Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P and suggestions for best RAM

[spork schivago]

Hello,

I just received a used Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P motherboard in the mail today and I've been looking into buying some RAM for this board. I would like to stick with 1066MHz RAM and if I could, overclock it to 1333MHz. From what I've read though, there's some sticks that don't play very nice with this board. It seems people had trouble with some of the G.Skill modules out there. I originally wanted 16GB of RAM (4 x 4GB sticks) but they seem to be really hard to find. So I think I'm going to stick with 8GB (4 x 2GB sticks). Could someone maybe suggest a real good brand and model of some RAM that they think would work really good in this machine?

Thank you!

 

[GhislainG]

I'm running 16 GB of G.Skill F2-6400CL5-4GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231302) at the default settings. 8 GB (2x4 GB) of G.Skill PI Black 800 MHz also ran very well. You gain very little performance with faster RAM (higher timings), but you may lose stability. It all depends on your goal; for benchmarks you want the faster and overclocked (no way you'll overclock it to 1333 MHz); for stability two 800 MHz modules at 4-4-4-15 timings works very well (not stable with 4 modules). My Asus P5Q Deluxe isn't better. Too many many people ran into stability issues with 1066 MHz memory to recommend it.

 

[spork schivago]

Thank you for your input. So you suggest avoiding the 1066MHz stuff and just going with 800MHz sticks? I found some Patriot 1066MHz sticks with low latency, 5-5-5-15 timing. http://www.amazon.com/Patriot-PVS24G8500ELKR2-Performance-PC2-8500-5-5-5-15/dp/B001DXCZPG/?tag=lege1-20

I'm a bit out of the loop now with memory. I'm trying to understand the various timings and what they mean. For example, is DDR2 800MHz with 4-4-4-12 timing better than DDR2 1066MHz with 5-5-5-15 timing? I found this site:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/understanding-ram-timings/

Once I figure out all the various timing stuff, I think I can make a better decision as to whether I want to stick with 800MHz or risk trying some 1066MHz sticks. Thanks!

 

[spork schivago]

I'm having trouble understanding some stuff with the timings. 4-4-4-12 is CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS... I understand the CL and how to calculate how much time it takes between a command having been sent to the memory and when it begins to reply to it. But I don't understand how to calculate the total amount of time it takes from when the CPU asks the RAM to do something and for the RAM to actually do it and send the data back to the CPU. Could someone maybe help me understand a bit more? I've read the whole article and understand the clock cycles. I see the time elapsed between issuing the Precharge command and actually getting the data will be tRP + tRCD + CL. It's just tRP and tRCD are in clock cycles. Is there away to convert that to actual time? Thanks!

 

[GhislainG]

Unless you run benchmarks, you won't be able to notice the difference between DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 and DDR2 1066 5-5-5-15. While 1066 is faster, the difference may be less than you presume when running applications: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/memory/2008/10/27/low-latency-ddr2-800mhz-versus-1066mhz/1

 

[spork schivago]

Unless you run benchmarks, you won't be able to notice the difference between DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 and DDR2 1066 5-5-5-15. While 1066 is faster, the difference may be less than you presume when running applications: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/memory/2008/10/27/low-latency-ddr2-800mhz-versus-1066mhz/1

Good to go. DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 is what I will go for than. The 4x4GB sticks you linked me too are REALLY expensive, even used ones! Do you feel they're worth the money?

 

[GhislainG]

I wouldn't buy them, but my employer paid for the kit (it was $330 when I bought it a few years ago).

 

[spork schivago]

I wouldn't buy them, but my employer paid for the kit (it was $330 when I bought it a few years ago).

I seem to be having some difficulties finding some 2GB sticks with 4-4-4-12 timing.

 

[GhislainG]

They were easy to find 4-5 years ago, but you may have to look for 1066 CL5 instead. Regardless of your selection, they are expensive.

 

[spork schivago]

I decided to go for the Kinston DDR2-800 KHX6400D2LLK2/4G with the 4-4-4-12 timing. I just ordered 8GB worth. Thanks for the help!