I am looking to buy some new DDR3 RAM for my ASUS P5E3 Mainboard and was wondering if anyone had some suggestions. I would like a 2X1GB or 2X2GB combos that are available under $500

I also need a little help concerning RAM types. I tried to do my own research on SDRAM and DIMM and have found that SDRAM is just a type of DIMM. Is this correct and will that mean I can use SDRAM on DIMM sockets?

Congrats on purchasing a very decent Motherboard (although I'm not a big fan of ATI Crossfire).

Your issue is that DDR3 Ram is very new and very expensive with hardly any info about on it. Your Motherboard has 4 Slots for DDR3 Ram and no other (so only look at DDR3).

There are 3 different types of Ram currently in use in new desktop machines: DDR, DDR2, and DDR3. SDRAM is an earlier version not currently supported by new motherboards. All 3 are very similar in size except there is a notch on the connecting side which prevents (normally!) plugging in the wrong type into a motherboard.

According to Corsair: The P5E3 Deluxe is an Intel® X38 chipset-based motherboard that combines powerful performance with great energy efficiency; and supports DDR3 1800MHz dual-channel memory architecture and Dual PCI Express 2.0 x16 lanes for extreme graphics performance. It also comes with the world’s first ASUS EPU (Energy Processing Unit), allowing the CPU power supply to be digitally monitored and fine-tuned with improved VRM efficiency in heavy or light loadings – attaining the best possible power efficiency and energy savings to help save the environment.

Your manual advises you can add different sizes of DDR3 Ram and still benefit from Dual Channel. It will accept 512, 1 Gig and 2 Gig Sticks, (See page 39 => Section 2.4.1) but ensure you get sticks with the same latency. I really think it's better to grab all memory of the same size, and manufacturer, at the same time to avoid a problem later. I don't know if you are using Vista, Linux, XP or ? for an Operating System as a 32 bit Operating System won't benefit from more than about 3 Gigs of Ram (total) But 64 bit versions of Vista & XP will see all you Motherboard can handle (4 X 2 Gig Sticks = 8 Gigs Total) There is a table on Page 41 of the "approved" DDR3 Ram for the Asus P5E3 and usually they upate this under support at their Website.

I hope this is helpful. ;)

I found this on eBay (non-eBay link here) and am confused as to whether this well work with my mainboard. All auctions say it is DDR3 but some say it is SDRAM or DIMM. Is this just a irrelevant difference and will both work on my mainboard? and does anyone have any opinions on this RAM?

try checking tigerdirect or newegg. i personally use tiger since im having issues using my card on newegg.

Janlothar,

Would you be running a 32bit operating system or planning to do so?? 32bit can not address 4GB of memory, it is a well known fact and you can get yourself into a pickle sometimes with some MBs (Motherboards), Google it for more information. If you are not running a 64 bit version of XP or Vista I'd stay away from 3+Gigs of RAM Memory.

A DIMM, or dual in-line memory module, comprises a series of dynamic random access memory integrated circuits. All Ram these days are therefore DIMMS. SDRAM means synchronous dynamic random access memory. DDR3 is part of the SDRAM family of technologies and is one of the many DRAM (dynamic random access memory) implementations. DDR3 SDRAM is an improvement over its predecessor, DDR2 SDRAM.

Most folks in PC land however refer to these memory modules by their shortened initials DDR, DDR2, and DDR3 and leave SDRAM to define the older (and far slower) 168 PIN (the portion of the Module that plugs into the MB has many gold contact points called pins) Module. DDR chips are assembled into 184-pin, DDR2 / DDR3 into 240 Pins.

Desktop DDR SDRAM can also be differentiated from the older SDRAM DIMMs by the number of notches (DDR SDRAM has one, SDRAM has two). DDR3 DIMMs have 240 pins, the same number as DDR2, and are the same size, but are electrically incompatible and have a different key notch location.

As far as purchasing the Patriot DDR3 Ram. Technically I can find no reference to it in the Asus Documents or posted about. I'd never purchase RAM from an EBay seller unless I was prepared to live with something "iffy" especially with no defined return policy or technical support in case it doesn't work as advertised.

Besides you can usually find RAM at decent pricing from "normal" retailers about locally, or on the web. If you put RAM into the MB that isn't supported, it may (and often does these days) fail to boot or cause other stability issues. (For example: My Asus P5N32-SLI Deluxe does this with a couple of new 2 Gig Corsair Modules that work just fine on an Asus Striker Gamer Box I just built for a Buddy. Similar 1 Gig Sticks work just fine.)

I'd email Asus and ask them for a list of supported DDR3 Ram. I don't know if you plan to overclock the board or tweak it (I typically don't push things too hard until everything is well out of warranty). You can find a list of RAM that Corsair says fits into your Board at their site, so I expect similar support from other vendors is available.

I hope this was helpful.

Thanks for the info jim. I am already running 64 bit vista with 1GB of RAM, therefore the need for an upgrade. As for getting a list from ASUS, they tend to be unresponsive to e-mails I send them.

Since I live in Thailand getting items of eBay is my best bet for getting the latest hardware (all components in my PC are from eBay except for the RAM)