Any point in having a 1333Mhz motherboard with DDR2 800?

Some of you will have seen in previous posts that I am struggling to choose
a motherboard. I am now attracted to the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 - mostly cos
of very favourable reviews.

Being Intel P35 chip based it has a 1333Mhz FSB. Is there any point in
buying this and a matched speed Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 CPU if I then buy
DDR2 800 memory? I am pretty set on DDR2 rather than DDR3 cos of the huge
price difference and several reviews showing that the actual application
performance increase is only about 5% at most.

I need a stable reliable machine for mainstream office, audio and graphics
work. No gaming and I don't intend to overclock.

Davy

Hi Davy,

The board you mention is a very good board indeed.
No money wasted there.

A Core 2 Duo is 'quad pumped', so the real bus speed (FSB) is:
1333MHz / 4 = 333 MHz.

DDR memory (DDR1, 2 and 3) runs at 'double data rate', so
with a FSB of 333Mhz, the memory wil run at 666MHz (if set
to a 1:1 ratio).

So your question SHOULD be:
"any point in having 800MHz memory?".

The answer would still be: yes!
First: you are on the safe side and you have room to overclock.
Second: DDR800 doesn't cost much more than DDR667 and it is highly
available.
Third: mostly, the timings on DDR800 memory running at 667MHz can
be set very tight (CAS latency and such) and that would increase your
memory performance a bit.

For maximum stability: get the 800 and keep the timings at default.
You are sure of having memory that can handle the FSB without any
problems.

And another note: memory speed isn't very important in real-life situation.
The amount of memory has a much bigger impact.
Better have 2GB running on 666Mhz than 1GB at 800+Mhz.
And as you've mentioned yourself: DDR3 is priced way to high compared
to what it gives.

regards,
Marcel


"Davy" schreef in bericht
. 109.145...
Some of you will have seen in previous posts that I am struggling to
choose
a motherboard. I am now attracted to the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 - mostly cos
of very favourable reviews.

Being Intel P35 chip based it has a 1333Mhz FSB. Is there any point in
buying this and a matched speed Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 CPU if I then buy
DDR2 800 memory? I am pretty set on DDR2 rather than DDR3 cos of the huge
price difference and several reviews showing that the actual application
performance increase is only about 5% at most.

I need a stable reliable machine for mainstream office, audio and graphics
work. No gaming and I don't intend to overclock.

Davy

"Marcel Overweel" wrote in
A Core 2 Duo is 'quad pumped', so the real bus speed (FSB) is:
1333MHz / 4 = 333 MHz.

DDR memory (DDR1, 2 and 3) runs at 'double data rate', so
with a FSB of 333Mhz, the memory wil run at 666MHz (if set
to a 1:1 ratio).

Marcel,
thanks for that; I had not understood before. So that is how I should
calculate the memory speed; but what about motherboard. Intel motherboards
claim FSB support of 1333/1066/800 - does this mean that they support CPU
with quoted (but incorrect) FSBs of 1333/1066/800 but run at quarter speed?

Thanks, Davy

On Apr 18, 9:29 am, Davy wrote:
Some of you will have seen in previous posts that I am struggling to choose
a motherboard. I am now attracted to the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 - mostly cos
of very favourable reviews.

Being Intel P35 chip based it has a 1333Mhz FSB. Is there any point in
buying this and a matched speed Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 CPU if I then buy
DDR2 800 memory? I am pretty set on DDR2 rather than DDR3 cos of the huge
price difference and several reviews showing that the actual application
performance increase is only about 5% at most.

I need a stable reliable machine for mainstream office, audio and graphics
work. No gaming and I don't intend to overclock.

Davy

Eenie...........Meenie...........Manny...........M o??????

"Davy" wrote in message
. 109.145...
"Marcel Overweel" wrote in
A Core 2 Duo is 'quad pumped', so the real bus speed (FSB) is:
1333MHz / 4 = 333 MHz.

DDR memory (DDR1, 2 and 3) runs at 'double data rate', so
with a FSB of 333Mhz, the memory wil run at 666MHz (if set
to a 1:1 ratio).

Marcel,
thanks for that; I had not understood before. So that is how I should
calculate the memory speed; but what about motherboard. Intel
motherboards
claim FSB support of 1333/1066/800 - does this mean that they support CPU
with quoted (but incorrect) FSBs of 1333/1066/800 but run at quarter
speed?

