About Memory

[DarkfyreRK]

I am going to be upgrading my system soon, and I am considering options. I already have 4GB of this gSkill DDR2 800 RAM. I am looking at upgrading my processor to either a Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale or a Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe.

My question is: The Wolfdale is 1333Mhz FSB, and the Conroe is 1066MHz FSB. This ASUS P5N-E motherboard can support either. Am I going to be able to run the DDR2 800 RAM with the 1333Mhz bus without damaging it? Or am I going to need to do some major OC'ing.

I have moderate knowledge of such things, but trying to figure out what is compatible with what drives me nuts. Ultimately, I would like to run the Wolfdale on the P5N-E mobo with the DDR2-800 RAM without suffering a performance hit or OC'ing.

[DarkfyreRK]

Reading a little bit, I find out that DDR2-800(PC2-6400) is the standard for both FSB speeds. Something to do with multipliers?

The Core 2's FSB, RAM and Bandwidth Explained - Icrontic.com

[Trotter]

The FSB only applies to the CPU, not the RAM. The RAM will operate at its listed frequency unless the motherboard is rated lower, in which case the RAM would run at the capacity of the motherboard.

Overclocking does affect the RAM, though, unless you put in a divider. You really don't have to worry about that... yet. If you hang around here you will eventually try overclocking, so we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

[DarkfyreRK]

For clarification - a system running the Wolfdale on the P5N-E mobo with the DDR2-800 RAM won't suffer a perfomance hit because of the RAM speed (DDR2-800). Getting the less common and more expensive DDR2-1066 or 1200 doesn't matter.

Correct?

[Trotter]

Not enough that you could tell. The 1066 or 1200 will run faster if the board can run them, but the human eye won't be able to tell it.

[vernong1992]

Originally Posted by Trotter

Not enough that you could tell. The 1066 or 1200 will run faster if the board can run them, but the human eye won't be able to tell it.

^^^ 2nd that

get the e8400 over the e6600, also, don't get the p5n-e Board, 650i is outdated and you can always get a p35-ds3l for the same price

[DarkfyreRK]

Originally Posted by vernong1992

^^^ 2nd that

get the e8400 over the e6600, also, don't get the p5n-e Board, 650i is outdated and you can always get a p35-ds3l for the same price

Usually I go ASUS - really haven't any experience with the Gigabyte boards, but I did some looking around and they don't appear to be horrible.

Thank you both for your help.

[veedubfreak]

Right now even DDR3 running at 2000mhz is barely even a 5-10% performance difference over ddr2 800. Go with the 8400 over the e6600 though. Or if you do a lot of multitasking a q6600 and a good cooler then overclock the bejezzus out of it like i did.