Memory suggestions Gigabyte EP45-DS3L (DDR2 1333 / 1200 ???)

[Giga Guy]

Does Gigabyte have any forums on their web site?

I'm looking for suggestions for memory for Gigabyte EP45-DS3L rev 1.0
board.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2844

The box says DDR2 1333/1200/1066/800/667, 1.8 volts, but I can't find
any DDR2 1333, very few 1200, some 1100, and mostly 1066 and 800.

This looks good:

------------------
http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CT2KIT25664AA1067

4GB kit (2GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-8500 memory module
CT2KIT25664AA1067

* Module Size: 4GB kit (2GBx2)
* Package: 240-pin DIMM
* Feature: DDR2 PC2-8500
* Specs: DDR2 PC2-8500 CL=7 Unbuffered NON-ECC
* DDR2-1066 1.8V 256Meg x 64
---------------

And it's cheap enough ($80). Will it work?

Is it a waste of time looking for DDR2 1333, 1200, 1150 or 1100 ?

Should I ask this question on any other forum, like tomshardware?

 

[JR Weiss]

I'm looking for suggestions for memory for Gigabyte EP45-DS3L rev 1.0
board.

The box says DDR2 1333/1200/1066/800/667, 1.8 volts, but I can't find
any DDR2 1333, very few 1200, some 1100, and mostly 1066 and 800.

4GB kit (2GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-8500 memory module
CT2KIT25664AA1067

And it's cheap enough ($80). Will it work?

Yes, it will work just fine.

So will

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289

which is what I have on both my Gigabyte MoBos (P35 and X48). It's even cheaper
(Note: direct from Crucial is not necessarily the cheapest place to get Crucial
memory, either).

Is it a waste of time looking for DDR2 1333, 1200, 1150 or 1100 ?

IMO, yes. The price isn't worth the theoretical performance increase, and
longer latency on cheaper memory could make the "faster" RAM work not as well as
the more common RAM.

Should I ask this question on any other forum, like tomshardware?

Sure. I think you'll find a consensus for the PC2-8500, though...

 

[RonM]

Cost aside, What would be a advantage of using either one of those
which are CL7 or CL6 (slower timings) but higher frequency
over DDR2 PC2 -6400 CL4 such as this:
(faster timings lower frequency)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

 

[Jon Danniken]

Does Gigabyte have any forums on their web site?

I'm looking for suggestions for memory for Gigabyte EP45-DS3L rev 1.0
board.

I'm using that same board, bought last year (great board). Been happy using
a 2x2Gb GSkill RAM kit that I bought with it, with specs of: CL5, 5-5-5-15,
DDR2-1000 (PC2-8000).

I don't think that particular kit is still available, but I've been
perfectly happy with the specs (and it was on sale at the time, which is why
I bought it).

Jon

 

[RonM]

I guess what I am getting at is:

I have the GA-EP45-UD3P mobo.
I would like to get an E8400 or E8500
processor and run it overclocked (not gaming)
at 3.6 /4.0 Ghz -

Which speed would make this easier
or would it matter?

Thanks

 

[Giga Guy]

I'm looking for suggestions for memory for Gigabyte EP45-DS3L
rev 1.0 board.

Ok, looking for comments here.

I picked up a couple of these:

OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 Fatal1ty 4GB Dual Channel

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_8500_fatal1ty_4gb_dual_channel

The price was right (about $70, and with a rebate it should work out to
something like $50 but I'm not counting on getting the rebate because
they never work).

It was pointed out to me that this ram is configured for 2.2v operation,
which is not necessarily a good thing (it's better if you can run at
high speed without having to resort to raising the voltage so high
beyond the standard 1.8v).

I'm going to try these out tommorrow and buy more if they work. I don't
have a system built yet, was thinking of just running memtest86
(correct?) on a naked board.

Comments?

 

[Giga Guy]

Gigabyte EP45-DS3L rev 1.0 board.

I picked up a couple of these:

OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 Fatal1ty 4GB Dual Channel

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_8500_fatal1ty_4gb_dual_channel

Update:

Ok, I plugged 4 of those ram sticks into the Gigabyte mobo.

CPU is Q8200 (Core2 Quad)
- 2.33 ghz
- FSB 1333 mhz

The thing powered up ok. I went into the bios, and was confronted with
about a dozen or two different types of settings that are not really
intutitive.

One thing I noticed was that the bios was indicating that the ram was
running at 800 mhz. I thought this ram was 1066 ?

What do I need to do to setup the bios properly for this ram?

PS: Intel, your heat-sink push pins suck really badly. I ripped them
out and used 4 small bolts to mount the heatsink instead.

 

[RonM]

The board defaults to the 800Mhz setting -
Go into the bios and change the settings/voltage per the RAM sticker
yourself.
Don't use the EasyTune program as it may overvolt.

Let me know how it goes - I am wondering if I
should have got the faster stuff myself.

