# Will Gigabyte GA-G41M-Combo support DDR3 1600 MHz and DDR2 swap without OS format ?



## Naxal (Aug 17, 2012)

Hello,

I recently purchased a GA-G41M-Combo motherboard after my older motherboard died. At present I am running the Motherboard with DDR2 RAMs (2 x 2 GB DDR2 800MHz). Now I wish to convert to DDR3 platform.

I have few question


Will the said motherboard support DDR3 1600 MHz RAM ??
If I install DDR3 RAM by just unplugging the DDR2, will it require me to install OS again or it will just work on fly ?
How much difference there will be between DDR3 1333 and DDR3 1600 ?
Which brand of RAM to prefer (value for money) considering little over clocking ?

I would be using a C2Q 6600 processor..

Thanks.


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## d6bmg (Aug 17, 2012)

> Support for DDR3 1333(O.C.)/1066/800 MHz memory modules



You can't use 1600MHz modules. You need to use 1333MHz RAM.


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## coderunknown (Aug 17, 2012)

Naxal said:


> Will the said motherboard support DDR3 1600 MHz RAM ??



it'll downclock to 1333Mhz. But if you overclock then 1600Mhz may be possible.



Naxal said:


> If I install DDR3 RAM by just unplugging the DDR2, will it require me to install OS again or it will just work on fly ?



should work just fine.



Naxal said:


> How much difference there will be between DDR3 1333 and DDR3 1600 ?



for now keep using the DDR2 ram. DDR3 ram won't bring in much of an performance improvement. But in case you want, grab 1333Mhz as most value kit works fine even at 1600Mhz.



Naxal said:


> Which brand of RAM to prefer (value for money) considering little over clocking ?



you can try Corsair value series or G.Skill if the price difference is really low.


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## Naxal (Aug 17, 2012)

Thanks for the replies.



			
				Sam said:
			
		

> for now keep using the DDR2 ram. DDR3 ram won't bring in much of an performance improvement. But in case you want, grab 1333Mhz as most value kit works fine even at 1600Mhz.



Though it was not the exact question for thanks for the advice.

I wanted to know how much performance difference is there between DDR3 1333 and DDR3 1600



			
				Sam said:
			
		

> you can try Corsair value series or G.Skill if the price difference is really low.



I can see Tansend being the cheapest followed by Kingstone and then comes G.Skill and costiest it seems is the Corsiar..



			
				Sam said:
			
		

> it'll downclock to 1333Mhz. But if you overclock then 1600Mhz may be possible.



So the question is, should I buy a 1600 MHz, which will be under clocked by my motherboard to run at 1333. And then using BIOS, I set it force run at 1600 MHz frequency settings ??

or

should I buy 1333 MHz and over clock it to run it at 1600 MHz ??


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## topgear (Aug 17, 2012)

^^ @ OP - if you install 1333 Mhz DDR3 ram modules the ram mdoules will run at 1066 Mhz speed - so to get 1333 Mhz you need to OC the ram modules - you need to do it keeping the cpu speed in mind and getting and uinsg 1600Mhz ram modules at 1600 Mhz speed might be tough with this board as you need to play with FSb, Cpu Speed, FSBRAM ratio speed a lot more and might even change few volt option as well.


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## Naxal (Aug 17, 2012)

> ^^ @ OP - if you install 1333 Mhz DDR3 ram modules the ram mdoules will run at 1066 Mhz speed



The Board manual says it will run 1333 MHz modules, then why wuld it underclck it further to 1066 MHz ??


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## panwala95 (Aug 17, 2012)

because your processor natively has the ic for only ddr2 1066/ ddr3 1066
even if you oc your ram to > 1066, you wont notice any benefit because your processor can only handle ddr3 1066
anything above that is only a waste


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## coderunknown (Aug 17, 2012)

Naxal said:


> The Board manual says it will run 1333 MHz modules, then why wuld it underclck it further to 1066 MHz ??



i overlooked something. 1333Mhz if you *overclock ONLY* or force it to run at that speed. native DDR3 supporting speed (without any added tweaking) is 1066Mhz.


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## Naxal (Aug 18, 2012)

So what is the verdict ?

Should I upgrade to DDR3 or not ? Is it not worth ??


