DDR2 PC2 5400, 5-5-5-18 vs DDR3 PC3-10666, 9-9-9-20

drtc

drtc

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 19, 2008
Messages
239
Hi all,
since the continuing price hill of RAM I'm in a dilemma between DDR2 vs DDR3 performance.
Between these two that I can get at a similar pricing, which would you choose?
2x Kingston 8GB DDR2-667 Ram Kit (2 x 4 GB, PC2 5400, 5-5-5-18, KVR667D2N5K2/8G)
totalling 16gb

vs
3x OCZ Gold 4GB DDR3-1333 Ram Dimm (PC3-10666, 9-9-9-20, OCZ3G1333LV4G)
totalling 12 gb


Ideally I want to fit up to 24GB in my mobo for video editing and compositing.
I can get 3 4GB OCZ modules now and add another three in the future.
Or I can get 2 8GB Kingston modules and add more in the future.

Which will be faster?
A sales guy suggested that the DDR2 ones have better timing and will outperform the DDR3 ones.

Mobo choice between ASUS P6T or GB UDR3 with an i7930.

thanks in advance
 
PC 5400 in a desktop machine? Well maybe if this was 2006. For DDR2 you should be using PC6400 or better.

However for a brand new system you are going to need DDR3 anyways. DDR2 is not compatible with DDR3. There are no i3/i5/i7 systems that use ddr2 since the processor does not have ddr2 support. For AMD you can still get DDR2 but not 24GB and not with the latest motherboards.
 
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A sales guy suggested that the DDR2 ones have better timing and will outperform the DDR3 ones.
Click to expand...

Never listen to that guy again for anything. The latency timings are setup timings to access a memory location (basicaly). And if you are looking at the same kind of memory with the same speed rating the one with lower timings will provide a tiny but measurable increase in system speed.

The trouble is you are not comparing the same kind of memory or the same speed of memory. The DDR3 will kill the DDR2 because of its improved bandwidth and the way it can access data.

Another thing the guy got incorrect is those latency numbers are in "clock tics". Since in general DDR3 runs faster than DDR2 that makes the DDR3 "clock tics" shorter in time resulting in a higer number when looking at the same amount of time. So DD2 that uses 5 "clock tics" (but the tic are slower) is not any faster than DDR3 that uses say 8 (faster tics) clock tics. The actual access time is about the same and the increased data transfer rate of the DDR3 will murder the DDR2 as far as actually reading and writing data.

DDR3 is almost always better and faster. If you had some really really crappy slow DDR3 and some really really good fast DDR2 the DDR2 might be as good but that is not the case here.
 
i appreciate your feedback!
so 3x OCZ Gold 4GB DDR3-1333 Ram Dimm (PC3-10666, 9-9-9-20, OCZ3G1333LV4G) is the way to go and forget about DDR2 ones?

i got confused 'cause i also read an article here saying that they are more or less the same in real world performance.

Is this paryicular OCZ module any good and worth bying?


it seems crazy i built a rig about a year ago and prices have doubled for some parts..
 
Since they are incompatible you have to forget about any performance differences unless you want to get a core2 processor or an AMD processor with a motherboard that was designed in 2008.

saying that they are more or less the same in real world performance.
Click to expand...
But you picked a low end DDR2 that does not compare well to DDR3 at all.
 
Well like drescherjm mentioned all the new processors, the intel ones anyway use ddr3 only anyway. I would not invest in a system that runs DDR2 now, it was on its way out a year ago and now its pretty much gone for any middle and high end equipment.

Decide on your motherboard and processor first, that will dictate what kind of memory you need and if it is an intel i-series of cpu and matching board you will have to go with DDR3.
 
drtc said:
it seems crazy i built a rig about a year ago and prices have doubled for some parts..
Click to expand...

Memory prices have gone up. DDR2 is 2 times the lowest prices. I do not believe DDR3 has gone up as much however but since it was more than DDR2 in the first place its still a little more.
 
As mentioned I'm between the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R or the older Asus P6T SE for 50 less, with a i7 930.
What kind of ram config would you suggest for my needs (video editing-compositing) using 4GB modules, so I could get at least 12GB now (3x4GB) at a price not far from 400?
Thanks again
 
thanks,
i wish I could find these over here (Greece) especially at that price. Here each 4Gb costs around 140euros going up every day (they started at 125 a month ago)...
Two questions:
how do they compare to the OCZ in terms of speed?
Can these be overclocked and is it worth it?
 
OCZ has a little better timing however you probably will not notice that in the real world.
 
With i series processors (i3/i5/i7) its pretty easy to get minor overclocks just raise the BCLK a little at a time without touching any other setting. Stability test then repeat. If you want 4GHz you probably have to tweak voltages. I can not help with that part.
 
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I would seriously consider getting a different brand of ram. Those OCZ gold modules are a compatibility nightmare.

I have the gigabyte ud3r you are thinking of getting and can tell you they were not stable on my system and I had to return them.
 
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