gb kits are for the i7's in triple channel configurations. Look at something like these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231200

 

[gkay09]

Well xthekid's suggestion would have solved your RAM problem...As for the graphics card, get the 4770 without doubt...they are very fast compared to the 9800GT...

 

[xthekidx]

If you want to run 3 monitors, you cannot use your 4770's in crossfire, that will only support up to 2 monitors. If you unlink the GPU's, then you can run 4 monitors. The 4850x2 is unique in that it can support up to 4 monitors, but is basically crossfire in a single card.

I doubt the PSU that came with your case is worth using. If you want to run a 4850x2, then get a Corsair 650tx or something similar. Look at PC Power & Cooling, Antec, Corsair, Enermax, Seasonic, or silverstone PSU's in the ~600w range, higher is better than lower.

 

[kienphan]

@Xthekidx: thanks man, i got another question
I'm going to set FSB to 400 so should I get these instead
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193
and will the 7-7-7-18 timing version improve performance significantly http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231228

Thanks for the information about the VGA cards, I'll just save money for the 4850x2.
tomsware is such a great place

 

[xthekidx]

Yes lower timings produces better performance, particularly on the LGA 775 platform, you will see much more performance gains out of lower timings than faster memory speed...although with DDR3 I'm not so sure about it, since its quadruple pumped, as opposed to DDR2 which is just double pumped, so I am not sure how the DDR3 memory controller handles it...if you want to go for a FSB of 400, then get DDR3 1600 ram. Those G Skill PI Blacks are priced pretty high though, I think I would go with these modules: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146777 Mushkin is an excellent brand of memory and I think those ones are a much better deal. Looking at the reviews and mushkin's stellar reputation, I would say that they are pretty high quality, people seem quite pleased with them.

On the GPU's: I am assuming that when you are going to be gaming you won't need all three monitors (and if you do then you need to consider a much more powerful graphics configuration). In that case, 4770's crossfired wouldn't be a bad option, since you can easily link or unlink the GPU's in windows by enabling or disabling crossfire. You could just enable crossfire when gaming, and then disable it when you are using all three displays...just something to think about. I am fairly sure of this, at least it works for Nvidia GPU's that way and I am pretty sure it would work for ATI cards too.

 

[Helloworld_98]

^ No ddr3 is still double pumped, I'm pretty sure of that.

if it was quad pumped then it would be QDR.

 

[xthekidx]

^ No ddr3 is still double pumped, I'm pretty sure of that.

if it was quad pumped then it would be QDR.

What? I didn't say DDR3 is double pumped, I said quadruple pumped. DDR2 is double pumped. Meaning its rated speed is 4x its bus speed, with FSB of 400 you would be running at DDR3-1600 with a 1:1 ram ratio I am pretty sure, unless I am totally off on this matter.

 

[Helloworld_98]

No you're totally off, ddr3 is double pumped, otherwise it would be QDR or Quad Data Rate.

 

[xthekidx]

Yeah you're right...I confused it with the prefetch buffer. DDR has a prefetch buffer of 2 bits, DDR2 has prefetch buffer of 4, DDR3 has a prefetch buffer of 8. This translated into quadruple pumped in my mind...But CPUZ says my memory is running at 720 when my speed is 1443mhz.

I'm not sure how this comes into play with overclocking Core 2's, I personally have not much experience with it, particularly using DDR3 ram. In light of this, maybe DDR3 1333 is a better choice for his needs? I have overclocked on core 2's using ddr2 and the i7 using ddr3, but never mixing ddr3 and core 2's. How would a FSB of 400 translate into DDR3 rated speed? If you used a 1:1 divider...DDR3 800? That doesn't sound right.

 

[xthekidx]

No you're totally off, ddr3 is double pumped, otherwise it would be QDR or Quad Data Rate.

What about DDR then? Double pumped? DDR 400=Bus speed of 200? I'm just trying to figure this out, apparently I am totally ignorant in regards to memory speed calculation.

 

[Helloworld_98]

Yes thats correct.

SDR is single data rate or single pumped

DDR is double data rate or double pumped

QDR is quadruple data rate or quad pumped