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## coderunknown (Aug 18, 2012)

i said before only. don't upgrade to DDR3. i doubt you'll get any visible performance improvement.


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## Naxal (Aug 18, 2012)

Sam said:


> i said before only. don't upgrade to DDR3. i doubt you'll get any visible performance improvement.



Thanks.


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## TheSloth (Aug 18, 2012)

@Sam: Why? Currently He has DDR2 800MHz and if he use DDR3 1066MHz then why no improvement? And i asked you something in 'should i buy NP550 or not' thread.


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## topgear (Aug 18, 2012)

^^ because at 1066 Mhz the DDr3 ram modules will have much higher latencies than DDr2 @ 800 Mhz and all the apps will perform almost same and in game Op will get max 2 fps increment which does not justify the price he is going to pay.


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## Naxal (Aug 18, 2012)

topgear said:


> ^^ because at 1066 Mhz the DDr3 ram modules will have much higher latencies than DDr2 @ 800 Mhz and all the apps will perform almost same and in game Op will get max 2 fps increment which does not justify the price he is going to pay.



But it can at-least safely run them till 1333MHz na ?? Still it wont be worth shifting to DDR3 ??


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## CyberKID (Aug 18, 2012)

Yes. The Gigabyte's desc page says it all. You can run a DDR3 RAM at a max frequency of 1333 MHz, and that too not by default. It says:


> 2 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 8 GB of system memory (Note 1)
> Dual channel memory architecture
> Support for DDR3 1333(O.C.)/1066/800 MHz memory modules


Which means that your mobo supports 1333 MHz, only when you overclock your PC, else, it'll run on 1066 MHz.
IMO, Shifting to DDR3 is somewhat a future friendly upgrade. Given the fact that the OP has been limited to only 4 GB DDR2 RAM, in the current scenario, which he may upgrade to upto 8GB DDR3. As far as the performance improvement is concerned, there should be some. Given the fact that he could overclock his processor, and the RAM frequency will automatically increase, will possibly give him good performance improvements over DDR2 800 MHz.

In case OP wants, he could also overclock his DDR2 RAM upto 1066 MHz, as his mobo supports this.


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## TheSloth (Aug 18, 2012)

@topgear: Thank you for clearing doubt.
@cyberKID: We can't use 8GB DDR2 RAM?


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## CyberKID (Aug 18, 2012)

DDR2 doesn't have capacities upto 8GB for each RAM stick. You can't find one. And even in case you are able to find a 4GB stick the prohibitive prices won't allow you to buy one.


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## TheSloth (Aug 18, 2012)

No no i mean to ask can't we use 4*2GB sticks. But there will be only 2 RAM slots. Now i understood what you meant in #15 post. Thank you for reply


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## CyberKID (Aug 18, 2012)

The issue is that even if you go purchasing 4GB DDR2 (I'm not sure for how much you'll get one), I'm sure that it will be more than what you pay for 2x4GB DDR3. In any case, the OP can install 8GB ram, so, why not do this with DDR3 RAM.
BTW, all of us seem to be missing the original question, *Will Gigabyte GA-G41M-Combo support DDR3 1600 MHz and DDR2 swap without OS format ?
*In My Opinion, yes. You'll need not to reinstall the OS for changing the RAM's.


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## TheSloth (Aug 18, 2012)

Yeah thats the question. WHy you think he need to reinstall?


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## CyberKID (Aug 18, 2012)

I don't think he'll need to reinstall the OS. Please read the statement carefully.


> In My Opinion, yes. You'll _*need not*_ to reinstall the OS for changing the RAM's.


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## TheSloth (Aug 18, 2012)

oh. sary


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## d6bmg (Aug 18, 2012)

Sam said:


> it'll downclock to 1333Mhz. But if you overclock then 1600Mhz may be possible.



No BIOS can't. Your post would have been right is there were any profile named 1600(O.C.). It is not there and therefore it can't.



CyberKID said:


> BTW, all of us seem to be missing the original question, *Will Gigabyte GA-G41M-Combo support DDR3 1600 MHz and DDR2 swap without OS format ?
> *



1. No it won't support. Put a 1600MHz RAM there and the BIOS won't recognize it at all. You put 1333MHz RAM there and BIOS will auto down-clock it to 1066MHz.
2. Yes, you don't need to reinstall the OS after changing RAM.