 

[Giga Guy]

The board defaults to the 800Mhz setting -
Go into the bios and change the settings/voltage per the RAM sticker
yourself.

You saying that just by increasing the ram voltage, that the mobo will
be able to "sense" something in the ram and increase the clock speed
automatically?

I think it said 2.0 or 2.1 or 2.2 v on the package. I did up the
voltage to 1.9 but it still said 800 mhz in the bios.

Don't use the EasyTune program as it may overvolt.

There's no OS on this thing yet. Is there a ram stress program that
boots from a floppy? Was it something like memtest86? Is that what I'm
thinking about?

Let me know how it goes - I am wondering if I
should have got the faster stuff myself.

The earliest I'll be able to post back my next results will be about 6
pm EST tommorrow.

 

[RonM]

You have to manually enter in your voltage, 2.0, and timings,
which the website for your ram says are CL 6-7-7-20.
It says you can go up to 2.05 v before violating the warrantee.
EasyTune is a software program that Gigabyte includes with some of it's
boards.

OCZ / Products / Memory / OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 Fatal1ty 4GB Dual Channel
OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 Fatal1ty 4GB Dual Channel
a..
a.. OCZ2F10664GK
CompUSATigerDirect USANeweggAmazon
b..














1066MHz DDR2
CL 6-7-7-20
(CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS)
Available in 4GB (2x2048MB) dual channel kits
Unbuffered
Fatal1ty Branded XTC Heatspreader*
Lifetime Warranty
2.0 Volts
240 Pin DIMM

Special Features

2.05V EVP***

Part Numbers

4GB Dual Channel Kit PN - OCZ2F10664GK




OCZ2F10664GK
CompUSA . TigerDirect USA . Newegg . Amazon




OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 / 1066MHz / Fatal1ty Edition / 4GB Dual
Channel

The OCZ Fatal1ty series is the official memory for the
Championship Gaming Series. These high-performance memory kits were
co-developed with the expertise of the world's 12-time champion to meet the
needs of fellow gamers, and are designed to help deliver exceptional gaming
visuals and overclocking potential to ensure your high-powered gaming PC
maintains unsurpassed stability.

The OCZ Fatal1ty memory kits feature high densities and
blazing frequencies to help DirectX-10 PC games reach their full potential
on the latest platforms.


* XTC (Xtreme Thermal Convection) heatspreaders optimize
the thermal management of memory modules by promoting greater airflow by
means of micro-convection throughout what is usually the dead air space
inside conventional heatspreader designs. In this manner, build-up of heat
is avoided and thermal dissipation of the memory components is offloaded
more efficiently through the honeycomb design. At the same time, mechanical
stability is maintained.







--
Ron A. Marraccini
Legal Investigations - PSID #33657
2000 N.E. 42nd Ave., #192
Portland, OR 97213
(503) 407-8948

 

[Giga Guy]

Try memtest86+ instead.

http://www.memtest.org/

I see now that there are two different "streams" of memtest:

http://www.memtest86.com/download.html

http://www.memtest.org/

I've been running version 3.5 from the first website.

Which one is preferred?

 

[Giga Guy]

Ok, after all that shit with memtest 3.5, I'll be using memtest86+ 2.11
from now on.

What I've been testing so far are these:

Kingston KHX8500D2K2/4G

Kingston specs are 5-5-5-15 @ 2.2V, but they run really hot. I didn't
take them above 2.0v. I found it was stable at 6-6-6-16 at 1066mhz
(memory clock at 533 mhz) at 1.9v. I tried running it at 1110 mhz at
2.0v but it failed memtest 2.11 consistently at about the 35% part of
pass 1. Running at 1066, memtest reports 4226 mb/sec (single channel)
and 5425 mb/sec (dual channel).

Corsair Twin2X4096-8500C

Specs printed on the dimms say 7-7-7-20, 2.0v, 1066 mhz. I found it
stable at 6-6-6-16 at 2.0v running 1110 mhz. Memtest
reports 4385 mb/s (single channel). Haven't tried them in dual channel.

I'd have to give the edge to Corsair in this comparison.

This again is on a Gigabyte EP45-DS3L with Intel Q8200 (Core2 Quad
SLB5M) 2.33 GHz (clock multiplier 333 MHz x 7).

My next test won't be for another day or two. I will try the OCZ
fatality again, and try a full 8gb of ram.

Does anyone mess around with the pages and pages of additional bios ram
settings? Is there any pattern or proceedure for setting those? Should
I even bother?

Does anyone maintains a list of memtest speed charts or tables? There
are lots of performance numbers out there that the various publications
resort to, but I don't think I've seen any of them use the raw mb/sec
numbers from memtest86.

Why on earth did the industry migrate from DDR to DDR2 and now to DDR3
if there are really no performance benefits from all these new ram
versions - especially the transition from DDR2 to DDR3 ?