DDR3 RAM

[trax1]

Just a quick question on DDR3 RAM, so do you need a special motherboard that will support DDR3, or will any motherboard handle it?

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Just a quick question on DDR3 RAM, so do you need a special motherboard that will support DDR3, or will any motherboard handle it?

You need a DDR3 capable motherboard. Check the specifications before purchase.

[trax1]

You need a DDR3 capable motherboard. Check the specifications before purchase.

Rgr, thanks that's all I was wondering.

[Skuzzy]

You need a motherboard and motherboard chipset that will support the RAM.  It is not compatible with any other version of RAM.  DDR3 requires 1.5V, while DDR2 requires 1.8V and the key position in DDR3 is different from DDR2.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Asrock makes boards that support both. But I wouldn't want to mess with those because their performance is compromised.

[trax1]

Yeah I just check with Gigabyte and my board doesn't support DDR3.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Yeah I just check with Gigabyte and my board doesn't support DDR3.

You should use DDR3 basically only if you move to i7.

[BaldEagl]

Asrock makes boards that support both. But I wouldn't want to mess with those because their performance is compromised.

I can't remember which but either Gigabyte or MSI also has at least one board that supports both.

[Krusty]

I believe the ASRock board has different slots for the DDR2 and DDR3, and you can't interchange them.

[BaldEagl]

I believe the ASRock board has different slots for the DDR2 and DDR3, and you can't interchange them.

I'm sure it does.  So does the other one I saw.

[Bino]

You should use DDR3 basically only if you move to i7.

Really?  Why do you say that?  There are plenty of 775 mobos that support DDR3.  But triple channel does seem to be the exclusive province of the 1366 mobos.

FYI...
                           JEDEC specs

                           DDR2                    DDR3

Rated Speed         400-800 Mbps        800-1600 Mbps
Vdd/Vddq             1.8V +/- 0.1V        1.5V +/- 0.075V
Internal Banks      4                           8
Termination          Limited                   All DQ signals
Topology              Conventional T        Fly-by
Driver Control       OCD Calibration       Self Calibration with ZQ
Thermal Sensor     No                         Yes (Optional)

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Really?  Why do you say that?  There are plenty of 775 mobos that support DDR3.  But triple channel does seem to be the exclusive province of the 1366 mobos.

FYI...
                           JEDEC specs

                           DDR2                    DDR3

Rated Speed         400-800 Mbps        800-1600 Mbps
Vdd/Vddq             1.8V +/- 0.1V        1.5V +/- 0.075V
Internal Banks      4                           8
Termination          Limited                   All DQ signals
Topology              Conventional T        Fly-by
Driver Control       OCD Calibration       Self Calibration with ZQ
Thermal Sensor     No                         Yes (Optional)

I'm saying that because older generation boards / CPU's will have really small gains from DDR3 that's not worth the pricetag.

[TheZohan]

AM3 boards and X58 boards support DDR3 natively

[eagl]

I'm saying that because older generation boards / CPU's will have really small gains from DDR3 that's not worth the pricetag.

QFT.  DDR3 really only has big gains when it's matched with an i7 cpu.  Synthetic benchmarks show big bandwidth gains with ddr3 even on older mobos, but the real-world performance gains are minimal.