New PC setup for FFXII help

[Cell]

Im still confused about the DDR3 thing. So getting it with my proposed setup is no good? Why would they make a board that doesnt support an i7 but runs DDR3? Im not saying anyone is wrong I just dont know. Should I go with the 2nd Mobo I posted that only supports DDR2? What about his Mobo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813128358

Looks good. Cost a little bit more.

Thanks for the info on XFX. Ill probably go with the 1gb. Id like to run higher than 1080p for internal resolution to make FFXII look super. Well it looks like I now have the CPU and GFX sorted. Still need to decide on Mobo and ram.

[zero29]

Im still confused about the DDR3 thing. So getting it with my proposed setup is no good? Why would they make a board that doesnt support an i7 but runs DDR3? Im not saying anyone is wrong I just dont know. Should I go with the 2nd Mobo I posted that only supports DDR2?
...

you'll have to distinguish between ddr2 vs. ddr3 and dual vs. triple channel. ddr3 features a theoretically doubled bandwidth over ddr2 (practical gains will be more in the area of 5-10%), so even on a 775 board ddr3 ram will perform faster than ddr2 (with comparable timings, of course), but with the addition of the triple channel access on a core i7 system this ddr3 ram will be even more efficient than in a dual channel system. but if you compare the possible performance gains against the price for such a system, then it's usually not worth the money.

my recommendation for the chipset would be the p43, less expensive and the only difference to the p45 is the option for the board manufacturer to split the pci-e x16 interface for the gpu to two pci-e x8 slots to transform it into a sli/cf capable board. that's why newegg states pci-e slots: 2 (x16, x8) for the gigabyte board, x16 for one graphics card installed and x8 if both slots are used. but it doesn't make much sense to limit today's gpus with an x8 slot and if you really want to invest the money for an sli/cf system, you're better off with the x38/48/58 boards, which have multiple pci-e gpu slots with the full x16 bandwidth.

[KrazyTrumpeter05]

DDR3 and DDR2 if i am not mistaken have similar performance considering that with more speed you get higher CL so difference is lower voltage, if i am not mistaken C2D and C2Q don't have tri-channel support, the big difference is tri-channel ( i suppose tri-channel might be better than dual channel) if you don't have that doesn't that mean you can get worse performance with DDR3 ( 800 CL4 > 1600 CL9, 800 CL3 > 1600 CL8, 800 CL4 = 1600 CL8, 800 CL4 < 1600 CL7 thats what its seems to be in my view from what i read, not really sure so if i am mistaken then i'm sorry).

that is correct but it also depends on the performance of the memory, some will obviously overclock better (with lower latencies). i was simply stating that you dont NEED to have three sticks of ddr3, its just the optimal way to set it up.

to OP, i have an XFX 7800GTX from a few years back, other than a heat issue (added a case fan to prevent artifacts) the card works great and i still use it on my 4th pc which is just as old as the card. theyve been around for a while and are reliable.

I can also recommend XFX for a GPU. I love my 9800GTX Black Edition. My motherboard is also XFX. Once again, highly recommended! Good range of options to fine tune control of my overclocking and has been all around a great board.

[Sythedragon]

BFG are a brilliant make. They have a lifetime warranty.

[Cell]

Well Ive decided on this setup and was wondering on what ram to get. Not to sure about timings and what to set.

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6819115036

GIGABYTE GA-EP45C-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813128364

XFX GS250XZDFL GeForce GTS 250 Core Edition 1GB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814150437

Id like the best ram for my goals of overclocking the E8500 to 3.8 or 4.0 if possible. Also what is the best heat sink and fan to use?

[NLB]

For scalability you could take AM3...

But I do not know if it's better for PCSX2...

[Cell]

AM3?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socket_AM3

I was asking about what ram to use with the above setup.

[Koji]

If I remember right, Non-i7 chips don't have integrated memory controllers. That is, the FSB is not connected to RAM speed like it is on AMDs and i7's. You'll want to confirm that to be absolutely sure, but I'm mostly positive on that point. That said, RAM would be a non-issue for overclocking on that system.

Timings won't be too important if your main goal is PCSX2 anyways. The improvement gained from adjusted timings isn't as important as the speed you'd get from overclocking your processor in this system.

[Cell]

If I remember right, Non-i7 chips don't have integrated memory controllers. That is, the FSB is not connected to RAM speed like it is on AMDs and i7's. You'll want to confirm that to be absolutely sure, but I'm mostly positive on that point. That said, RAM would be a non-issue for overclocking on that system.

Timings won't be too important if your main goal is PCSX2 anyways. The improvement gained from adjusted timings isn't as important as the speed you'd get from overclocking your processor in this system.

Thanks for the reply. I picked up some:

CORSAIR 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)

Hope this will work fine with my setup.