DDR3 Memory and Motherboard Compatibility
December 1, 2009 12:58 PM
Question about DDR3 Memory and motherboard compatibility
DDR3 speeds include: 1066, 1333, 1600, 1800, and 1866 (I am leaving out 2000's series).
The motherboard I am looking at has the memory standards of DDR3 1800 (OC)/1666/1333/1066.
Question: What is DDR3 1666? Assuming the port is compatible, will DDR3 1600 work with this board?
I'm pretty sure that small a difference won't matter, especially since your motherboard will be clocking the RAM at a speed slower than its rated for. Overclockers often try to run RAM at higher rated speeds to get more memory bandwidth and higher clock speeds for their CPUs. I'd be really surprised if you ran into an issue.
posted by mccarty.tim at 1:28 PM on December 1, 2009
posted by mccarty.tim at 1:28 PM on December 1, 2009
The best bet is to check the Motherboard manufacturers website and see what RAM is tested and verified compatible with the board.
posted by ijoyner at 10:05 PM on December 1, 2009
posted by ijoyner at 10:05 PM on December 1, 2009
Mostly likely 1666 is either a convenient number for overclockers to achieve or a typo. Typos are quite frequent in this sort of nitty-gritty technical stuff.
posted by chairface at 4:29 PM on December 4, 2009
posted by chairface at 4:29 PM on December 4, 2009
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In general, DDR goes up to 400, DDR2 fom 400 to 800, and DDR3 from 800 to 1600.
AnandTech has a detailed discussion about DDR2 v. DDR3 here.
posted by valkyryn at 1:25 PM on December 1, 2009