# DDR2 1066MHz or DDR3 1066MHz?



## de.das.dude (Jul 19, 2010)

which gives better performance DDR@ 1066 or the DDR3??




*i mean in price and everything. no overclocking necessary though.*


im worried about ddr3 timings


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## InnocentCriminal (Jul 19, 2010)

Title needs to be changed, but it depends on the platform. Are we talking about your rig here?


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## Tatty_One (Jul 19, 2010)

Changed title, not enough info to give an accurate answer or vote, if the timings are the same then on a Socket 775 system  performance should be pretty much the same, if you were using the DDR3 on an i7 System then the memory would be running in triple channel (providing you had 3, 6 or 12GB) and therefore would be quicker.

The main point of DDR3 is that many should run much quicker than the capabilities of DDR2, so personally I would never only run them at 1066mhz but that may be motherboard dependant if not overclocking the CPU.


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## rammedst (Jul 19, 2010)

I only responded with DDR-II because it *generally* has lower latencies.


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## Magikherbs (Jul 19, 2010)

Last week, I just went from 4gb ddr2 800 5-5-5-18/ Asrock A785GM/LE-128M, to my current config. My benchmarks are the same and a little worse than my ddr2 sys, using Passmark, 3dmark06 and Win Exp rating. 
I thought my new and much better quality mobo, ram and power supply would score much better. From what I understand, the higher latencies and FSBRAM ratio, was 1:2 now 3:10 or similar...  are slowing me down.
btw.. I am running 1333mhz b/c 1600 adds about 10C to my Cpu/Vcore idle/load temps.
see pic for Sisandra warnings about latency and security. any advice on these would really help. 
Peace !


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## freaksavior (Jul 19, 2010)

ddr3, usually has more room to overclock


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## mdsx1950 (Jul 19, 2010)

DDR3! Future proof and most likely faster than the DDR2 Ram you got in mind.


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## yogurt_21 (Jul 19, 2010)

I vote ddr3 1600 is better, but I'm wierd like that


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## cadaveca (Jul 19, 2010)

Here's DDR3...


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## newtekie1 (Jul 19, 2010)

I say go with DDR3 for a few reasons:


Future Proof - No explaination need here.
Greater Overclocking Potential - Most DDR2-1066 isn't going to go muich higher, maybe 1100MHz.  However, most DDR3-1066 can probably run at least 1333.
Lower Voltage - Generally DDR3-1066 runs at 1.5v, while DDR2-1066 is probably at 2.0-2.1v(some run lower, but most are specced for 2.0-2.1v).  On the DDR2, that is pretty much the limit of voltage you can put through it safely.  However, on DDR3 1.65v is safe without a problem.  So there is probably still overvolt headroom on the DDR3 sticks, which also will likely lead to some more overclock headroom also.


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## freaksavior (Jul 19, 2010)

newtekie1 said:


> I say go with DDR3 for a few reasons:
> 
> 
> Future Proof - No explaination need here.
> ...



Agreed √
Most will do that and some will do more, like my 1066 do 2100√
Again true  lower voltage is nice √


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## InnocentCriminal (Jul 19, 2010)

freaksavior said:


> Agreed √
> Most will do that and some will do more, like my 1066 do 2100√
> Again true  lower voltage is nice √



You just wanted to use your 'ticks' didn't you?


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## freaksavior (Jul 19, 2010)

Yup


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## TheLaughingMan (Jul 20, 2010)

I will go with DDR3 1066.  I agree it should be lower voltage, assuming all other specs match, so it should run cooler.

Odd comparison as DDR3 at a lower speed than 1333 Mhz is rather limited in availability.  Future proof is more of the mobo feature than the RAM, especially since the speed will be fairly limiting with future upgrades.

Overclock headroom is a plus as the DDR3's primary defining characteristic is the increase in clock speed over DDR2 which hit its proverbial wall at 1200 Mhz.  Any higher than that couldn't be kept stable without extreme cooling or over-voltage failure.