@Everyone: Guys, see my post. Motherboard can't support any frequency which is more than the specified max OC profile limit.


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## Naxal (Aug 18, 2012)

> No BIOS can't. Your post would have been right is there were any profile named 1600(O.C.). It is not there and therefore it can't.



Thanks for the input.

Is this limitation is due to G41 chipset or this perticular motherboard itself wont support 1600 at all ??



> 1. No it won't support. Put a 1600MHz RAM there and the BIOS won't recognize it at all. You put 1333MHz RAM there and BIOS will auto down-clock it to 1066MHz.



So it means I must only buy 1333 MHz DDR3 in case I plan for DDR3..

But since the RAMs are native 1333 MHz, so I can assume a safe OC from motherboards 1066 MHz to 1333 MHz would be possible ??



> 2. Yes, you don't need to reinstall the OS after changing RAM.



I was hesitating to activate softwares if it would have meant another re-install, so I guess I can go ahead with installation and activation and later if I shift to DDR3 platform, it would be just plug n play ??


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## d6bmg (Aug 18, 2012)

> Is this limitation is due to G41 chipset or this perticular motherboard itself wont support 1600 at all ??



Limitation is due to both the factors, G41 chipset don't support 1600MHz and so is the motherboard.



> So it means I must only buy 1333 MHz DDR3 in case I plan for DDR3..
> 
> But since the RAMs are native 1333 MHz, so I can assume a safe OC from motherboards 1066 MHz to 1333 MHz would be possible ??



Yes, you need to buy 1333MHz DDR3 RAM.
And yes, you can easily OC to 1333MHz.


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## digitfan (Aug 18, 2012)

Guys I have one question the manual says 4gb for ddr3 but the site says 8gb max ddr3.so which is correct? Btw I too have similar mobo.


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## d6bmg (Aug 18, 2012)

That means it can support maximum 4GB modules per slot.


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## Naxal (Aug 18, 2012)

> Yes, you need to buy 1333MHz SSR3 RAM.



You mean DDR3 right ??



> Guys I have one question the manual says 4gb for ddr3 but the site says 8gb max ddr3.so which is correct? Btw I too have similar mobo.



For DDR2 i think it says upper limit of 4GB where as DDR3 upper limit is set to 8GB.


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## CyberKID (Aug 18, 2012)

digitfan said:


> Guys I have one question the manual says 4gb for ddr3 but the site says 8gb max ddr3.so which is correct? Btw I too have similar mobo.


You can have 8GB DDR3 RAM in dual channel configuration (i.e. 4 GB stick in each RAM slot) without any problems. But to use that, you'll need to install a 64bit OS.


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## d6bmg (Aug 18, 2012)

Naxal said:


> You mean DDR3 right ??



Typo corrected.
To use >4GB of total RAM (in your case DDR2+DDR3), you will need 64 bit OS.


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## Naxal (Aug 18, 2012)

d6bmg said:


> Typo corrected.
> To use >4GB of total RAM *(in your case DDR2+DDR3)*, you will need 64 bit OS.



You mean both will work together


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## CyberKID (Aug 18, 2012)

^ I think this should have been clear to you by now that DDR2 and DDR3 RAM modules won't work together. You need to use either DDR2 or DDR3 modules.

and the need for 64 bit OS is that, since 32 bit os (aka x86) has a limitation of 3.2 GB RAM by design, so, anything more than that won't be used by a 32 bit windows.


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## d6bmg (Aug 18, 2012)

Naxal said:


> You mean both will work together



Yes. Both will work together, but when the total amount of RAM crosses 4GB, you will need 64bit OS to utilize it.



CyberKID said:


> ^ I think this should have been clear to you by now that DDR2 and DDR3 RAM modules won't work together. You need to use either DDR2 or DDR3 modules.



True, but here in this case, you are wrong again. If you had gone though the earlier posts in this thread you would have understood that the board OP bought is a combo board which have both DDR2 & DDR3 slot and both of them could be used together.
You are correct. I didn't see the note part. Sorry for confusing everyone.


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## Naxal (Aug 19, 2012)

CyberKID said:


> ^ I think this should have been clear to you by now that DDR2 and DDR3 RAM modules won't work together. You need to use either DDR2 or DDR3 modules.





d6bmg said:


> True, but here in this case, you are wrong again. If you had gone though the earlier posts in this thread you would have understood that the board OP bought is a combo board which have both DDR2 & DDR3 slot and both of them could be used together.



