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Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > [Solved] DDR2 + DDR3 together

[Solved] DDR2 + DDR3 together

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards [Solved] DDR2 + DDR3 together

Best answer from FlintIronStagg.

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New to this - Hi I want to update my sons computer with the least expense so games will run a bit better.
My questions are can you use a DDR2 and a DDR3 graphic card (9600GT) together in SLI on a DDR2 motherboard?
Current card is a Palit 9600gt 1gig 128bit and another 9600GT yet to be purchased.
Do both cards need to be 1 gig?
Do both cards need to be 128 bit?
Motherboard - ASUS P5KPL-C/1600
CPU - Core 2Duo E7200 2.53ghz
O/S - Vista unfortunatley
4 gig ramAny help and advice would be appreciated thanks Mick

Reply to TH2012
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I have not tried it personally, but from everything I read, it can be problematic. In all honesty I would try to stretch the budget and get a single AMD HD 6770 card. Uses about the same amount of power as a single 9600GT, and will outperform 2 of them combined.

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Reply to tlmck

Thanks for that tlmck, I will give up the original idea and look into a 6770.
Will it need to be DDR2 to match the M/B or can I use a DDR5 graphic card with a DDR2 M/B?

Reply to TH2012
Best answer

the graphics card will work on a motherboard supporting DDR2 because the GPU has its own governed board to run on independently from the MB ram. The gddr5 will work just fine with what you have
you can use a 2g card with a 1g card it will just limit the 2g card down to 1g.
It wouldnt be problematic to use a graphics card at all with ddr3 on it with your motherboard supporting ddr2 for reasons stated earlier.
a 6770 would be a nice card for your system if you are looking to upgrade
the GPU's when used in tandem its best to get 2 of the same specs to limit isses.


Message edited by FlintIronStagg on 02-08-2012 at 11:45:08 AM
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Reply to FlintIronStagg

DDR5 video memory is also the best and fastest currently.

------------------------------ The power supply is the most important component in any computer. Without a good quality one, you usually wind up with a really expensive door stop.
Reply to tlmck

The simple answer is NO.
You will end up with loads of problems and degraded speeds. Unsolvable BSODs will cause you to end up changing every part in the rig.
For SLI to work on older boards, it is best advised to use the exact same model and make of GPU's together.
Yes, both cards need to have the same specs or the Lower end card will be the one whose specs will be chosen as default specs of the SLI config. Means it will make no sense to have another higher card in SLI.... even Bit Wise.

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This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey

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