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## ZenEffect (Jul 20, 2010)

TheLaughingMan said:


> I will go with DDR3 1066.  I agree it should be lower voltage, assuming all other specs match, so it should run cooler.
> 
> Odd comparison as DDR3 at a lower speed than 1333 Mhz is rather limited in availability.  Future proof is more of the mobo feature than the RAM, especially since the speed will be fairly limiting with future upgrades.
> 
> Overclock headroom is a plus as the DDR3's primary defining characteristic is the increase in clock speed over DDR2 which hit its proverbial wall at 1200 Mhz.  Any higher than that couldn't be kept stable without extreme cooling or over-voltage failure.



generally speaking yes, however there are quite a few kits that were out that could do +1200 24/7 @ their rated 2.2v

besides bandwidth is not always about mhz alone 

i vote ddr2 because there are some really fun times to be had when overclocking ddr2.  with ddr3 you hit 20k everest and everything else after that is kind of bland.


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## TheLaughingMan (Jul 20, 2010)

ZenEffect said:


> generally speaking yes, however there are quite a few kits that were out that could do +1200 24/7 @ their rated 2.2v
> 
> besides bandwidth is not always about mhz alone
> 
> i vote ddr2 because there are some really fun times to be had when overclocking ddr2.  with ddr3 you hit 20k everest and everything else after that is kind of bland.



At the peek of DDR2's life I can only recall a hand full of kits that advertised 1200 Mhz default clock speed and even fewer that would OC beyond it.

Still a moot point as DDR2 at 2.2V straining to maintain 1300 Mhz speed with high timing, will be quickly be outclassed by DDR3 RAM who's stock speed is much higher with virtually lower timing.

I digress, he asked about the two at the speed of 1066 and at the same speed, and same specs, with virtually identical timing (DDR3 is calculated on a different scale), the only significant difference will be voltage/temp being lower on DDR3.


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## de.das.dude (Jul 20, 2010)

this closes 21st july!! keep the posts coming!!


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## mm67 (Jul 20, 2010)

TheLaughingMan said:


> At the peek of DDR2's life I can only recall a hand full of kits that advertised 1200 Mhz default clock speed and even fewer that would OC beyond it.
> 
> Still a moot point as DDR2 at 2.2V straining to maintain 1300 Mhz speed with high timing, will be quickly be outclassed by DDR3 RAM who's stock speed is much higher with virtually lower timing.
> 
> I digress, he asked about the two at the speed of 1066 and at the same speed, and same specs, with virtually identical timing (DDR3 is calculated on a different scale), the only significant difference will be voltage/temp being lower on DDR3.








That's DDR2 running at 1236 MHz with 1.8 V. My G.Skill Trident set.


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## ZenEffect (Jul 21, 2010)

once again running high ram mhz isnt where all the bandwidth lies.  

http://hwbot.org/community/submission/750665_zeneffect_superpi_core_2_e8500_3.17ghz_8sec_880ms


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## Magikherbs (Jul 21, 2010)

Is the speed gain being nulled by the increase in my FSB to DRAM ratio ?
My 550be running @ DDR2 800 5-5-5-18 = 1 : 4 , @ DDR3 1333 9 9 9 24 = 3 : 10. Both configs scored almost identical results with Passmark 4200 memory mark ,  3dmark06 11,200  and Windows 7 Exp rating 7.4.


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## Rakesh95 (Jul 21, 2010)

The poll results are quite surprising.


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## de.das.dude (Jul 21, 2010)

^ rakesh roshan? LOL


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## Rakesh95 (Jul 21, 2010)

de.das.dude said:


> ^ rakesh roshan? LOL



lol nah man, I was born in Chennai, I live is Aus. 


Oh yeah, im running my ddr3 RAM from 1333 to 1536, pretty nice jump if you ask me.


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## Tatty_One (Jul 21, 2010)

ZenEffect said:


> once again running high ram mhz isnt where all the bandwidth lies.
> 
> http://hwbot.org/community/submission/750665_zeneffect_superpi_core_2_e8500_3.17ghz_8sec_880ms



That to some degree however depends to a certain extent on platform and the apps your running.



Rakesh95 said:


> lol nah man, I was born in Chennai, I live is Aus.
> 
> 
> Oh yeah, im running my ddr3 RAM from 1333 to 1536, pretty nice jump if you ask me.



And thats the point exactly, most DDR3 kits are capable of that, for example, you can buy a very cheap value kit of 1333mhz crucial's that don't even have heat spreaders that will do 1800mhz, now you might get a few kits of DDR2 800's that do 1200mhz but none of them will do 1400+, then of course you get down to the bandwidth versus latency question which does pretty much depend on apps and platform, some apps love raw speed but see  little improvements in performance from tighter timings, others vice versa, as for platform..... I7 does enjoy high bandwidth and you will see a greater performance increase from 2000mhz @ CL9 than say 1600mhz @ CL7...... with the odd exception of course.


