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timppu: Ok then, I will stick to normal SO-DIMM DDR3 as that is what my laptop already has. Thanks for the clarification.
Actually, DDR3L SO-DIMM is backward compatible with regular DDR3 SO-DIMM RAM (it can run at 1.5V as well). See here. There are no disadvantages except the obvious slightly increased power drain due to the higher voltage, but that has more to do with your laptop not supporting the module's low voltage mode (1.35V) than anything else.

The only thing you can't do is use regular DDR3 modules on a laptop that explicitly states it only supports DDR3L.
Post edited August 04, 2018 by WinterSnowfall
And I got slightly corrected again :-)
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Avogadro6: I don't think this is the right time to buy a new rig, but someone can lend me their old pc: dual core 2.4GHZ, 4GB ram, Win7 64bit; I don't remember the name of the GPU, but it's something that'd barely run The Witcher 1...
So I was thinking to slap a new video card on it and maybe some more RAM, and use it until I decide to get a new PC (probably another year or so). Seeing as it's got only a 300w PSU, the choice is between a GT 1030 and an RX 550. I could also get a 1050 for 40€ more but I'm worried about the wattage, plus I imagine the CPU would bottleneck it badly anyway. That said, I have some doubts:

1) At the moment the GT 1030 seems the best choice, especially for the super low watt comsumption (20-30). Is there any reason to opt for a RX 550 instead? It seems to be slightly more powerful but it's more expensive, and the official AMD page recommends a 400w PSU minimum (even if it shouldn't use more than 50w at any time, so I guess a 300w PSU should be enough).

2) Most amazon reviews say the 1030 is a great 45€ card... and yeah, I imagine it is... except that now it's doubled in price everywhere. What the heck happened? Bitcoin miners?

3) Apparently at the end of the month Nvidia is launching its next gen GPU series... should I wait for that and hope that it'll make price drop a bit (or maybe better budget GPUs)?

4) I'm not clear on the exact power of the 1030. Most recent AAA games list the GTX 660 as minumum requirement so I compared them, and according to multiple sources the 1030 is quite weaker... and yet I read it's enough to play even TW3 at high settings. Could I run some recentish games with it? Obviously I'm not aiming for 4k 60fps fluff, but it'd be nice if it could run XCOM2, even at mid/low settings.
If you could barely run The Witcher 1 then my guess it's an old integrated videochip, something like an Intel GMA 3100 or even older. Cause i runned The Witcher when it came out then on a Pentium 4 2,66 Ghz Northwood, Radeon HD3650 silent, 2 GB DDRAM, Windows XP. Runned it at medium settings though, but it worked then. Even later on with the EE patch installed. So any low budget card would do the trick for at least The Witcher 1 and probably also 2. Keep in mind that the first The Witcher was released in 2007.
For newer games the standards are a bit higher.

As for the Gt 1030, it seems that Nvidia made a rerelase of that thing, but now with DDR4.
https://www.techspot.com/review/1658-geforce-gt-1030-abomination/
So if you go for that card, then watch out which one you buy and go for the one with GDDR5 instead, such as the Palit Gt1030. http://www.palit.com/palit/vgapro.php?id=2883&lang=en&pn=NE5103000646-1080F&tab=ga
I wouldn't touch it. You'll be upgrading with parts old enough that they start becoming rarer, warehoused parts, or you'll be putting in money that won't have much return.

I'd recommend buying a new full PC. Use yours until it's dead-dead. Maybe do a fresh install of your os to give it some more life.

PC parts are pretty cheap right now compared to the past few years because the memory shortage is gone. So if you have the money now, there are good deals to be had.
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Avogadro6: I don't think this is the right time to buy a new rig, but someone can lend me their old pc: dual core 2.4GHZ, 4GB ram, Win7 64bit; I don't remember the name of the GPU, but it's something that'd barely run The Witcher 1...
So I was thinking to slap a new video card on it and maybe some more RAM, and use it until I decide to get a new PC (probably another year or so). Seeing as it's got only a 300w PSU, the choice is between a GT 1030 and an RX 550. I could also get a 1050 for 40€ more but I'm worried about the wattage, plus I imagine the CPU would bottleneck it badly anyway. That said, I have some doubts:

1) At the moment the GT 1030 seems the best choice, especially for the super low watt comsumption (20-30). Is there any reason to opt for a RX 550 instead? It seems to be slightly more powerful but it's more expensive, and the official AMD page recommends a 400w PSU minimum (even if it shouldn't use more than 50w at any time, so I guess a 300w PSU should be enough).