Thanks, Davy

The easiest way to approach this is to simply choose which CPU
you want and check that it is supported by the motherboard you've
chosen. Do this by visiting the mobo manufacturer's website, where you
will(should!) find a CPU/motherboard compatibility list. The technicalities
of how FSB speeds are variously quoted are more likely to mislead than to
help, unless you want to overclock (but I see you've already ruled that
out.)
Marcel's reply was spot-on regarding memory. To be safe, the mobo
manu's site will(should!) also have a list of known-good memory for
your chosen mobo, but these are often out-of-date.
If you get your memory from Crucial using the Memory adviser tool:
http://www.crucial.com/uk/
and it doesn't work etc., they will replace/refund with no hassle.

One last thing: Mobo BIOS may need updating to support the
latest CPUs, so check with the supplier which version is supplied.
It's not unknown to find yourself needing to update the BIOS before
the thing will boot - a "chicken and egg" situation you'll want to avoid.

HTH,
--
Rob

"Davy" schreef in bericht
. 109.145...
"Marcel Overweel" wrote in
A Core 2 Duo is 'quad pumped', so the real bus speed (FSB) is:
1333MHz / 4 = 333 MHz.

DDR memory (DDR1, 2 and 3) runs at 'double data rate', so
with a FSB of 333Mhz, the memory wil run at 666MHz (if set
to a 1:1 ratio).

Marcel,
thanks for that; I had not understood before. So that is how I should
calculate the memory speed; but what about motherboard. Intel
motherboards
claim FSB support of 1333/1066/800 - does this mean that they support CPU
with quoted (but incorrect) FSBs of 1333/1066/800 but run at quarter
speed?

Thanks, Davy

Nope, it only says it supports the FSB's.
On other words: the chipset on the mobo is capable of running the
'communication lines' to the cpu and memory up to the (quad pumped)
speed of 1333MHz.

It's never easy

I guess most of these 1333 boards will support all normal cpu's (not the
Xeon's)
up to 1333, but to be sure you have to ask your vendor or look at the specs
of
the specific mainboard.

Marcel

Davy wrote:
Some of you will have seen in previous posts that I am struggling to choose
a motherboard. I am now attracted to the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 - mostly cos
of very favourable reviews.

Being Intel P35 chip based it has a 1333Mhz FSB. Is there any point in
buying this and a matched speed Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 CPU if I then buy
DDR2 800 memory?

The GA-P35-DS4 is only reported as supporting the E8200 with the F11
BIOS onwards. Shipping boards may well have older BIOSes.

This doesn't necessarily mean that it won't boot an E8200 without a BIOS
upgrade, but that does happen.


--
John Jordan

"Davy" wrote...
Some of you will have seen in previous posts that I am struggling to
choose
a motherboard. I am now attracted to the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 - mostly cos
of very favourable reviews.

Being Intel P35 chip based it has a 1333Mhz FSB. Is there any point in
buying this and a matched speed Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 CPU if I then buy
DDR2 800 memory? I am pretty set on DDR2 rather than DDR3 cos of the huge
price difference and several reviews showing that the actual application
performance increase is only about 5% at most.

I need a stable reliable machine for mainstream office, audio and
graphics
work. No gaming and I don't intend to overclock.

I have the P35-DS4, and am very happy with it. I think, though, that today
you might spend just a few more $$ and go for the X38-DS4:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...E168 13128064

Though the P35-DS4 docs claim compatibility with the 45nm CPUs, the X38
chipset was built with them in mind from the beginning. Add in the second
REAL PCIe-16x slot, and you have a better upgrade path built in.

The only disappointment I have with mine is the on-board Realtek audio,
which never worked. That's easily solved with your choice of add-in audio
cards, though.

"John Jordan" wrote in message
...
Davy wrote:
Some of you will have seen in previous posts that I am struggling to
choose a motherboard. I am now attracted to the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 -
mostly cos of very favourable reviews.

Being Intel P35 chip based it has a 1333Mhz FSB. Is there any point in
buying this and a matched speed Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 CPU if I then buy
DDR2 800 memory?

The GA-P35-DS4 is only reported as supporting the E8200 with the F11 BIOS
onwards. Shipping boards may well have older BIOSes.



This doesn't necessarily mean that it won't boot an E8200 without a BIOS
upgrade, but that does happen.


--
John Jordan

I got the GA-P35-DS3 at it states the same, reported as supporting the E8200
with the F11
mine came with F10 and it booted ok with a E8200 I then flashed to F12.

I have mine overclocked to 3.2Ghz Stock cooler. I could of went far more, no
need tho.
and its 100% stable
:-)

"Marcel Overweel" wrote:

A Core 2 Duo is 'quad pumped', so the real bus speed (FSB) is:
1333MHz / 4 = 333 MHz.

DDR memory (DDR1, 2 and 3) runs at 'double data rate', so
with a FSB of 333Mhz, the memory wil run at 666MHz (if set
to a 1:1 ratio).

That's all very useful and concise IMO, thanks