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## Magikherbs (Jul 21, 2010)

Tatty_One said:


> That to some degree however depends to a certain extent on platform and the apps your running.
> 
> 
> 
> And thats the point exactly, most DDR3 kits are capable of that, for example, you can buy a very cheap value kit of 1333mhz crucial's that don't even have heat spreaders that will do 1800mhz, now you might get a few kits of DDR2 800's that do 1200mhz but none of them will do 1400+, then of course you get down to the bandwidth versus latency question which does pretty much depend on apps and platform, some apps love raw speed but see  little improvements in performance from tighter timings, others vice versa, as for platform..... I7 does enjoy high bandwidth and you will see a greater performance increase from 2000mhz @ CL9 than say 1600mhz @ CL7...... with the odd exception of course.



That makes sense ! Running DDR3 @ 1333 or 1600mhz, benchmarks score the same as DDR2. :shadedshu While at the same time, Windows is alot more snappier. New windows and dialog boxes materialize and animate much more dramatically. And fresh install also took record time, under 25mins, will time it next time. Btw.. NFS Shift is flawless at HQ max res settings ! soo tripped


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## InnocentCriminal (Jul 21, 2010)

Magikherbs said:


> ... fresh install also took record time, under 25mins, will time it next time. Btw.. N



It will if you install it from a USB memory stick if you're not already.


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## Mussels (Jul 21, 2010)

DDR2 will give better performance due to timings, but DDR3 is easier short and long term.

running 4x sticks of DDR2 @ 1066MHz can be quite difficult on many systems, whereas the same with DDR3 is a walk in the park (and at MUCH lower voltages - so zero overheating concerns)


oh and yeah, flash drive method ftw... i tend to have 7 installed in under 15 minutes, and ready and gaming (thanks to my dedicated games drive) in less than 30m from a fresh format.


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## Magikherbs (Jul 21, 2010)

InnocentCriminal said:


> It will if you install it from a USB memory stick if you're not already.



nope.. Im still using the DVD drive. Dont use images and/or flash drives... yet. My old ddr2 config would take 2-3 hours for a full install/driver,os updates/os tweeks. Wundows  update uuugghh !! lol  Now its about an hour.


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## de.das.dude (Jul 21, 2010)

wat an awsome thread i hav started. this thing is really confusing!


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## Magikherbs (Jul 21, 2010)

de.das.dude said:


> wat an awsome thread i hav started. this thing is really confusing!



nothing confusing about the benefits of ddr3 ! 
just need to read between the sub topics 

p E A C e


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## demonbrawn (Jul 21, 2010)

Btw, can I just point out have futile it is to say any computer hardware is "future proof"? There is no such thing anymore. Only future resistant.


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## Magikherbs (Sep 4, 2010)

My PII 550 was bottlenecking the ram ! At stock cpu 3.1ghz my memory would score about 900 on Passmark. Ive been Oc'd @3.5ghz, 1.3v, for the past 2 weeks and now and the scores are now 1030 hehe .. the performance boost is quite noticeable even though all Ive done is up the CPU multiplier. 
DDR3 ALL THE WAY !

Peace


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## DaveK (Sep 4, 2010)

I'm gonna go ahead and hit you with...DDR3.


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## TheMailMan78 (Sep 5, 2010)

FYI my mobo can do DDR2 1300 all long with the right RAM. Its one of my mobos selling points.


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## Magikherbs (Sep 5, 2010)

TheMailMan78 said:


> FYI my mobo can do DDR2 1300 all long with the right RAM. Its one of my mobos selling points.
> 
> http://img.techpowerup.org/100904/Untitled764.jpg



Ive read the bottleneck starts at about 1000mhz, ddr2 or 3. That explains why goining to DDR3 did not show much if any performance boost. Even UAC is waay speedier lol


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## de.das.dude (Sep 5, 2010)

TheMailMan78 said:


> FYI my mobo can do DDR2 1300 all long with the right RAM. Its one of my mobos selling points.
> 
> http://img.techpowerup.org/100904/Untitled764.jpg



Same here.


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## Mussels (Sep 5, 2010)

just because your mobo offers 1300MHz DDR2, doesnt mean its going to be easy. you have to OC to reach it, and you're only going to be able to do it witjh specific ram in two of the four slots of your board.


if you think it will be easy and that you can do it with 4 sticks, read the manual/specs more carefully - you've been duped by marketing.


