DDR2 800Mhz or DDR2 1066 for gaming

[raptor1821]

Here is my current setup for mainboard, cpu and memory:


Motherboard: N68-S
CPU: AMD Phenom 9950 BE
Memory: 4gig DDR2 800Mhz
GPU: ATI Radeon 4870 (Sapphire)

I was wondering if it would be worth it upgrading to 1066mhz for gaming and would there be a noticable difference when gaming. When I play starcraft2, it seems to stutter a lot on fps, it will be fine going about 60fps and then all of a sudden drop down to like 10-fps and seem like it would freeze for less than a second and then go back to normal. I was wondering if it could be the memory and if upgrading it would help?
Thanks

 

[rolli59]

There would be very little difference in just the speed upgrade on the ram, hardly noticeable but measurable. You would gain more from overclocking your CPU if it is at stock.

 

[raptor1821]

Well then I am guessing the CPU is probably the bottleneck for sc2 because the phenom X4 9950 runs at 2.6ghz and since it only uses 2 cores effectively anyway and is very cpu dependent, what do you and all think of me upgrading to an AMD Phenom II X2 565 which runs at 3.4ghz stock and I heard that its easy to overclock as well. Would this help fps a lot or not that much compared to the quad core that I have?

I found a good deal on amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/Phenom-565-Blk-3-4G-512KB/dp/B004EHZZDW

Worth upgrading?

 

[mosox]

You can't unlock the cores on that motherboard. The stutter might be a software issue.

 

[raptor1821]

Ya I just edited my post when I found that out, but I don't think sc2 uses 4 cores anyways does it?

 

[mosox]

I don't think so either but that's the only game you want to play? Did you try to overclock that CPU?

 

[rolli59]

9950BE is not a great overclocker but might reach about 3GHz but most likely aftermarket cooling would be required.

 

[raptor1821]

Ya I tried overclocking it and can't get anything stable after 2.7ghz. I tried it in the bios and using the ASRock OC Tuner and it keeps blue screening. I also tried upping the voltage from 1.3 to 1.5 and all settings (multiplier and voltage) in between and still can't get it stable. I even bought a "ZALMAN CNPS 9500 AM2 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink" but I don't think its the temp since it is always below 55C so I am sure thats not it.

 

[rolli59]

Does your board support 955BE? It is probably the best upgrade you can do http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808&cm_re=955_phenom_ii_x4-_-19-103-808-_-Product

 

[raptor1821]

Nope. My motherboard doesn't support it. The fastest phenomII X4 cpu it supports is a 960TBE (HD96ZTWFK4DGR BE) which is 3.0ghz but I can't find it anywhere to buy.

Here is the page that shows the supported processors my motherboard has:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/cpu.asp?Model=N68-S

 

[raptor1821]

The AMD Phenom II X4 945 was the best X4 cpu I could find from the top of the list that it supports and it is not BE and runs at 3ghz. Could this be overclocked even though its not BE?

 

[mosox]

If you want a higher clock speed you can get this:
Athlon II X3 455
http://www.amazon.com/Athlon-455-Box-3-3G-512KB/dp/B003N1A5W6/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1300405912&sr=1-2

Or the Athlon II X4 645
http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Athlon-Propus-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B003YV0F66/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1300406031&sr=1-2

Not on that list because they're newer but they're supported.

Both can be OCed but that depends on the motherboard too. The Phenom II X4 945 must be the 95 watt version not the 125W one, hard to find.

 

[rolli59]

Nope. My motherboard doesn't support it. The fastest phenomII X4 cpu it supports is a 960TBE (HD96ZTWFK4DGR BE) which is 3.0ghz but I can't find it anywhere to buy.

Here is the page that shows the supported processors my motherboard has:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/cpu.asp?Model=N68-S

The funny thing is that your 9950BE is not on the list either! That is because it is 125watt CPU like the 955BE, possible explanation why it will not overclock.

 

[raptor1821]

Ya so I might be able to get the 940BE or 955BE (both 125w) but probably won't be able to overclock it much if any, but if I get the Phenom II X2 565 (which is only 80w and on the list) I saw a lot of reviews of people getting over 4ghz overclocking easily on it. How does the phenomII dual core at 4ghz go against the others at 3ghz on quad core?

 

[rolli59]

You can play with this tool! http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/204?vs=102

 

[user_account_]

I had this problem with a new cpu ended up getting the 955 BE then found out that the N68-S (which we both have) only supported 95watt. I managed to get a ASUS M4A78LT-M for £50.44


http://store.pudseycomputers.co.uk/pgProduct.cfm?Product=15308_156_910106-B999398-90-MIBBJ0-G0EAY00Z-ASUS_M4A78LT_M_Desktop_Motherboard_AMD_Socket_AM3_PGA_941_Micro_ATX_1_x_Processor_Support_16_GB_DDR3_SDRAM_Maximum_RAM_CrossFireX_Support_Serial_ATA_300_Ultra_ATA_133_ATA_7_RAID_Support_Onboard



Worth upgrading but if you cant I would say go with the HDX945WFK4DGI
Hope this may help