Upgrading amd cpu to intel - ram question

[Lemonpearl]

I have an Athlon x4 860k but at some point I'm going to upgrade to an i5 cpu. I have (2 x 4 GB) 2400 MHz DDR3 memory atm. However, I noticed a lot of Intel boards need ddr4 ram. So my question is, can I upgrade to an i5 system that has a decent upgrade path using ddr3 compatible cpu and mobo? This is because I wan't to keep as many components as I can to upgrade my cpu.

[PRTI]

You need a DDR3 capable motherboard and those exist,many people will say DDR3 can't work,just DDR3L that's actually false,but you gotta be careful with DDR3 @Imakuni

[nobelharvards]

Intel started switching mainstream from DDR3 to 4 with Skylake.

 

Your best bet is Haswell/Devil's Canyon generation.

 

Google it.

 

There are SOME DDR3 boards for Skylake, but Intel officially recommends against it. They claim the higher voltage has potential to harm the chip.

 

Again, Google it, it is fairly well documented in various tech news sites.

[PRTI]

Just now, nobelharvards said:

Intel started switching mainstream from DDR3 to 4 in Skylake.

 

Your best bet is Haswell/Devil's Canyon generation.

 

Google it.

Yes,but DDR3 capable boards exist and you can have DDR3 and not just DDR3L,but you gotta be careful with DDR3 + he has the upgrade path to KabyLake

[Imakuni]

3 minutes ago, Lemonpearl said:

I have an Athlon x4 860k but at some point I'm going to upgrade to an i5 cpu. I have (2 x 4 GB) 2400 MHz DDR3 memory atm. However, I noticed a lot of Intel boards need ddr4 ram. So my question is, can I upgrade to an i5 system that has a decent upgrade path using ddr3 compatible cpu and mobo? This is because I wan't to keep as many components as I can to upgrade my cpu.

If you are talking about getting a Skylake CPU, then that's because there's a good reason for that: one of the main reasons (if not THE main one) to get Skylake is precisely DDR4. There's some loss in performance with DDR3. Not to mention problems with voltage; if the mobo decides to set things up poorly, it'll damage the chip over time.

 

If you really want to keep your DDR3 kit (which, quite honestly, you shouldn't), then get a Z97 motherboard and a Haswell CPU. Ideally a 4790k, but a 4790 (non K) or Xeon 1231v3 is also acceptable.

Just now, keNNySOC said:

You need a DDR3 capable motherboard and those exist,many people will say DDR3 can't work,just DDR3L that's actually false,but you gotta be careful with DDR3 @Imakuni

Yes?

[PRTI]

Just now, Imakuni said:

If you are talking about getting a Skylake CPU, then that's because there's a good reason for that: one of the main reasons (if not THE main one) to get Skylake is precisely DDR4. There's some loss in performance with DDR3. Not to mention problems with voltage; if the mobo decides to set things up poorly, it'll damage the chip over time.

 

If you really want to keep your DDR3 kit (which, quite honestly, you shouldn't), then get a Z97 motherboard and a Haswell CPU. Ideally a 4790k, but a 4790 (non K) or Xeon 1231v3 is also acceptable.

Yes?

I summoned you in this topic since you know about this...

[Lemonpearl]

5 minutes ago, Imakuni said:

If you really want to keep your DDR3 kit (which, quite honestly, you shouldn't), then get a Z97 motherboard and a Haswell CPU. Ideally a 4790k, but a 4790 (non K) or Xeon 1231v3 is also acceptable.

Would that kind of set up also cause problems with voltage or loss of performance?

 

[Imakuni]

Just now, Lemonpearl said:

Would that kind of set up also cause problems with voltage or loss of performance?

What you mean? The Haswell option? No, ofc not.

[Lemonpearl]

5 minutes ago, Imakuni said:

What you mean? The Haswell option? No, ofc not.

So you were just referring to skylake + ddr3 moba as the harmful option? So why isn’t the Haswell option recommended much?

 

[Djole123]

It's only reccomended to use DDR4 or DDR3L DIMMs with Skylake. Since the platform uses more delicate DDR4 RAM, putting DDR3 might damage the CPU over time.

[Imakuni]

1 minute ago, Lemonpearl said:

So you were just referring to skylake + ddr3 moba as the harmful option?

As far as being bad for the hardware, yes.

1 minute ago, Lemonpearl said:

So why isn’t the Haswell option recommended much?

Because it's usually not that great of an idea to stick to older gen tech, especially when the only reason to do so is to save 30$ on the RAM (even less if you consider the re-sell value).

 

Frankly, take the chance of buying a new mobo and CPU to snag yourself a RAM upgrade to DDR4 along the way.

3 minutes ago, Djole123 said:

It's only reccomended to use DDR4 or DDR3L DIMMs with Skylake.

*Only DDR4. DDR3, even the L variant, makes very little sense on Skylake.

 

[Lemonpearl]

2 minutes ago, Imakuni said:

As far as being bad for the hardware, yes.

Because it's usually not that great of an idea to stick to older gen tech, especially when the only reason to do so is to save 30$ on the RAM (even less if you consider the re-sell value).

 

Frankly, take the chance of buying a new mobo and CPU to snag yourself a RAM upgrade to DDR4 along the way.

 

Thanks for clearing that up. One more thing. Because my ram is 2400MHz I'm guessing I'm gonna need to spend more on a compatible mobo? Or can you just underclock to 1600MHz?

[Imakuni]

7 minutes ago, Lemonpearl said:

Thanks for clearing that up. One more thing. Because my ram is 2400MHz I'm guessing I'm gonna need to spend more on a compatible mobo? Or can you just underclock to 1600MHz?

Your RAM is not 2400mhz. It is just regular RAM that is rated to be OCed to 2400mhz stably. So while you need a compatible mobo to run it at 2400mhz, you don't really need to do anything if you use a mobo that can't do that.

[Lemonpearl]

3 minutes ago, Imakuni said:

Your RAM is not 2400mhz. It is just regular RAM that is rated to be OCed to 2400mhz stably. So while you need a compatible mobo to run it at 2400mhz, you don't really need to do anything if you use a mobo that can't do that.

Got it. Thanks