Help with DDR2 upgrade

[woody240]

So I have a Gigabyte GA-P35-Ds3L http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2629#sp that I would like to max out with 8GB RAM. It would seem that for 1066 RAM I need to use all 4 slots or 4-2GB sticks. Is that correct? If so I was considering four of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166
Any thoughts? Is there a better option using 2-4GB sticks?

Thank you,

 

[treefrog07]

The P35 and X38 boards have 4 DIMMs, but many of them did not like it when all 4 were populated. At a minimum you will have to raise the northbridge voltage (and increase the heat) to get them stable. You might consider using 2 x 4GB sticks.

 

[woody240]

Excellent! Thank you.

Is the 800 inferior to the 1066?

 

[treefrog07]

No, DDR2-1066 is overclocked DDR2-800, which means the manufacturer is stating that those sticks can be OCed to 1066 and run stable. I have two sets of DDR2-1066 RAM (Corsair and G.Skill) that I sometimes run stock and sometimes OC. So, I got the 1066 flavor. You get an un-noticeable (except in bench-marking apps) increase in RAM performance w/1066.

But, do get the 5-5-5-X latencies, don't get DDR2 RAM that is higher, like 7-7-7-X. Lower latencies do result in better performance.

 

[woody240]

Great. Thanks again.

 

[woody240]

Best answer selected by woody240.

 

[treefrog07]

You're welcome.

 

[nikorr]

This topic has been closed by Nikorr