[SOLVED] Can a i3 7100 use ddr3 Ram?

[neohanger]

I'm getting a new cpu (i3 7100) and I looked online and the compatable Ram slots are ddr4 and ddr3l
I currently use ddr3
I need to know if I can use my current ram or if i need to upgrade everything along with it.
Thanks

 

[kanewolf]

DDR3 and DDR3L are usually different in voltage (1.5 vs 1.2). But there are really no motherboards that support DDR3L with 6xxx or 7xxx CPUs. There just wasn't enough demand and DDR4 killed off the DDR3L motherboards.

 

[13thmonkey]

DDR3L is a lower voltage version of DDR3, so you'll need new RAM regardless.

 

[neohanger]

DDR3 and DDR3L are usually different in voltage (1.5 vs 1.2). But there are really no motherboards that support DDR3L with 6xxx or 7xxx CPUs. There just wasn't enough demand and DDR4 killed off the DDR3L motherboards.

 

[neohanger]

So is the only difference I slight increase in voltage usage?
I'm no pc expert and I just need to know if it will work.

 

[Supernova1138]

Regular DDR3 could work if you can find a DDR3 LGA 1151 board. There are a couple of problems with this though: first all DDR3 compatible boards have 100 series chipsets, so you may need a 6th generation CPU to do a BIOS update to run the i3 7100. Second regular DDR3 runs at a higher voltage than DDR3L and could potentially damage the CPU's memory controller over long term use as running your RAM at 1.5V or 1.65V is well above Intel spec for 6th and 7th generation processors.

You should just upgrade your RAM to DDR4. If you can't afford to do that, then you might want to put off the upgrade until you can get DDR4 RAM. In any case,. the i3 7100 isn't exactly a great CPU choice these days, it will offer similar performance to a $65 Athlon 200GE, which is a fairly low end part. Depending on what you already have, it might not be a worthwhile upgrade.

 

[SkyNetRising]

DDR3 is 1.5V
DDR3L is 1.35V
DDR4 is 1.2V

It is safe to use DDR3 instead of DDR3L, if you reduce DRAM voltage in bios to 1.35V. The problem is, this also may require reducing DRAM frequency. And you will have to test ram for stability afterwards.

 

[13thmonkey]

So is the only difference I slight increase in voltage usage?
I'm no pc expert and I just need to know if it will work.

As supernova suggested it's not going to work. The memory controller is on the CPU and can only work at the lower voltages, any higher (i.e. DDR3 levels) and you'll damage it.

 

[neohanger]

Regular DDR3 could work if you can find a DDR3 LGA 1151 board. There are a couple of problems with this though: first all DDR3 compatible boards have 100 series chipsets, so you may need a 6th generation CPU to do a BIOS update to run the i3 7100. Second regular DDR3 runs at a higher voltage than DDR3L and could potentially damage the CPU's memory controller over long term use as running your RAM at 1.5V or 1.65V is well above Intel spec for 6th and 7th generation processors.

You should just upgrade your RAM to DDR4. If you can't afford to do that, then you might want to put off the upgrade until you can get DDR4 RAM. In any case,. the i3 7100 isn't exactly a great CPU choice these days, it will offer similar performance to a $65 Athlon 200GE, which is a fairly low end part. Depending on what you already have, it might not be a worthwhile upgrade.

DDR3 is 1.5V
DDR3L is 1.35V
DDR4 is 1.2V

It is safe to use DDR3 instead of DDR3L, if you reduce DRAM voltage in bios to 1.35V. The problem is, this also may require reducing DRAM frequency. And you will have to test ram for stability afterwards.

 

[neohanger]

Instead of getting a new cpu I'll get a new mother board and 8gb ddr4 2400 mhz
I'll get a cpu later because I have needed to upgrade the ram for a long enough time

 

[Supernova1138]

Instead of getting a new cpu I'll get a new mother board and 8gb ddr4 2400 mhz
I'll get a cpu later because I have needed to upgrade the ram for a long enough time

It doesn't work that way. If you have a CPU that uses DDR3 RAM, then it won't be compatible with a motherboard that supports DDR4 (the only exception being 6th and 7th gen Intel chips if you get a rare DDR3 motherboard and break Intel memory voltage spec). You have to do a full platform upgrade in one shot, there isn't any sort of half-step you can take with this.

 

[neohanger]

Instead of getting a new cpu I'll get a new mother board and 8gb ddr4 2400 mhz
I'll get a cpu later because I have needed to upgrade the ram for a long enough time

It doesn't work that way. If you have a CPU that uses DDR3 RAM, then it won't be compatible with a motherboard that supports DDR4 (the only exception being 6th and 7th gen Intel chips if you get a rare DDR3 motherboard and break Intel memory voltage spec). You have to do a full platform upgrade in one shot, there isn't any sort of half-step you can take with this.

 

[neohanger]

So I'll have to get a new cpu, with my new mother board and new RAM and then check if my psu is able to handle the new equipment