Solved Question about DDR2 vs DDR3

[Solarstarshines]

Hello everyone i got a quick question for you memory pro's .

I am currently running ddr2 800mhz but my board can support higher ,would it be wise to upgrade to the higher speed ram ?

Or should i stick with planing to buy a new board and new memory all together, meaning a board that supports DDR3.

Im wondering if it would benefit me anything since im having alot of bsod issues now that have a higher stock chip and my ram is at the lowest mhz the board offers and my card always crashes playing left for dead 2.

I have not tryed other games yet but im figuring i need to get higher ram to support the cpu better can someone give me a good opinion my specs are already listed .

I am prepared to do either or but im thinking picking up 8 gigs of higher ram would be better like 1066mhz

 

[Solarstarshines]

also i would like to know would ddr2 1200 be better or 1066 would be better as terms of stability

 

[Night Hawk]

The maximum memory for the Biostar model board in your system specs is DDR2 533/667/800/1066(1066 by AM2+ CPU) according to details seen at newegg with a fast look there. 1066mhz being the fastest.

For the BSODs however that may be from a bad dimm or other cause not the memory speed. A bad dimm or driver issue would be two likely causes. You should note the error information on any BSOD itself as well as seeing a good run of memtest.

With this problem mainly being seen during a gaming session video and sound drivers are usually chief suspects for crashes. A bad dimm would cause various problems simply being at the usual desktop.

As far as moving into a newer AM3 board that would be planning an upgrade of the case itself to some extent. You could still use the same cpu, video card, drives, etc. except for buying the new memory. Amd yes the clean install of Windows seen with the new hardwares would likely clean up some of the problems.

Before spending however the first and best to find out is what is the cause for the game crashes. Hardware or software? Games are known to crash on any hardware combination when a software error is present such as a corrupt video or sound driver.

As for system stability the faster memory speeds typically notice a small lift in performance not a tremendous deal. The correct memory type, speed, timings supported for the board you run free of defects are what insure stability.

 

[thehappyman]

DDR3 can be "Faster" than DDR2 and it uses less Power.

 

[Solarstarshines]

i was thinking software cause most of the time it runs fine .

As of late AMD drivers have been shhhh if you know what i mean

I always thought the drivers were the main cause of bsod i actually looked up my board and it goes up to 1200mhz ddr2 which is g skill ripjaws from newegg .com


BIOSTAR :: TA785GE 128M :: Specification also this is my board and specs alltogether

and this is the possible ram http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231283

PS by the way you think my direct x might have something to do with the multiple crashes and bsod cause if i recall i have been installing older games that use the lower one ,and actually installed it .....Hmmmmm

 

[Night Hawk]

If you installed 9c that wouldn't generally cause problems with any more recent 10x titles. The older 9c is required for the OpenGL support by the older titles mostly. The newer games out in the last few years are geared for the newer DX versions.

Software? Yes all too often in fact. I haven't seen one pc game ever that wouldn't crash or freeze up at some time. Something in the game itself decides to load sideways and crash city even when everything else is all set.

As for newegg's details they made some large changes from what was previously seen with direct links to the manufacturer which is always the best place to look up specs on anything. Newegg only upto 1066 listed being an obvious typo on their part. That's why I mentioned only having a fast look there. (preferred it when they had the manufacturer's product page links!)

That should work. That will boost the present board somewhat for you.

The alternative upgrade of case, depending on costs as well as your needs, if you decide to go that route, you could likely end up looking at even faster memory for a new board. You may end up picking out a board that supports DDR3 1600, 1800, 1866, 2000 or 2200 memory. But then you also pay out quite a bit more.

 

[Solarstarshines]

If you installed 9c that wouldn't generally cause problems with any more recent 10x titles. The older 9c is required for the OpenGL support by the older titles mostly. The newer games out in the last few years are geared for the newer DX versions.

Software? Yes all too often in fact. I haven't seen one pc game ever that wouldn't crash or freeze up at some time. Something in the game itself decides to load sideways and crash city even when everything else is all set.

As for newegg's details they made some large changes from what was previously seen with direct links to the manufacturer which is always the best place to look up specs on anything. Newegg only upto 1066 listed being an obvious typo on their part. That's why I mentioned only having a fast look there. (preferred it when they had the manufacturer's product page links!)

That should work. That will boost the present board somewhat for you.

The alternative upgrade of case, depending on costs as well as your needs, if you decide to go that route, you could likely end up looking at even faster memory for a new board. You may end up picking out a board that supports DDR3 1600, 1800, 1866, 2000 or 2200 memory. But then you also pay out quite a bit more.

My plans were to do that anyway since i have a second cpu psu and video card .

This is begining to be my hobbie, but let me tell you i re-installed dx 11 and it didn't crash ... Left4Dead2 and Prince of persia both held thiere ground

I already priced a few boards already and ram for 8 gigs and a fomula board i would probally spend 400.00 all together

but im thinking just a better chipset for cheaper like a 890fx or something and throw 8 gigs or even 12 of ddr 3 probally 1866-2000 mhz

 

[Night Hawk]

I've been running well once I had the right memory in with an 8gb total. For most that is generally quite adequate over going overboard and simply ending up being an overkill where too much ram is wasted.