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## de.das.dude (Sep 5, 2010)

i know that very well, amd CPUs dot really support OC ing in all 4 slots. and hey, i just use only one slot now.


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## Magikherbs (Sep 5, 2010)

Mussels said:


> just because your mobo offers 1300MHz DDR2, doesnt mean its going to be easy. you have to OC to reach it, and you're only going to be able to do it witjh specific ram in two of the four slots of your board.
> 
> 
> if you think it will be easy and that you can do it with 4 sticks, read the manual/specs more carefully - you've been duped by marketing.



When using the two dimms closest to the cpu, it is vital to have ram coolers w/ fans. The cpu has no room to breathe and depending on you tower/cirulation, your temps will drop at least 5-10C when you keep them vacant. Its also a bit odd that Asus recommends using dimms 0 and 1, then later mentions that dimms 3 and 4 are for better OC. Btw dimms 0 and 1 are set closest to the cpu which also makes me wonder lol.
Considering there is really no price difference, why no go DDR3 ? AM3 cpu's memory controllers run default DDR3 @1333mhz. DDR2 is 800, anything more you risk burning out your cpu. OC the cpu, not the memory.


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## btarunr (Sep 5, 2010)

DDR2-1066, because usually DDR2-1066 kits have lower latencies than DDR3-1066 kits (5-5-5-15 vs. 7-7-7-20)


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## de.das.dude (Sep 5, 2010)

you guys know what?? i am still using DDR2 667 oc'd to 800MHz and i still dont feel the need to upgrade to 1066MHz./ anything.


i think the full potential of DDR3 will not be required in another 4years(maybe less). Till then DDR2 is good to go.


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## Magikherbs (Sep 5, 2010)

My ddr2 800 system scored the same as my new ddr3 gear, until I oc'd the cpu. While I was expecting the obvious jump in cpu scores, the memory scores surprised me abit b/c I did not think they would change much, if any. 
I wish I had a Phenom II x4 to test with.
Is the cpu speed causing the bottleneck ? Or is it b/c Im only running 2 cores ?
If you are running a similar config as mine, I want to know what your Passmark memory and cpu scores are. At stock cpu 3.1ghz,   appox. Passmark Cpu 2150, Memory 900. 
Logic tells me, if the cpu speed is the cause, then those w/ 3-6 cores should be scoring about the same on the memory, as those w/ 2.


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## Mussels (Sep 6, 2010)

Magikherbs said:


> My ddr2 800 system scored the same as my new ddr3 gear, until I oc'd the cpu. While I was expecting the obvious jump in cpu scores, the memory scores surprised me abit b/c I did not think they would change much, if any.
> I wish I had a Phenom II x4 to test with.
> Is the cpu speed causing the bottleneck ? Or is it b/c Im only running 2 cores ?
> If you are running a similar config as mine, I want to know what your Passmark memory and cpu scores are. At stock cpu 3.1ghz,   appox. Passmark Cpu 2150, Memory 900.
> Logic tells me, if the cpu speed is the cause, then those w/ 3-6 cores should be scoring about the same on the memory, as those w/ 2.



running two cores is very likely, the cores DO share ram.

so 1600MHz ram has its bandwidth shared between your cores - you've got 1/3 the amount of cores i do, so you'd have a lot more room to spare before running into a bottlebeck there.

good observation tho, hadnt really occured to me before now.


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## Magikherbs (Sep 6, 2010)

Mussels said:


> running two cores is very likely, the cores DO share ram.
> 
> so 1600MHz ram has its bandwidth shared between your cores - you've got 1/3 the amount of cores i do, so you'd have a lot more room to spare before running into a bottlebeck there.
> 
> good observation tho, hadnt really occured to me before now.



What cpu and memory scores do you get running Passmark ? DDR2 or 3, but both would be nice lol...
I am considering upping my oc to 3.7, soon, so we'll see if the memory performance boost stays constant. And with my crazy low temps, idle/load cpu was only 31/42C last night heh... who knows I may try for more


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## Mindweaver (Sep 6, 2010)

DDR2 1066 is faster, but i would go DDR3 1066 or >. Just remember DDR2-1066 is just overclocked DDR2-800. Most if not all DDR2 kits will have to be manual set in BIOS from 800 to 1066.


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