DDR2 vs DDR3

[dorin]

Hi.

Here`s the thing. I`m gonna buy a new system. My big problem is that I don`t know which kind of memory i should choose. Should I go with DDR3 one ? Or DDR2 still has enough power to survive another year or two.

Thank you.

[Coors]

What socket are you gonna go with? With i7 you don't have a chocie but to use ddr3. 775 and Phenom 2 have boards that can use either.

 

Personally if it were me:

 

i7 = ddr3

any other =ddr2

[dorin]

I thought about AM3 mobo . But then I can only use DDR 3. If i`m going on AM2+/AM3 socket, then I have to use DDR 2 ( Didn`t see yet any AMD mobo that suports DDR2 and DDR3 ). I don`t know wich combination will be the best even for a year

Edited June 9, 2009 by dorin

[Reagnon]

If you want the sustem to be futureproof and upgradable AM3 + DDR3 is the way to go. DDR3 hasn't got much advantage right now but it will becomle better. Whith am3 you will have the oppurtunity to replace the processor and keep the mb and save money...

[Coors]

Meh I don't really buy that train of thought. As an example my first C2D was an E4300 and a 965P motherboard. Later on I bought a Q6600. Now I could have just plopped it into my 965P and been done with it. But at the time P35 motherboards were out which perform quite a bit better. Seemed like a no brainer to me to go with the newer technology.

 

All i'm saying is most of the time it's not the case that people will upgrade just the cpu. Better off using what you have until it can't do what you need it to anymore and then start fresh with a brand new build. "Futureproofing" is futile.

[Reagnon]

Meh I don't really buy that train of thought. As an example my first C2D was an E4300 and a 965P motherboard. Later on I bought a Q6600. Now I could have just plopped it into my 965P and been done with it. But at the time P35 motherboards were out which perform quite a bit better. Seemed like a no brainer to me to go with the newer technology.

 

All i'm saying is most of the time it's not the case that people will upgrade just the cpu. Better off using what you have until it can't do what you need it to anymore and then start fresh with a brand new build. "Futureproofing" is futile.

You can go that way indeed. It is cheaper for now (DDR2) but it will guarantee that you need to buy a new mb.

I just like the idea of putting a new cpu in the macine and having an instant preformance increase.

 

It might be a good idea to wait because sataIII and usbIII are out and will be supported by future mb's and will give better preformance. DDR3 will become also become cheaper and faster.

Edited June 9, 2009 by Reagnon

[dorin]

It might be a good idea to wait because sataIII and usbIII are out and will be supported by future mb's and will give better preformance. DDR3 will become also become cheaper and faster.

 

You had the point. I never thought about SATA/USB 3.0.

[Verran]

Meh I don't really buy that train of thought. As an example my first C2D was an E4300 and a 965P motherboard. Later on I bought a Q6600. Now I could have just plopped it into my 965P and been done with it. But at the time P35 motherboards were out which perform quite a bit better. Seemed like a no brainer to me to go with the newer technology.

 

All i'm saying is most of the time it's not the case that people will upgrade just the cpu. Better off using what you have until it can't do what you need it to anymore and then start fresh with a brand new build. "Futureproofing" is futile.

This is 100% accurate. You have said the same thing I would have said if I'd gotten here earlier!

 

Here's what you should do. Look at the people who often recommend "future-proofing" and then look at the people that don't. I have. You know what I've found? The people who make a big deal about "future-proofing" are the people who have only built one or two rigs, while the people who don't have built 5 or more. Those are just rough numbers and generalizations, of course, but the theory has held up for me pretty well so far.

 

When you're building your first rig, you obsess over everything and it's all gotta be perfect and you want everything to last as absolutely long as possible. But then you do that; you dump all this money into these features that you don't need and you realize that by the time you do need them, you're buying new hardware anyways. It's just like SLI and Crossfire. Everyone always says "I need a board that does SLI because I'll be doing that in the future!" But 9 times out of 10, they won't. By the time they want a second card, they're going to realize it's more cost effective to just buy an all new card. Once "future-proofing" backfires on you a few times, you realize it's futile, and that's why you don't see a lot of veterans making a big deal about it.

 

I see DDR3 the same way. If you want an i7 rig, it's a fact of life and there's no point arguing. But for anything else, it's not necessary and it's plainly visible that the extra cost of DDR3 doesn't get you any more performance. So instead of spending that money on something that doesn't do you any good and may or may not even do you any good ever, why not spend it on something that definitely will help now, like a better video card? If you buy a better video card, you're never going to wonder if it was the right move. You're never going to have to wonder if it's going to be useful later, because it's useful right now!

 

You had the point. I never thought about SATA/USB 3.0.

