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New memory for an old motherboard?

SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today!Registered User regular
This might be a dead-end question, but here: I have a EVGA 780i SLI. A rather old motherboard, but it's done me good for many, many years now I can't complain.

At some point, we've obviously passed the idea of 4 GB of RAM being sufficient for high-end gaming. This being an old motherboard, I'm wondering if I can derive any benefit from a memory upgrade. RAM's always been an elusive topic for me, but according to CPU-Z I'm running 4 identical modules of old DD2 400 MhZ (PC2-6400) from Corsair, which, if I remember my PC to English, are 4 modules of DDR2 800. I have a Intel Core2Quad Q9650 (3 GHz), and despite having a lot of power to spare, I've long since given up on trying to overclock (the motherboard BIOS doesn't like it).

I know the 780i only supports the DDR, but that's about it. Would it be possible for me to pick up 4 2GB RAM modules? Would it be even worthwhile at this time? Should I attempt to get something faster than DD2 800 (DDR2 1066?).

Synthesis on

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    Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    If you can find more modules of the same RAM for a reasonable price, go for it. DDR2 is getting pretty expensive these days, though.

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    SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    If you can find more modules of the same RAM for a reasonable price, go for it. DDR2 is getting pretty expensive these days, though.

    Unless I'm missing something blatantly obvious, doubling my RAM (from 4 GB to 8 GB) in the same speed would cost about $90 from Crucial's website. That's about half the price it was 4 years ago anyway...

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    FoomyFoomy Registered User regular
    Just to check before you throw some money at ram.

    You are running a 64bit OS right?

    Steam Profile: FoomyFooms
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    SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    Correct, Windows 7 Pro 64-bit. I know that much, heh.

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    FoomyFoomy Registered User regular
    I would check with the computer build thread than, I would bet someone has some old ddr2 lying around not being used they could sell to you for less than what you could buy new.

    for the slight performance upgrade it will be, and the age of the hardware. I would really try to find some used cheap ddr2 instead of spending $100 on new.


    Steam Profile: FoomyFooms
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    Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    Synthesis wrote: »
    If you can find more modules of the same RAM for a reasonable price, go for it. DDR2 is getting pretty expensive these days, though.

    Unless I'm missing something blatantly obvious, doubling my RAM (from 4 GB to 8 GB) in the same speed would cost about $90 from Crucial's website. That's about half the price it was 4 years ago anyway...

    Well yes, that seems perfectly reasonable until you look and see that you can get 16 gigs of 1600Mhz DDR3 for about the same price...

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    SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    edited October 2012
    Synthesis wrote: »
    If you can find more modules of the same RAM for a reasonable price, go for it. DDR2 is getting pretty expensive these days, though.

    Unless I'm missing something blatantly obvious, doubling my RAM (from 4 GB to 8 GB) in the same speed would cost about $90 from Crucial's website. That's about half the price it was 4 years ago anyway...

    Well yes, that seems perfectly reasonable until you look and see that you can get 16 gigs of 1600Mhz DDR3 for about the same price...

    And it seems even more reasonable when I look at the price of new motherboards and CPUs...

    Synthesis on
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    Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    Synthesis wrote: »
    Synthesis wrote: »
    If you can find more modules of the same RAM for a reasonable price, go for it. DDR2 is getting pretty expensive these days, though.

    Unless I'm missing something blatantly obvious, doubling my RAM (from 4 GB to 8 GB) in the same speed would cost about $90 from Crucial's website. That's about half the price it was 4 years ago anyway...

    Well yes, that seems perfectly reasonable until you look and see that you can get 16 gigs of 1600Mhz DDR3 for about the same price...

    And it seems even more reasonable when I look at the price of new motherboards and CPUs...

    Booo... Build a new system! ;)

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    SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    Synthesis wrote: »
    Synthesis wrote: »
    If you can find more modules of the same RAM for a reasonable price, go for it. DDR2 is getting pretty expensive these days, though.

    Unless I'm missing something blatantly obvious, doubling my RAM (from 4 GB to 8 GB) in the same speed would cost about $90 from Crucial's website. That's about half the price it was 4 years ago anyway...

    Well yes, that seems perfectly reasonable until you look and see that you can get 16 gigs of 1600Mhz DDR3 for about the same price...

    And it seems even more reasonable when I look at the price of new motherboards and CPUs...

    Booo... Build a new system! ;)

    No, sorry, I have a thesis to defend and a job to work. ;)

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    SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    edited October 2012
    So, I'm looking for DDR2 1066 (and hoping I'm able to set my voltages correctly if I install it).

    So far I'm looking at this, but if anyone has a brand or a particular set they'd like to recommend, by all means do. NewEgg is fine too, but Amazon's shipping is cheaper and their RMA process far less draconian (assuming we're purchasing the same thing either way).

    Synthesis on
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    SatsumomoSatsumomo Rated PG! Registered User regular
    GSkill made some really excellent DDR1066 modules back in the day. Gave me tons of headroom to overclock my 3.0 E8400 to 3.8GHz for 24/7 use. Lots of people easily did 4.0 and 4.5 on these modules.

    Here's the model: F2-8500CL5D

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    SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    edited October 2012
    Satsumomo wrote: »
    GSkill made some really excellent DDR1066 modules back in the day. Gave me tons of headroom to overclock my 3.0 E8400 to 3.8GHz for 24/7 use. Lots of people easily did 4.0 and 4.5 on these modules.

    Here's the model: F2-8500CL5D

    I'll see if I can still find them, thank you. I'm sadly convinced my motherboard doesn't want me to overclock my particular CPU (or it's just beyond me), but a quad core at 3.0 seems adequate.

    Synthesis on
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