Memory speeds?

[Showoff]

I am in the processes of blagging some memory off Kingston and was wondering what speed would work best with the motherboard I intend to get which is the Bad Axe 2 (D975XBX2KR).

Looking at the Intel specs (http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/D975XBX2/index.htm) this board can support DDR2 533Mhz, 667Mhz or 800Mhz.... Do you think 1066 would be pushing too much, does this mean that 1066 (KHX8500D2K2/2G) memory won't work with this motherboard?

I think I'll play it safe and get KHX6400D2LLK2/2G which is 800Mhz, but wondered what the situation with compatibility was?

Thanks.

 

[Ham]

What CPU is it to be coupled with?

 

[llwyd]

^

It would depend on the FSB of the cpu you're looking at and the max fsb you would be able to pull off on that CPU/Mobo combination

 

[Mr. Smith]

Regardless of what CPU go for the highest mhz - I assume by blagging you mean free? Most mobo's only support up to 800mhz on the RAM.

If you intend to overclock, by the nature of the process your ram speed raises with your fsb. You can easily hit 800mhz this way, by having 1066mhz you have more headroom. Sure, by changing ratios you can affect how this increase to your ram is applied (e.g. 1:1, 4:5 - I'm skimming the suface with these explinations so don't be suprised if you don't quite understand what I'm talking about lol)

Granted 800mhz ram can go over its rated speed but Intel loves those hz.

In a nutshell 1066 will work on your mobo and why have 800 when you can have 1066?

Exactly. 1066 For The Win

 

[Showoff]

Thanks all for your quick responses, the CPU I have at the moment is only an Intel P4 @ 3.4Ghz, but I do plan to upgrade that later.

By blagging I do mean free yes :yumyum: I actually sell quite a lot of Kingston memory to my customers so thought I'd abuse my position and see what I can get, but wanted to check that the faster memory will work as the intel web site said it only supported up to 800Mhz and my Kingston account manager suggested I stick with this as a result of this, but also admitted that he didn't have much knowledge of overclocking.

Thanks.

 

[Ham]

Well Mr Smith would be right. Go for 1066 if you can get it.

IIRC that P4 will be running at 166fsb, and 1066 equates to 266 (the fsb of the conroe chips). This will allow plenty of room for overclocking that chip and you to run a conroe at 1:1. Remember memory is backwards compatible. So this 266mhz memory will run at 166mhz blindfolded.

 

[Showoff]

I received the 1066 (KHX8500D2K2/2G) memory this morning got to love those people at Kingston! :worship:

I can't wait to start putting all of this together!

 

[JN]

It's been a while since i played with P4's, but I thought they were 200mhz FSB (800mhz 'Quad Pumped') for the Prescott's at least.

And as most P4 platforms were based on DDR, the mem speed was 400mhz (PC-3200).

But when they moved the P4 to the DDR2 platform, the memory ran on a different divider of 533mhz (PC2-4200) and later 600mhz (PC2-6400).

My memory is hazy tho...