You won't see any big performance boost once you are over 4gb for sure. A better video and sound setup and faster cpu, memory will usually do the job!

 

[Solarstarshines]

yeah 8 gigs is enough i think too ... you think i should keep my current set up and just buy better ram or faster persay i have 2 options for ram FRYS.com | Patriot

FRYS.com | PDP SYSTEM INC

now my only thing would be latency i know lower is better which one would you chose or would you suggest just getting a better board better ram all together?

 

[Night Hawk]

Those are great prices for 4gb dimms I'll say that. DDR2 prices have been dropping lately but those are still worth looking at. First see what voltage range as well as type your board will run at however.

I looked over the manual as well as the board specs and saw no reference other then DDR2 in matched sets of 512, 1gb, 2gb, 4gb dimms which doesn't help any on that. You may need to go over the manual settings in the bios if needed to tweak them a bit if set to manual as far as entering the dram timings manually.

I ran into that on the last case running an AM2 board. For this one(AM3) the memory clock was brought up once I had replaced the first memory ordered for the one having the correct voltage. That was fun! The first OCZ Gold 1.9v was replaced by the Mushkin Enhanced 1.5v which also meant replacing the larger hsf!
(The top of the OCZ dimms remained flat while the Mushkin has raised heat shields that pressed up against the first one)

Since you already have Patriot performance dimms in use I don't see any problems with either kit except for the possible to set the dram timings manually to see what works best. If you can find similar memory like those that runs at a lower voltage the memory will run cooler however. The memory used here runs at the 9-9-9-24 for the slower Cas on the 1600mhx memory but never heats up. Just a thought to add.

 

[Solarstarshines]

i actually with in specs of both ram voltages

so i think i will roll with the viper II the latency is much lower at 5-5-5- 15 and i don't have real cooling issues so i might be in business

 

[Zepher]

Those are great prices for 4gb dimms I'll say that. DDR2 prices have been dropping lately but those are still worth looking at. First see what voltage range as well as type your board will run at however.

DDR2 prices skyrocketed over the past 1.5 years.
1.5 years ago I purchased OCZ FATAL1TY 2x2GB DDR2 800 for $34
1 year ago I bought Kingston Hyper-X 2x2GB DDR2 1066 for $45

I personally would leave the ram you have alone. If you must buy ram, get a new board and go with DDR3, as DDR2 is going to get more and more expensive as it gets scarce.

 

[Night Hawk]

Those are great prices for 4gb dimms I'll say that. DDR2 prices have been dropping lately but those are still worth looking at. First see what voltage range as well as type your board will run at however.

DDR2 prices skyrocketed over the past 1.5 years.
1.5 years ago I purchased OCZ FATAL1TY 2x2GB DDR2 800 for $34
1 year ago I bought Kingston Hyper-X 2x2GB DDR2 1066 for $45

I personally would leave the ram you have alone. If you must buy ram, get a new board and go with DDR3, as DDR2 is going to get more and more expensive as it gets scarce.

Actually prices have come down somewhat on DDR2 when comparing the $135 seen for 4gb of DDR2 800 Hyper X memory run on the last build here to the present $80+orminus a few now seen. Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Memory,Desktop Memory,Kingston HyperX,DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500),4GB (2 x 2GB)

Older memory doesn't actually get scarce it's simply some vendors will stop carrying it after a certain amount of time. Anyone need any PC100 SDram memory by chance? Simply run a search for it. Memory sold 10yrs. ago is still kept available since many businesses are still running old systems they maintain.

Now for boosting the present case with a second case already being considered the additional expensive for replacing the present memory is yours there. Once you get into a new second system with the new board and fasrer memory the present will likely end up collecting dust if not put to use.

Personally having just replaced the supply and board on the old case that quit I will simply be going to Vista for that one since 7 is the OS on the present. The drives will have to be wiped anyways where that will be used mainly as a spare. (and of course likely sit around and sit around collecting dust and.. .)

 

[Zepher]

Ya, that is the same memory I bought in May of 2009 for $45.
the only good thing about the memory going up in price is that I didn't lose any money when I sold it a couple of months ago.
I sold it for what I paid for it and got to use it for 18 months.

 

[Night Hawk]

That worked out well for you. With the recently new case here when first put together the memory requirement on the supported list is off from what the board's own manual indicated of running a 1.5v voltage.

As it turned out the first set of memory ordered was still put to use later on another new build used to upgrade a family member. In turn that person's old XP Pro case was used to help out a friend who saw the board go on his older XP case. Recycling always helps!

 

[Solarstarshines]

If i do or when i decide to swap to a am3 only board i will just get a new case and rebuild with the newer stuff and put together basicly my original old system .

After that i think i could get at least 700 flat for the old rig if i get everything now only differnce this time around the vid card will be a hd5770 not my current hd6870

 

[Night Hawk]

That's what I do enough here. Start from ground up.

If I was building one now instead of late last May into June I would end up with a different board and cpu however. As for the cpu the Phenom II X4 970 Black edition 3.5ghz would have been given a serious look while some initial reviews on the 965 suggested it could clock over 6ghz and run stable if I planned any ocing.

The best thing to do at this time however is take your time while planning out a new case. You will want to jump on good buys when seen but not to simpy jumping on anything you won't be satisfied with later.