2) Most amazon reviews say the 1030 is a great 45€ card... and yeah, I imagine it is... except that now it's doubled in price everywhere. What the heck happened? Bitcoin miners?

3) Apparently at the end of the month Nvidia is launching its next gen GPU series... should I wait for that and hope that it'll make price drop a bit (or maybe better budget GPUs)?

4) I'm not clear on the exact power of the 1030. Most recent AAA games list the GTX 660 as minumum requirement so I compared them, and according to multiple sources the 1030 is quite weaker... and yet I read it's enough to play even TW3 at high settings. Could I run some recentish games with it? Obviously I'm not aiming for 4k 60fps fluff, but it'd be nice if it could run XCOM2, even at mid/low settings.
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candesco: If you could barely run The Witcher 1 then my guess it's an old integrated videochip, something like an Intel GMA 3100 or even older. Cause i runned The Witcher when it came out then on a Pentium 4 2,66 Ghz Northwood, Radeon HD3650 silent, 2 GB DDRAM, Windows XP. Runned it at medium settings though, but it worked then. Even later on with the EE patch installed. So any low budget card would do the trick for at least The Witcher 1 and probably also 2. Keep in mind that the first The Witcher was released in 2007.
For newer games the standards are a bit higher.

As for the Gt 1030, it seems that Nvidia made a rerelase of that thing, but now with DDR4.
https://www.techspot.com/review/1658-geforce-gt-1030-abomination/
So if you go for that card, then watch out which one you buy and go for the one with GDDR5 instead, such as the Palit Gt1030. http://www.palit.com/palit/vgapro.php?id=2883&lang=en&pn=NE5103000646-1080F&tab=ga
I'd honestly wait until spring, then see if the 10 series drops inre: the OP.

Thanks for the heads up on this, as I'd been looking for a cheap upgrade to my aging 760 2GB GPU for awhile now, and the 1030 and 1050 had both entered my radar. Now I'm thinking I'm going to wait until next spring and see if the 6 GB 1060 model drops in price.
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WinterSnowfall: ...
And there is no disadvantage in mixing DDR3 and DDR3L in the same PC either?

Either way, I guess I will go with regular DDR3 204-pin, as that is what the PC has already. Now if I just knew if it is safe to buy about any memory brand. I don't know why I recognize pretty much just Kingston and Corsair, they seem to be the most common ones here at least in the stores I visit.
Post edited August 04, 2018 by timppu
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WinterSnowfall: ...
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timppu: And there is no disadvantage in mixing DDR3 and DDR3L in the same PC either?

Either way, I guess I will go with regular DDR3 204-pin, as that is what the PC has already. Now if I just knew if it is safe to buy about any memory brand. I don't know why I recognize pretty much just Kingston and Corsair, they seem to be the most common ones here at least in the stores I visit.
Presumably no. RAM is commodity, so you want to focus on workmanship when it comes to brands.
My advice is the get the priest and read him the last rites.

Spiritus sanctus, amen.
So, I finally tried that pc. The video card is a GT 210 and that definitely has to go. The CPU is 2.8 ghz rather than 2.4 and that's a small nice surprise, but on the other hand the mobo doesn't support more than 4gb RAM, so it's already maxed out. Whelp. Haven't installed any games, I was just updating stuff, but the whole system just felt strangely slow. I don't know why but there's often an odd 1-2 seconds delay when I click on something. Maybe it's the HDD.

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Tallima: I wouldn't touch it. You'll be upgrading with parts old enough that they start becoming rarer, warehoused parts, or you'll be putting in money that won't have much return.

