ddr3 impact??

are 74 · Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 4:06 am Post subject: ddr3 impact??

hi all,,

currently im using 4g kingston ram,, hyperx 1066mhz ddr2.. cas latency 5-5-5-15

now that i have some extra $$,, i plan to upgrade my motherboard so i can use ddr 3, 1600mhz withreported cas 9-9-9-24

so il be spending around $200 (us).. im keeping my Q9400 processor since im happy with it..

my question is : would it be worth the upgarding? anyone has any experience with ddr3 ram?? doea it make a really big impact to u r DAW??
_________________
window7 64bit
intel c2d Q9400, asus p5kr motherboard, 4g kingston hyperx ram.
Cubase studio 5.5 32 bit
Lexicon alpha audio interface
Yamaha ux-16 midi interface
~kore player 2.1, mdrummer 3 small, addictive drums, guitar rigs 3 LE..

vinark · Member Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 817 Location: Amsterdam

Not really or better not at all. On a p45 chipset ddr3 1600 is only 10% faster at best then on ddr2 1066. But since ram is very rarely the bottleneck in a DAW you won´t gain 10%. Maybe (and only maybe) a very small gain when only streaming samples and not using any plugins.
I don´t know which mobo you have now, but overclocking will gain you more even for ram speed. Or get a Q9550 it will perform a little better then your Q9400, but still overclocking will gain you more.
Oops mobo is in your sign. Yes overclocking on a P5Kr is easy. 3.2 to 3.6 ghz should be easy.
And I saw your post about latency, ddr3 will not lower your latency only your audio card driver can.
_________________
C4 4.5.2 32bit with Jbridge
Asus P5Q @ 425FSB
Intel Q9550 @3.63GHz
8gb Corsair XMS2 800C4 @ 1066MhzC5
RME hdsp9652 with AEB4-O
2 uad1's + liquidmix
XP64pro

are 74 · Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 9:10 am Post subject:

thx vinark,, ur info helps a lot..

hmm.. about the audio card driver.. does it means that even the most powerful n fastest pc would not bring the latency low ??,, its the audio card "driver" itself "ONLY" !! am i right??
_________________
window7 64bit
intel c2d Q9400, asus p5kr motherboard, 4g kingston hyperx ram.
Cubase studio 5.5 32 bit
Lexicon alpha audio interface
Yamaha ux-16 midi interface
~kore player 2.1, mdrummer 3 small, addictive drums, guitar rigs 3 LE..

vinark · Member Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 817 Location: Amsterdam

I´m not sure how you understand this. The lowest setting in your audio card control panel will tell you how low you can go. For example 32 samples or 1ms (here on a RME, but some cards don´t go this low). If that will work without crackles will depend on the power of your pc. The same setting in that panel will cause the same latency on all PC´s whether an old PIV or a new Six cor i7. It will ofcourse not work very good on a PIV maybe one plugin only. Wink

To complicate things, some drivers add extra buffers which makes the same buffer setting for example 128 samples have double the latency.
_________________
C4 4.5.2 32bit with Jbridge
Asus P5Q @ 425FSB
Intel Q9550 @3.63GHz
8gb Corsair XMS2 800C4 @ 1066MhzC5
RME hdsp9652 with AEB4-O
2 uad1's + liquidmix
XP64pro

are 74 · Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 9:32 am Post subject:

ookayy..i get u,,

so since the lowest latency in my audio card control panel is 5ms,, that means that the lowest i can go with my "lexicon alpha" right? n to get lower than 5ms,, i simply have to get a new "audio interface" aight??? a better one right??
_________________
window7 64bit
intel c2d Q9400, asus p5kr motherboard, 4g kingston hyperx ram.
Cubase studio 5.5 32 bit
Lexicon alpha audio interface
Yamaha ux-16 midi interface
~kore player 2.1, mdrummer 3 small, addictive drums, guitar rigs 3 LE..

vinark · Member Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 817 Location: Amsterdam

yes, but if it´s really 5ms ( check that from cubase device panel) that´s not to bad, should at least playable... But as I said before might be double buffering making it 10ms and that is a little to much for most people for live playing.
If you ever go for a new one, for best performance get a PCI(e) card, preferably RME (the HDSP9632 is cheap second hand)
_________________
C4 4.5.2 32bit with Jbridge
Asus P5Q @ 425FSB
Intel Q9550 @3.63GHz
8gb Corsair XMS2 800C4 @ 1066MhzC5
RME hdsp9652 with AEB4-O
2 uad1's + liquidmix
XP64pro

jcschild · Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 1:54 pm Post subject:

Vins answers are spot on!

i would add that if you are spending money on ram and mobo then you would be foolish to not go to an i5/i7.
thats the only reason to upgrade. you would see a huge jump in performance ability.
_________________
Scott
ADK
home of the "Kentucky Fried DAW"

cubic13 · Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 2:35 pm Post subject:

are 74 · Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 1:21 pm Post subject:

thank for the reply guy.. i think its too soon for i7,,hahaha,,no offence,, wait til the price drop Smile

vin: its 5.5 the lowest! n its playable but but for stability i normally stick to 9ms..i can even do my mixing at 9ms.. n i know that with some overclocking to my cpu it should b stable at 5.5 but i prefer standard.. but when it comes to recording vocal part 9ms is not acceptable!!..hmmm... cubase control panel?? is it the same as asio control panel??

one for thing;; is it proven that pcie is better than firewire?? i was thinking to upgrade to firewire interface... my lexicon is only usb conection..
_________________
window7 64bit
intel c2d Q9400, asus p5kr motherboard, 4g kingston hyperx ram.
Cubase studio 5.5 32 bit
Lexicon alpha audio interface
Yamaha ux-16 midi interface
~kore player 2.1, mdrummer 3 small, addictive drums, guitar rigs 3 LE..

jcschild · Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 1:59 pm Post subject:

jcschild · Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 2:02 pm Post subject: