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My motherboard states it supports DDR3 1066/1333. Can I purchase DDR3 1600 and expect my system to drop it down to the highest level the motherboard supports?
Will this change the Cas Latency or timing? Is it like a power supply where you should buy the largest possible so it is more efficient?
Xeoncross
Posted 2011-06-20T22:21:31.113
Reputation: 3 274
10
You can use faster DDR3 in a slower system. You might have to use the CAS settings for the slower memory, but you can play around with these. You don't have to worry about the slower speed of the motherboard, the memory can always be run at lower rates.
Lance Roberts
Posted 2011-06-20T22:21:31.113
Reputation: 7 895
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Yes, the motherboard will clock it down to 1066/1333 unless you overclock it, at which point it tries to run at whatever you set it to.
A larger power supply is not more efficient than a smaller one. Power supplies have specific efficiency ratings, which are unrelated to their capacity.
Darth Android
Posted 2011-06-20T22:21:31.113
Reputation: 35 133
The second statement is not really accurate. Power supplies have non-linear efficiency curves - a larger power supply is likely to be more efficient than a smaller one at the power draw you use it. However, if you go too far and buy a completely over-powered supply, it may be less efficient than a smaller one. See for example http://www.anandtech.com/show/2624/3. There may also be some implicit effects, such as larger supplies being more niche, higher priced and better components (don't count on this).
– Sam Brightman – 2016-11-22T08:26:45.4176I would note that buying a larger power supply than you need tends to help its longevity (it's not running at as high a percentage of max load so it's under less stress so it's getting comparatively less wear and tear) but that's not the same thing. (Perhaps it's what caused this misperception, though.) – Shinrai – 2011-06-20T22:31:31.290