1156 vs 1366??

[cpulord1]

Hi everyone!

With boxing day deals I just bought the i5-760 (for 170$ after shipping)
For RAM, i just bought these:
Patriot Extreme Performance Viper II Sector 7 Series DDR3 6GB (3 x 2GB) PC3-12800 Enhanced Latency Kit
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX29711%28ME%29.aspx
(had a boxing day sale so I got them for 45$ after MIR)

Soooo I'm mostly asking about what kind of motherboard I should be looking at. I'm trying to save money as much as possible, but I'm just reading up on this whole triple channel ram stuff. I realize the RAM I bought would be great for triple channel usage, but I'm now realizing that requires the more expensive 1366 mobo's... but those mobo's need an i7
(an i5 isn't compatible with triple channel right?)

So do I get a 1156 board now, and then one day when I can afford an i7, upgrade the mobo+cpu and keep my RAM?

does the 3rd stick of ram ruin the dual channel benefit?

 

[hell_storm2004]

You are right about whatever you have read. X58 motherboard need triple channel RAM's which are on 1366 chipset. The 1156 would be only dual channel. Don't bother for your next upgrade, coz by the time you think about an upgrade and save enough the Sandy Bridge will be out and that isn't compatible with either 1156 or 1366. They will be on a new chipset (1155 and 2011). But not to worry, the CPU you have will serve you fine till 2012.

 

[cpulord1]

Soooo
just get an affordable 1156 eh?

I guess I just have to make sure it has enough ram slots, I've come across a couple that only have 2 slots...

After a bit of browsing, I've seen some forums saying something like i5-760 does not support DDR3 1600 Mhz, and to do some I need to do overclocking?
Or is that wrong, so long as I get a mobo that can handle the 1600MHz ram?

I've been looking at some mobos like:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130299

often they state "4 DIMM slots allow for up to 16GB of dual-channel DDR3 RAM with data transfer rates of 1066 and 1333 MHz or 1600, 2000 and 2133 MHz by way of overclocking"

it's the same thing with all the below mobo's:
MSI H55M-ED55
MSi H55-G43
MSi H55M-P33
MSI H55M-E33

is this very standard? the only one I could find in the "cheaper" selection was the GIGABYTE GA-H55M-UD2H that could natively support any of the DDR3 speeds. Is this a big issue? is overclocking really easy? Or am I better off spending a little extra to get the gigabyte mobo?

 

[hell_storm2004]

What is the max you are willing to spend? I would suggest going for the P55 boards. They are a better motherboards overall. Overclocking is not necessary now since your PC would be able to handle anything that is out there right now. Overclock only when you see you PC not able to keep up with the softwares. P55 boards are expensive and offer better features and overclock better.

For overclocking you need to read a lot. Mostly it depends on your motherboard and to sometimes plain and simple luck. Overclocking for newbies is quite risky. But learn it step by step.

Don't worry about the DDR3 support, all LGA1156/1366 motherboards are DDR3 only.

 

[cpulord1]

Can you explain why p55 is better than H55 overall?
is it just p55 is newer and thus better overall

I've overclocked cpu's before, but never RAM...
so thus, I'm not sure what it means "4 DIMM slots allow for up to 16GB of dual-channel DDR3 RAM with data transfer rates of 1066 and 1333 MHz or 1600, 2000 and 2133 MHz by way of overclocking"

since my RAM is 1600 MHz, I'm not sure how intensive it is to "overclock" (the mobo?) so that my RAM is being used to it's potential.

Most of the P55 boards have the same note (higher ram speeds need overclocking)

 

[warezme]

This is a bad time to buy new mobo's. Intel is about to switch the world out to Sandybridge. The almost released Sandybridge boards are 1155 and not pin compatible with current CPU's. The current 1366 X58 mobo's should be around longer since they share the same triple channel architecture of the server market and won't be bumped up till later in the year. You might get a good deal but will be stuck with old architecture, just something to think about.

 

[hell_storm2004]

I can see that the OP has bought the CPU already.

 

[cpulord1]

dang....so everyone seems to be all hot about this sandy bridge stuff

i am totally able to wait, just figured boxing day would be a good time to buy stuff....do you think that when SB comes out, prices will be affordable? or at the very least, will the older 760's and 1156 mobo's get even cheaper than now?

I DID already buy the i5-760, but I can still return it.

I figure this RAM:
Patriot Extreme Performance Viper II Sector 7 Series DDR3 6GB (3 x 2GB) PC3-12800 Enhanced Latency Kit

is still a better deal at 45$ then I can get later so I can just hold on to it until SB comes out....what do you guys think?

 

[cpulord1]

So what you're saying is that triple channel kit is even more reason to wait for the new SB and get a mobo that allows triple channel right?

what about my question if I got a good deal on it for 45$? I'll return the i5-760... it sounds like SB will be out in early January, so not long to wait at all.

 

[cpulord1]

what about the new sandybridges?
If I'm holding out for sandybridge, and the equivalent is the i5-2400 ("the Core i5 2400 should give you an average of 23% better performance than the Core i5 760 at a potentially lower point." ) does that mean I still can't use triple channel?

If I am limited to dual channel, is it better for me to just use 2 of those ram sticks or put in all 3 still?

 

[cpulord1]

Now I'm wondering if that is such a good idea
It sounds like even though sb is coming out, the prices may be somewhat equivalent for a minor 10% boost....but there's all this hoopla about not being able to overclock and the "K" cpu's that can be overclocked, I'm assuming will be even more expensive!

 

[cpulord1]

Hi malmental
I've been scouring these boards and there is no agreeance to the whole dual channel vs single channel vs triple channel

Some threads talk about "Triple Channel kit in Dual Channel and the other module as single channel"
another forum said that check CPU-Z to confirm if dual channel is activated, and right now I have 3 DIMM's of 1gb each and it still says dual channel
(which sort of confirms that 2 will run as dual, then the 3rd will act as an extra single)

can anyone confidently confirm or deny this?

Then other threads talk about how putting in 3 dimms without triple channel support will effectively make them all run single (so opposite to the above).
But go on to say that 3 single channels is still better than dual channel if overall you get more GB since ""dual channel does increase memory bandwidth, but very few real world applications benefit from it. " therefore 6 gb in 3 single channels may be more beneficial than 2x2gb in dual channel


*this is super confusing*
again, there doesn't seem to be a clear answer on the forums!