RancidLunchmeat
Veteran
Sorry, I was actually referring to the motherboard (I guess chipset) ability to utilize 8MBs.
The boards that only allow for 4MBs of DDR2 are certainly less expensive.
My Turn, opinions clearly desired.
- Thread starter RancidLunchmeat
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Sorry, I was actually referring to the motherboard (I guess chipset) ability to utilize 8MBs.
The boards that only allow for 4MBs of DDR2 are certainly less expensive.
I had my Vista 64 up for 2 days with 4GB of memory... and then discovered VirtualPC and had an order for an additional 4GB that day. Great tool for development and because. I develop at home... I love how you can take a break and save the state of the Virtual development environment with all your applications up and development tools at the point you get your Brain freeze and need a gaming break.
Yes I would say the VirtualPC is a prime reason for 8GB of memory.
Yes I would say the VirtualPC is a prime reason for 8GB of memory.
RancidLunchmeat
Veteran
That's clearly not the answer I wanted.
Or, maybe it actually is.
Does everybody else agree on this point? That by the time anything remotely mainstream would make use of 8GB of DDR2, the difference between DDR2 and DDR3 would be so apparent that 8GB of DDR2 would be worthless?
If that's the case, I'd be better off getting a board that only supports 4GB of DDR2, because by the time I need more memory bandwidth, 4GB more of DDR2 still won't handle the job, I'll need DDR3 in order to really accomplish the task?
I didn't think the bandwidth on DDR3 was double that of DDR2 which it would have to be to make this true.
But, it's something to look into. That's why these threads are so great.
The cost of my motherboard has already dropped $100, and depending on the results of this discussion, could drop another $50 easy.
Awesome.
No, I don't agree with it. DDR3 is not going to ever have that large of a difference on todays platforms, or any in the next year I'm willing to bet... I don't really think 8GB is needed right now unless for a specific reason, so just get 4GB. All 4 DIMM slot modern motherboards support 8GB anyway...
Just to clarify my 8GB ddr2 vs ddr3....for me its a pricing comment.
The reason in future we will be wanting DDR3 is the similar reason that we have switched to DDR2 fro DDR. The mainstream motherboards will all support it and the manufacturers will be gently nudging us with their reduced prices on DDR3 abd I suspect static or increasing DDR2 prices.
They don't want to be manufacturing all types of memory. Besides until AMD moves to DDR3 it won't be mainstream enough for prices to match or better DDR2.
And the the cycle will continue. I have a drawer full of old 32 but memory and other types I have collected through the years.
The reason in future we will be wanting DDR3 is the similar reason that we have switched to DDR2 fro DDR. The mainstream motherboards will all support it and the manufacturers will be gently nudging us with their reduced prices on DDR3 abd I suspect static or increasing DDR2 prices.
They don't want to be manufacturing all types of memory. Besides until AMD moves to DDR3 it won't be mainstream enough for prices to match or better DDR2.
And the the cycle will continue. I have a drawer full of old 32 but memory and other types I have collected through the years.
RancidLunchmeat
Veteran
Okay. Well, that was as helpful as it was confusing.
Sky: I haven't looked into every motherboard manufacturer, I prefer Gigabyte and usually just compare their offerings to Asus in order to determine which I want. Gigabyte has many motherboards available that specify they are only capable of handling 4GB of DDR2, not 8GB of DDR2. These boards are cheaper, usually by about $50 which is why I was asking.
Val: Thanks for attempting to clarify but I'm still not sure I understand. I get the fact that at some point in the future DDR3 memory will actually be cheaper than DDR2 because the manufacturers don't want to continue to produce extreme numbers of variants in memory type.
I'm more interested in performance capabilities, and as far as price goes, DDR2 is currently extremely less expensive than DDR3.
At that point, I'm left to wonder.. would I be better off two years from now with 8GB of DDR2 or 4GB of DDR3?
The difference in cost (at this time) between the two is rather large.
So large, in fact, that while I might get 8GB of DDR2 for my new system, I'd probably only get 2GB of DDR3 if I chose that direction.
What's the cost/benefit ratio? Doesn't DDR3 only provide ~30% more bandwidth?
Unless I've been looking at the wrong numbers (which is definitely possible), 8GB of DDR2 would still be superior to 4GB of DDR3.
And the price point favors 8GB of DDR2 over 4GB of DDR3.
Sorry if this is a long, drawn out silly discussion about things people should already be aware of. I appreciate everybody's contributions and patience as I work through entirely new CPU sockets, GPU interfaces, and Memory modules.
I'm really not stupid, I swear.
Sky: I haven't looked into every motherboard manufacturer, I prefer Gigabyte and usually just compare their offerings to Asus in order to determine which I want. Gigabyte has many motherboards available that specify they are only capable of handling 4GB of DDR2, not 8GB of DDR2. These boards are cheaper, usually by about $50 which is why I was asking.
Val: Thanks for attempting to clarify but I'm still not sure I understand. I get the fact that at some point in the future DDR3 memory will actually be cheaper than DDR2 because the manufacturers don't want to continue to produce extreme numbers of variants in memory type.
I'm more interested in performance capabilities, and as far as price goes, DDR2 is currently extremely less expensive than DDR3.
At that point, I'm left to wonder.. would I be better off two years from now with 8GB of DDR2 or 4GB of DDR3?
The difference in cost (at this time) between the two is rather large.
So large, in fact, that while I might get 8GB of DDR2 for my new system, I'd probably only get 2GB of DDR3 if I chose that direction.
What's the cost/benefit ratio? Doesn't DDR3 only provide ~30% more bandwidth?
Unless I've been looking at the wrong numbers (which is definitely possible), 8GB of DDR2 would still be superior to 4GB of DDR3.
And the price point favors 8GB of DDR2 over 4GB of DDR3.
Sorry if this is a long, drawn out silly discussion about things people should already be aware of. I appreciate everybody's contributions and patience as I work through entirely new CPU sockets, GPU interfaces, and Memory modules.
I'm really not stupid, I swear.
This is real simple: Get DDR2.
Your platform must scale with the memory in order for you to get any benefit. The platforms out now and any one that any motherboard right now can scale to will never get a noticeable improvement with DDR3 over DDR2. So the choice is extremely simple, DDR2. We're not going to get to see anything DDR3 offers over DDR2 till the +2200Mhz range FSB boards if we even ever get there without Intel switching to a different type of internal bus.
As for the motherboard, just because you don't need the top chipset doesn't mean you need the bottom. I wouldn't go below a P35 and that fits right in at the $100 mark~ with the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L. That is the exact board you should be looking at with this point. I would not dare go any lower end than that as you start making sacrifices in other areas once you're below that point.
Your platform must scale with the memory in order for you to get any benefit. The platforms out now and any one that any motherboard right now can scale to will never get a noticeable improvement with DDR3 over DDR2. So the choice is extremely simple, DDR2. We're not going to get to see anything DDR3 offers over DDR2 till the +2200Mhz range FSB boards if we even ever get there without Intel switching to a different type of internal bus.
As for the motherboard, just because you don't need the top chipset doesn't mean you need the bottom. I wouldn't go below a P35 and that fits right in at the $100 mark~ with the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L. That is the exact board you should be looking at with this point. I would not dare go any lower end than that as you start making sacrifices in other areas once you're below that point.
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