Me confused 

To be simple, does it mean I dont have to through away my older DDR2 RAM and can keep on using it with DDR3 also ??


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## dashing.sujay (Aug 19, 2012)

^_*Throw *_away....

DDR2 and DDR3 can't be used at a time. Only either.


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## topgear (Aug 19, 2012)

d6bmg said:


> Yes. Both will work together, but when the total amount of RAM crosses 4GB, you will need 64bit OS to utilize it.
> 
> True, but here in this case, you are wrong again. If you had gone though the earlier posts in this thread you would have understood that the board OP bought is a combo board which have both DDR2 & DDR3 slot and both of them could be used together.



here's something from the spec page :



> (Note: Mixed mode, populating DDR2 and DDR3 memory modules simulta- neously is not supported


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## CyberKID (Aug 19, 2012)

d6bmg said:


> True, but here in this case, you are wrong again. If you had gone though the earlier posts in this thread you would have understood that the board OP bought is a combo board which have both DDR2 & DDR3 slot and both of them could be used together.



Oops! you seem to be highly confused. The combo means that it supports both DDR2 and DDR3 on the same board. It doesn't mean that you can use both simultaneously.


> Dual channel memory architecture
> (Note: Mixed mode, populating DDR2 and DDR3 memory modules simultaneously is not supported. Please refer "Memory Support List" for the latest supported memory speeds and memory modules.)



I suppose, this would help *www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4213#sp


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## Naxal (Aug 19, 2012)

CyberKid said:
			
		

> ^ I think this should have been clear to you by now that DDR2 and DDR3 RAM modules won't work together. You need to use either DDR2 or DDR3 modules.



That I knew, but got confused with information suggesting that both RAMs can be ran together 

Actually with this board lot of things didnt go as per what is written.


Audio was said to be VIA, even Gigabyte website too didnt update about the new rev 2.0, so i wasted two days trying to install VIA, later found, it went onto install Realtek
Microsoft said you need KB888111 for HD Audio but KB888111 refused to install saying I dont need the update since I have updated system. Later a trick got that installed

So thought may be this is too something I knew but not the case in actual reality !!



dashing.sujay said:


> ^_*Throw *_away....
> 
> DDR2 and DDR3 can't be used at a time. Only either.



I guess I would be buying 1333 MHz and will replace my DDR2 sticks


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## d6bmg (Aug 19, 2012)

Sorry everyone for the unnecessary confusion created by me in the whole thread. I didn't see the note and I should have gone through the specification part from the gigabyte website before posting at the first place.
@OP: Do what dashing.sujay says.
If you need more than 4GB of RAM, just don't use those DDR2 modules and buy DDR3 modules.


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## Naxal (Aug 20, 2012)

d6bmg said:


> @OP: Do what dashing.sujay says.
> If you need more than 4GB of RAM, just don't use those DDR2 modules and buy DDR3 modules.



Thank you.


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## Naxal (Aug 25, 2012)

Thanks a lot for all for your help.. I have placed order for a pair of 4GB 1333 MHz DDR-III

*i50.tinypic.com/fabrt1.jpg

G.Skill Value series !!


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## saswat23 (Aug 25, 2012)

congrats..


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## Naxal (Aug 25, 2012)

saswat23 said:


> congrats..



Thank you


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## CyberKID (Aug 25, 2012)

Congos!

Finally you got it right!


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## root.king (Aug 25, 2012)

topgear said:


> ^^ @ OP - if you install 1333 Mhz DDR3 ram modules the ram mdoules will run at 1066 Mhz speed - so to get 1333 Mhz you need to OC the ram modules - you need to do it keeping the cpu speed in mind and getting and uinsg 1600Mhz ram modules at 1600 Mhz speed might be tough with this board as you need to play with FSb, Cpu Speed, FSBRAM ratio speed a lot more and might even change few volt option as well.



ya This is true for g41 chipset


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## Naxal (Aug 25, 2012)

CyberKID said:


> Congos!
> 
> Finally you got it right!