And you shouldn't

 

If you wait for SATA3 or USB3, then when they come out PCIe 3.0 will but just around the corner. So you'll wait for that. Then Intel will be really close to launching their new Socket 1337 chips, so you'll wait for those. Then, nVidia will have the new GTX500 right around the corner, so you'll wait for that. Etc, etc and you'll never buy anything. That's just the way this industry goes. At some point you just have to draw a line in the sand and make the plunge. No matter how long you wait, the second you buy you're already behind the times.

[MrAlex]

You had the point. I never thought about SATA/USB 3.0.

 

SATA-III motherboard released by ASUS, and SB850 for AMD will be released Q3 2009 for ALL new motherboards.

[dorin]

This is 100% accurate. You have said the same thing I would have said if I'd gotten here earlier!

 

Here's what you should do. Look at the people who often recommend "future-proofing" and then look at the people that don't. I have. You know what I've found? The people who make a big deal about "future-proofing" are the people who have only built one or two rigs, while the people who don't have built 5 or more. Those are just rough numbers and generalizations, of course, but the theory has held up for me pretty well so far.

 

When you're building your first rig, you obsess over everything and it's all gotta be perfect and you want everything to last as absolutely long as possible. But then you do that; you dump all this money into these features that you don't need and you realize that by the time you do need them, you're buying new hardware anyways. It's just like SLI and Crossfire. Everyone always says "I need a board that does SLI because I'll be doing that in the future!" But 9 times out of 10, they won't. By the time they want a second card, they're going to realize it's more cost effective to just buy an all new card. Once "future-proofing" backfires on you a few times, you realize it's futile, and that's why you don't see a lot of veterans making a big deal about it.

 

I see DDR3 the same way. If you want an i7 rig, it's a fact of life and there's no point arguing. But for anything else, it's not necessary and it's plainly visible that the extra cost of DDR3 doesn't get you any more performance. So instead of spending that money on something that doesn't do you any good and may or may not even do you any good ever, why not spend it on something that definitely will help now, like a better video card? If you buy a better video card, you're never going to wonder if it was the right move. You're never going to have to wonder if it's going to be useful later, because it's useful right now!

 

I`m not that kind . Not yet

 

And you shouldn't

 

If you wait for SATA3 or USB3, then when they come out PCIe 3.0 will but just around the corner. So you'll wait for that. Then Intel will be really close to launching their new Socket 1337 chips, so you'll wait for those. Then, nVidia will have the new GTX500 right around the corner, so you'll wait for that. Etc, etc and you'll never buy anything. That's just the way this industry goes. At some point you just have to draw a line in the sand and make the plunge. No matter how long you wait, the second you buy you're already behind the times.

 

Then probably I will die waiting to buy a new system

[Blackfire]

This is 100% accurate. You have said the same thing I would have said if I'd gotten here earlier!

 

Here's what you should do. Look at the people who often recommend "future-proofing" and then look at the people that don't. I have. You know what I've found? The people who make a big deal about "future-proofing" are the people who have only built one or two rigs, while the people who don't have built 5 or more. Those are just rough numbers and generalizations, of course, but the theory has held up for me pretty well so far.

 

When you're building your first rig, you obsess over everything and it's all gotta be perfect and you want everything to last as absolutely long as possible. But then you do that; you dump all this money into these features that you don't need and you realize that by the time you do need them, you're buying new hardware anyways. It's just like SLI and Crossfire. Everyone always says "I need a board that does SLI because I'll be doing that in the future!" But 9 times out of 10, they won't. By the time they want a second card, they're going to realize it's more cost effective to just buy an all new card. Once "future-proofing" backfires on you a few times, you realize it's futile, and that's why you don't see a lot of veterans making a big deal about it.

 

I see DDR3 the same way. If you want an i7 rig, it's a fact of life and there's no point arguing. But for anything else, it's not necessary and it's plainly visible that the extra cost of DDR3 doesn't get you any more performance. So instead of spending that money on something that doesn't do you any good and may or may not even do you any good ever, why not spend it on something that definitely will help now, like a better video card? If you buy a better video card, you're never going to wonder if it was the right move. You're never going to have to wonder if it's going to be useful later, because it's useful right now!

 

 

And you shouldn't

 

If you wait for SATA3 or USB3, then when they come out PCIe 3.0 will but just around the corner. So you'll wait for that. Then Intel will be really close to launching their new Socket 1337 chips, so you'll wait for those. Then, nVidia will have the new GTX500 right around the corner, so you'll wait for that. Etc, etc and you'll never buy anything. That's just the way this industry goes. At some point you just have to draw a line in the sand and make the plunge. No matter how long you wait, the second you buy you're already behind the times.

 

 

 

Golden word for every techie.

[Verran]

Then probably I will die waiting to buy a new system

That's what I'm saying

 

Besides, do you even have any hardware that will benefit from SATA3? It's another one of those things that people get all worked up about, but in reality it probably won't even do anything for them.