I'd recommend buying a new full PC. Use yours until it's dead-dead. Maybe do a fresh install of your os to give it some more life.

PC parts are pretty cheap right now compared to the past few years because the memory shortage is gone. So if you have the money now, there are good deals to be had.
Yeah, honestly I'm not that happy about dropping 90€ on a card that I won't use for long, but consider that hardware tend to be a tad overpriced over here - idk about having good deals. My initial idea was to buy a decent card (GTX 1050 ti or better) now, even if I couldn't make full use of it, and then recycle it for my future rig. Then I read that next gen video cards are not so far away (and apparently Intel might also release something new within the year) and the idea just didn't seem so good anymore.

My budget right now would be 700-800€. Apparently that's enough to buy an entry level gaming pc (I really, really don't care about 4k stuff) but at this point doesn't it make more sense to wait another year for the new Nvidia and Intel releases?
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ariaspi: GT 1030 with DDR4
Luckily I had already read a forbes article about that, but thank you none the less. :)
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Avogadro6: I was just updating stuff, but the whole system just felt strangely slow. I don't know why but there's often an odd 1-2 seconds delay when I click on something. Maybe it's the HDD.
An SSD will make a huge difference! (not in games, just for general Windows operation)
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timppu: And there is no disadvantage in mixing DDR3 and DDR3L in the same PC either?
In theory, no and in practice also no, with few exceptions. Most modules will know to auto-select timings and frequencies in order to find a common denominator regardless of which types/brands of modules you mix, but I would still recommend to get the same model per module pair (for dual/triple channel configurations this is particularly important in order to get the best performance out of them). I've had mixed modules in several laptops until now though and had no issues.

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timppu: I don't know why I recognize pretty much just Kingston and Corsair, they seem to be the most common ones here at least in the stores I visit.
You just named my two favorite RAM memory module manufacturers, so there you go :P. I'm currently packing Corsairs, but Kingston is a good alternative - their high performance HyperX modules are also good, but the infinitely small increase in performance they provide compared to other manufacturers is usually not worth the extra cost (unless you're trying to beat someone else's PC benchmark scores or what not).
Post edited August 05, 2018 by WinterSnowfall
Seems people have mentioned all the necessaries, so I'll just chime in that RAM speed shouldn't be underestimated. Boy did I learn that this year. Fast RAM does make a difference.

Had issues running Assassin's Creed: Origins on my i7 7700k + GTX 1080 at high settings. Switched to high speed RAM (G.SKILL DDR4-3000Mhz Trident Z RGB Series 16GB) for once in my PC gaming life and boom, running at 70+ FPS with all settings at ultra.

Had to tweak it in BIOS to bring the heat down, but it was easy.
Post edited August 05, 2018 by ScoutQo
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timppu: I don't know why I recognize pretty much just Kingston and Corsair, they seem to be the most common ones here at least in the stores I visit.
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WinterSnowfall: You just named my two favorite RAM memory module manufacturers, so there you go :P. I'm currently packing Corsairs, but Kingston is a good alternative - their high performance HyperX modules are also good, but the infinitely small increase in performance they provide compared to other manufacturers is usually not worth the extra cost (unless you're trying to beat someone else's PC benchmark scores or what not).
I saw in Ebay some selling e.g. Samsung for a good price. Is it a good brand too (if I am merely after normal 4GB DDR3 1600MHz SO-DIMM)?
Post edited August 05, 2018 by timppu
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Avogadro6: Is there any reason to opt for a RX 550 instead?
well, AMD cards work better under linux :D
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timppu: I saw in Ebay some selling e.g. Samsung for a good price. Is it a good brand too (if I am merely after normal 4GB DDR3 1600MHz SO-DIMM)?
I suggest being careful on eBay, the cheaper ones are often Registered ECC DIMMs which won't work with standard consumer class processors. Most offers clearly state the specs but I've seen some very vague ones there as well.

EDIT: well maybe not true for SO-DIMMs, just in general ;)
Post edited August 05, 2018 by ignisferroque