Q9550 and DDR2 PC26400 - Big Speed Penalty?

[Savage1701]

Am I paying a huge speed penalty by pairing a Q9550 (1333 FSB) with PC26400 RAM? The MB only supports RAM up to 1066. I can't grouse, because I had the MB and RAM already and picked up the processor for very little from a friend who was upgrading.

Should I be going to a MB with DDR3 that can match the CPU 1:1 is the speed/divider penalty not that terrible as it is now?

Thanks for any info.

 

[Ritwik7]

You don't need to get a DDR3 capable motherboard. Just let the motherboard set the RAM timings and speed. I don't think that you'll get a big performance hit.

 

[Savage1701]

I appreciate the reply. I was looking at some 1066-type DDR2, but probably will take a pass right now. I figured the MB was doing some sort of divider thing, but I did not know how hard that was on the performance. I know I'll never really get 1:1 on FSB to memory with DDR2, but I want to get the most I can out of it.

Thanks again.