What would you do? Stay 1366 or go 2011/ddr3?

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unwind-protect

Active Member
Mar 7, 2016
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Boston
I'd like to know where to get 8gb ddr3 ecc dimms for $10 a stick, 1600mhz if possible. Best price I've found is $15 which is 50% higher.

Thanks!

Joseph
I do last-minute snipes on auctions of sets of uneven numbers of DIMMs. Like 10 DIMMs. People don't like it since it doesn't fit either triple or quad channel.

I never do buy-it-now or offers (offers only if I have confirmation of what the seller accepts).
 

Joseph Nunn

Member
May 11, 2016
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Irvine, CA
I do last-minute snipes on auctions of sets of uneven numbers of DIMMs. Like 10 DIMMs. People don't like it since it doesn't fit either triple or quad channel.

I never do buy-it-now or offers (offers only if I have confirmation of what the seller accepts).
A clever idea!

But I do wonder why you never do offers, I have contemplated doing so in the past and would like to hear your rationale.

Joseph
 

Fritz

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Apr 6, 2015
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Not all 1366 gear is cheap. I'd love to get my hands on a pair of X5690's but at current prices, it ain't gonna happen. Yep, I'm a cheap SOB too, I have other expenses besides my computer habit. I do have one 2011 system, it's my workstation tho. All the servers are 1366 except for one, it's a 771, it was 80 bucks and included everything but the OD. Even included 3 SAS HD's (which was the reason I bought it. But after firing it up I decided to keep it intact, it runs fast enough for my purposes.
 

Evan

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Jan 6, 2016
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X5670 and L5640 seem pretty common and cheap.

They still have some life left in them as 144gb using 8gb of 192gb using 16gb is easily managed and cheap.

Power wise... Not great but also not terrible terrible, just depends on how much you pay for both the power and the hardware.
 

unwind-protect

Active Member
Mar 7, 2016
415
156
43
Boston
A clever idea!

But I do wonder why you never do offers, I have contemplated doing so in the past and would like to hear your rationale.

Joseph
Offers tend to come back as counteroffers that are much closer to asking price than my offer, close enough to be insulting. Until that time, which can be 48 hours, you are on the hook to having to buy the item if it gets accepted so you are blocked from doing anything else. I wish I could mark my offer as non negotiable, a capability that the seller has, so why not me? I also dislike that for offers ebay doesn't disclose sellthrough price. I can see why they do that but it doesn't change the fact that you can see sellthrough price for everything else.

There's also the auto-reject functionality which doesn't disclose it price either which is a BS idea.
 

unwind-protect

Active Member
Mar 7, 2016
415
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Boston
I never had problems with mixed sets of DIMMs in quality boards. And I test very thoroughly. I just stuff in whatever. If it passes testing I forget about it until syslog complains about them. Back in my overclocking days I posted photos of freak RAM combos in my DFI's SLI-DR, which people made famous for being picky. No such thing, works fine. Of course you lose multi-channel if the module size doesn't match.

I would be interested in a 771 dual system with the non-FBDIMM modules, what was that chipset called? I would need a reasonable amount of RAM, though, I don't think you can get DDR2 modules reliably at reasonable prices.
 

Evan

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Jan 6, 2016
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The big vendors always source ram from more than one supplier and put the same part number on it, I Guess they match the sub timings close enough but I have hundred server at one stage running mixed Hynix & Samsung without an issue. HP shipped them that way.
 

unwind-protect

Active Member
Mar 7, 2016
415
156
43
Boston
The big vendors always source ram from more than one supplier and put the same part number on it, I Guess they match the sub timings close enough but I have hundred server at one stage running mixed Hynix & Samsung without an issue. HP shipped them that way.
Not only that, it goes the other way round, too.

Very few modules marketed under a specific brand and product name actually specify anything useful such as chips or PCBs used. You can have significant variance in actual products that are all the same product as far as sales labeling is concerned. Conservative SPD programming patches it up.
 

Evan

Well-Known Member
Jan 6, 2016
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Didn't know that about RAM. Always thought each manufacturer produced identical chips for mass production of said models. So the SPD programming is what makes it all work huh? That's very informative, and something I hadn't known! So even for the die-hard anal nutbags such as myself out there, there may really be no such thing as a true "identical set" of ddr2/3/4 sticks, when looking at it from a chipset manufacturer level? Is that right, or did I muck up your meaning?
Yes and no, if buying cheap retail memory then maybe it's best to buy together but if your buying something like memory for a server they match it enough with the same part number you should not generally worry.