Need help selecting memory for the x58a-udr3 board - I'm Lost

Hi everyone at Tom's Hardware.

I looking to build a brand new computer. I have selected the X58a-UDR3 Gigabyte Motherboard and i950 Intel Processor.

Now comes the hard part for me is selecting the right memory for this board. I am at a complete loss and don't know where to start. I read alot of guides and even checked out the FAQ section posted here on the forums for RAM.

I am hoping a few people can give me some suggestions as I am planning primary to build this system for a gaming pc.

Here is the board:

http://www.canadacomputers.com/pro [...] _id=028490

Here is the CPU:

http://www.canadacomputers.com/pro [...] _id=023949


I am hoping a few people can give me at least a few good suggestions for ram from this page at the site:

http://www.canadacomputers.com/ind [...] 24_311_312

Any help is most appreciated as I am at a complete loss on what to select.

First, you need to state your budget for RAM and your purpose for the build (gaming and/or other work)..

I hope this helps

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Wish to build and assemble within 1 month after proper research has been done & recommendations have been given.

BUDGET RANGE: $1000 to $2000

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT:

This is what I would like to do on this system

Single Bootable System (Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition or Windows 7 Professional Edition)
Duel Bootable System (Windows 98 & Windows XP Professional)
Duel Bootable System (Linux Fedora & Windows XP Professional)
Duel Bootable System (Linux Fedora & Windows 7) - Considering buying Windows 7 at this time as Market seems to be changing
Internet Explorer Browsing
High End Graphic PC Gaming
Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Access, Excel
Outlook Express Email
Regular Email (Example: google, yahoo, etc)
Downloading/Uploading Streaming Video

Music Player
Computer Programming (Visual Basic, C++, Java, Perl, HTML/XHTML)
Viewing youtube videos
Flash player capable
MSN/AOL Messenger
Ventrilo
Games to be played on System: Counterstrike 1.5, Counterstrike Source, Bad Company 2, Any high graphic end first person shooter game that
comes out later in future. Would like to make certain that this system will be able to play any future games.
Antivirus/Firewall Capable (Use to use Nortons, It was a bottle neck on the system I have. Had to remove it)
Server Capabities (Later on would like to use this a server for home network or set up as a counterstrike server room for friends for online
play)

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Monitor, keyboard, mouse, speaker, Operating System (Win 98, XP, Fedora)


PARTS REQUIRED:

CPU
Motheboard
Graphics Card
Memory
Hard Drive
Power Supply
Computer Case & Fans
Heat Sink
DVD/CD Burner
Floppy Disk (If possible - Yes I know its not used anymore but would hope for it)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: http://www.canadacomputers.com/ - Or any other website that has good prices to order from for Canadian dollar.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada, Ontario

PARTS PREFERENCES: AMD

OVERCLOCKING: I would like to overclock the CPU and the memory.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Using a SyncMaster 931w with 2000:1 Dynamic contrast. Using windows XP Pro with the following settings at 1152 x 864

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Computer needs to be able to do multi-tasking with multiple windows open without freezing or clogging.
Ability to ALT TAB out quickly and access programs
Ability to quickly use Fast User Switching Mode on Windows XP
Computer Fans Need to be quiet (Friend has a computer and sounds like a vacuum cleaner/airplane combo when turned on - don't need this)
Low to moderate power consumption if possible
Something that will suit my needs and will continue on in future for quite sometime.
Any addition items that would prove to be useful please list them that should be considering when making a computer.
Ability to easily upgrade or replace parts as newer components hit the marketplace.

Google {ud3r raid bsod} ; there's a hardware issue with the Gigabytes implementation of the Intel SATA controller.

When you Dual Boot into all of those OSes you may run in to "lost" memory 32bit->64bit->32bit etc if using > 4GB RAM {~3.5GB usable} and not to mention the additional hardware reserve loss from having multiple partitions. You are describing a mess of OSes. You might want to look into VMware. Windows 7 Pro x64 is the ideal OS for that MOBO & CPU.

The minim RAM in Tri Channel is 6GB, and the best possible RAM for the money is the Corsair's linked above.

Good Luck!

Ha funny thing is I googled what you told me to look for and sure enough I found your post:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ot-failure

YIKES!!!

I'm really glad you posted and added your 2 cents about the board.


I really want to build a system and from what I saw alot of people were choosing this board in the best intel gaming build section located here on tomshardware based on elrioch build:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] tel-gaming

If you go here you will to the original thread were everyone posted their builds you will see almost everyone choose the UDR3 board from what what I saw:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] tel-gaming


I did do a lot of reviews on the board including looking at all the reviews on the UDR3 at www.newegg.com. Although alot of people had experienced alot of DOA's on arrival the majority of people voted it was a good board.

What really drew me in on this board was the fact it had IDE and floppy disk on it. You rarely find those now adays on a board. I really use floppy disks and find that a nice plus to have.

I'm just curious if this is such a bad board why has everyone chosen it in the top build forum section of tom's hardware?

Also I was thinking about the Asus P6X58D-E and P6X58D Preimum board as well as the Sabertooth x58 board.

What are the differences between the P6X58D-E and the P6X58D Preimum board? I couldn't even find anything that explained why one board sells for $230 and the other for close to $280 to $300.

Thxs!

There are hundreds of similar posts about the problems with the UD3R with SSD + RAID 1/0; therefore this issue is not about me. It is a sad and disturbing problem. In my case I built 10 identical systems so there's no way it was a coincidence. In addition, this problem has been shown to also affect the GA-X58A-UD5 (rev. 2.0). For the price point again, the ASUS P6X58D-E is very good.

Also, if you read Tom's review you'll note that the ASUS P6X58D-E bad all of the better benchmarks, but costs ~$20 more therefore didn't win the approval - http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 14-15.html

ASUS P6X58D-E
http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 614-4.html
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/m [...] e-review/7

Keep in mind, there are better MOBOs, for gaming I really like the EVGA X58 3/4-WAY MOBOs, and if cost means nothing then the GA-X58A-UD9 (rev. 1.0).

Then get it, I don't post for commission.

You'll never find a 100% MOBO. ONLY look at the Verified Owner reviews.

I just loved the deconstruction 9/10 UD3R rigs! I kept (1) for a hackintosh; won't run SSD + RAID.

That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard - the PCIe widths are ALL STANDARD. Image if they weren't NO CASE would work.

Must have been the SAME idiot. You can fit 3 GTX 480's.

You're SOL regarding the Floppy, so by that NO. Otherwise, you're fine.

I use these MOBOs for pseudo Workstations, one - has a CF HD 5770. For gaming I ONLY use EVGA. The P6X58D-E is a solid MOBO and I have had no problems running them; 100% Happy for my purposes: Office all with SSD 128 GB {Data + Apps} + HDD RAID 1 {Documents}.

Hope that helps!