SSD or MEMORY (you decide)

WhoShotMrWhite

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Apr 30, 2013
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Okay, so in the midst of restoring an old (very first) build from 2013.

I won't bore you with the entire lineup but essentially it's an AMD FX-6100 on an Asus motherboard with a couple of 4gb 1866Mhz sticks and an SSD.

Looking to update the AM3+ mATX to take advantage of the SATA III (over SATA II) and wanting to steer clear of Asus this time. So I've pretty much only two options:

Asrock N68 GS4 FX R2.0 Socket AM3+AM3 mATX (Sata II/6gb but 1866MHz memory which I have!)
and
Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Socket AM3+ VGA DVI HDMI 7.1 Channel Audio mATX (Sata III! but maximum 1333Mhz memory)

I'm torn between faster SSD or memory and would the 1866 even WORK on a board set to a max of 1333?

From the vids and forums, thinking memory is the one to forgo but again, will my 1866 work in the Gigabyte?
 
Solution
Awful quality vrm & caps , only has 4 sata 2 ports , no USB 3.

From an time period when I would never ever consider an asrock board.

The Asus board you have is superior , the little gigabyte is far superior (both your Asus & the gigabyte support 1600mhz speeds minimum native & 1866oc)

The gigabyte is hands down better.

WhoShotMrWhite

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Apr 30, 2013
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Huh? I have two sticks of Kingston HyperX 10th Anniversary Edition 8GB Kit (2x4GB) – DDR3 1866MHz
 
I would not spend much on an obsolete platform.

Most of what windows does is small random I/O and that is not impacted by sata2 vs 3.
On the sequential side, you are looking at a 4x speedup over a hard drive with sata3 vs 2x for sata2.
All in all, not worth enough to change out a motherboard.
The money is better spent on a larger ssd. Larger ssd devices perform better.

As to ram, the rule is that more ram trumps faster ram.
If you have enough, and I think 16gb is enough you are ok.

Better, I think to save your money and plan on a modern cpu/mobo/ddr4 upgrade in the future.
 

WhoShotMrWhite

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Apr 30, 2013
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Hey man, thanks for the tips and I know this might get me ostracized on here but this is just a back-up or something to pass onto the folks as I have a more that adequate MacBookPro 13" for all my needs- still have love for the PC though ;)

Besides the odd blast of COD 4 and 5 not a PC gamer, just used for internet/media so no need for a ninja upgrade with water cooling, Ryzen cpu or ddr4 and the likes :) to be honest it was probably overkill even back in 2013 for my needs.

So, a SATA III is better than the 1866MHz (over 1366MHz) or just go with the board that actually takes 1866MHz and stick with SATA II?
 

WhoShotMrWhite

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Gigabyte is not stating anything about SATA III. They're stating that the GA-78LMT-USB3 has six SATA II (a.k.a. SATA 3Gb/s) connectors. They're even labelled SATA 2 right on the motherboard:

GA-78_LMT-_USB3_SATA_Ports.jpg
 

WhoShotMrWhite

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...'3Gb/s connectors supporting up to 6 SATA 3Gb/s devices' :D ?

EDIT: oh, shit, yea...

The Asrock N68 GS4 FX R2.0 Socket AM3+AM3 mATX it is!

DOH! thanks for pointing that out
 

WhoShotMrWhite

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How so? not arsed about HDMI as have a Sapphire Radeon HD 7730 1GB GDDR5

At the moment, have a Asus M5A78L-M USB3 Socket AM3+ 8 Channel HD Audio mATX but just seems to have reoccurring issues and graphical glitches upon booting.

Hows the Asrock bad?
 
Awful quality vrm & caps , only has 4 sata 2 ports , no USB 3.

From an time period when I would never ever consider an asrock board.

The Asus board you have is superior , the little gigabyte is far superior (both your Asus & the gigabyte support 1600mhz speeds minimum native & 1866oc)

The gigabyte is hands down better.
 
Solution