Thank you, but once again, wait is a killer from FK.. Man they take so loooong to dispatch


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## Naxal (Aug 28, 2012)

Finally the wait is over and the RAMs are delivered today 

*i50.tinypic.com/4uj3lt.jpg

*i47.tinypic.com/y1ll5.jpg

FK package is something to enjoy 

*Edit*

As pointed out by many, the motherboard detected 1333 MHz RAM but ran it at 1066 MHz.

My previous board was having Nvidia 650i chipset, there it was having unlinked operation for frequency between Processor and Memory where I could individually set memory operation figures, specially the frequency of operation. However this G41 seems to be linked with processor, here I dont see option to set RAM clocks to 1333 MHz without touching the processor.

It seems I have to keep on increasing processor base frequency to increase the RAM frequency 

Anyway, setting processor base FSB value to 333 MHz took the RAM at 1333 MHz. Which in-terms running the processor @ 3.0 GHz (333 MHz x 9). Good thing I found that it didn't required voltage increment for the processor or the RAM.

Any suggestion on running RAM @ 1333 MHz without touching the processor FSB increment ??


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## topgear (Aug 29, 2012)

^^ I don't think bios of value series mobos offers such options though try to find some option like FSB : DRam ratio/Multiplier.


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## Naxal (Aug 29, 2012)

topgear said:


> ^^ I don't think bios of value series mobos offers such options though try to find some option like FSB : DRam ratio/Multiplier.



Processor is running stable with 3.0 GHz OC however my 5 year old ThermalRight Ultra 120 eXtreme seems to be no longer an extreme cooler  as 3.0 is pushing processor temp on heavy load (Intel BurnTool in each core) upto 70/71c..

Will that be acceptable upper limit for a Core 2 Quad ??


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## topgear (Aug 30, 2012)

70/70c under IBT is acceptable as while gaming/other cpu intensive apps you will get much lower temps but still that's too hot for a cooler like TRUE 120 - the temps should not cross 65c - make sure the cpu cooler is mounted properly.


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## Naxal (Aug 30, 2012)

topgear said:


> 70/70c under IBT is acceptable as while gaming/other cpu intensive apps you will get much lower temps but still that's too hot for a cooler like TRUE 120 - the temps should not cross 65c - make sure the cpu cooler is mounted properly.



CPU Cooler is mounted properly.

I have to check again, as this same cooler allowed me to run 3.8 GHz in winter with same processor but different Mobo by the way 

How ever I forgot temps that I was getting back then 

I stopped OCing for regular use as it was pushing the power consumption sky rocketing !!

However you are right about actual CPU temps in application based load, usually its around 60/62c while gaming or editing video or such..


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## dipankar.2012 (Aug 31, 2012)

Well ga41m combo supports upto 8 gb ddr3 ram max1333 Mhz check it out from GIGABYTE - Motherboard, Graphics Card, Notebook, Slate, Server, PC Peripherals and more


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## Naxal (Sep 1, 2012)

dipankar.2012 said:


> Well ga41m combo supports upto 8 gb ddr3 ram max1333 Mhz check it out from GIGABYTE - Motherboard, Graphics Card, Notebook, Slate, Server, PC Peripherals and more





			
				Gigabyte said:
			
		

> Support for DDR3 1333(O.C.)/1066/800 MHz memory modules



It didn't.. The 1333 MHz DDR3 was running at 1066 MHz..

To run the RAMs are 1333 MHz, I had to over clock my process frequency BUS to 333 MHz..

I could not find option to individually running the RAMs at 1333 MHz


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## topgear (Sep 1, 2012)

^^ there's not much you can do about this ( without OCing ) - it's chipset limitation.


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## Naxal (Sep 1, 2012)

topgear said:


> ^^ there's not much you can do about this ( without OCing ) - it's chipset limitation.



Its ok from my end at least.. Processor is holding nice without anyn vCore value modification at 3.0 GHz, system is stable, heat is also seems to be under acceptable limits, so no complain at least


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## CyberKID (Sep 1, 2012)

Finally looks like you're satisfied now .


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## Naxal (Sep 1, 2012)

CyberKID said:


> Finally looks like you're satisfied now .



Thanks to you all.. 



*edit*

Another ongoing issue is this one  hope to get something done by Monday.. Stuck with one device only it seems there !!

*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/pc-components-configurations/162210-need-complete-pc-animation-multimedia-student-80k-no-gaming-2.html


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