DDR3 backwards compatibility question

[Drachnyen]

I want to pair OCZ 2gb ddr3 1333 sticks (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227621) with an EVGA p55 motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188055).

Now the manual of the motherboard says it supports DDR3 1600+ and the evga website says that their p55 boards can support all the way back to ddr3 1066.



How well do you guys think this will work. My experience is that as long as you stay within the form factor backwards compatibility shouldn't be a problem. Thoughts?

 

[Pyroflea]

That's the frequency of the RAM it's referring to. Any DDR3 you drop in will work. DDR3 1066 is the slowest DDR3 that's really available, so that's why it's listed as the lowest frequency supported. It will support any frequency up to DDR3 1600 with stock settings, but some BIOS tweaking will most likely let you exceed those frequencies.

The DDR3 1333 sticks will work with your motherboard just fine.

 

[jaquith]

Welcome Newcomer!

Your EVGA P55 SLI | 132-LF-E655-KR supports up to DDR3-2200 ; above 1600 MHz requires manual OC of DDR. I won't recommend anything slower that 1600 MHz for the MOBO.

In keeping with your posted {4X2GB} ; 2 sets of Corsair Dominator - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145296&Tpk=CMP4GX3M2A1600C9

Certified {EVGA} - http://www.evga.com/support/motherboard/
Tested {Corsair} - http://www.corsair.com/configurator/product_results.aspx?id=1106052

However, Dual Channel is more efficient over Quad Channel; though the 4GB is not listed as Tested it shares the same memory controller as its' {2GB} counterpart listed below.

1 set of Corsair Dominator - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145313

CMP4GX3M2A1600C9 {2GB}
CMP8GX3M2A1600C9 {4GB}

 

[Drachnyen]

Jaquith, what is your reason for now recommending anything slower? This is not a gaming PC so speed is not a necessity. Does it have to do with stability at all?

 

[jaquith]

^ Removing the "Gaming" from the scenario then still 1333 {savings $50 for 2 sets}. Well to everything there's a first, anyone I come across with a EVGA P55 SLI uses it for "gaming" otherwise it is an overkill MOBO. The EVGA P55 SLI designed for SLI + OC. However, if you're doing task like Photoshop, databases, simple CAD then you still want fast(er) RAM.

Q - What tasks are you doing with this MOBO?

2 sets of Corsair XMS - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145299&Tpk=CMX4GX3M2A1333C8

 

[Drachnyen]

It is being set up for autocad work. Right now looking at the two options, i see $228 for the 1600 and $135 for the 1333 because of a combo deal i am getting with an i5 750 processor and a $30 instant.

I was getting this mobo because of another combo deal + all the instant + rebate savings that are going on right now for it. I like evga products and the feature set + stability + layout is what I was liking.

 

[jaquith]

It all depends upon "how intense" your Autocad work is, if it simple designs {few layers} then 1333 is plenty fast. Every professional Autocad setup I ever touched was Xeon, ECC RAM and Pro GPU {Quadro or FirePro}.

 

[Drachnyen]

It's just 2d short plats. thanks for the info guy's, got it sorted out.

 

[Drachnyen]

Best answer selected by Drachnyen.