Memory specs

[JasonB87]

Can anybody comment on the performance difference between 6 to 8 gigs of memory? Also after getting a quad-core how much does the clock speed play into performance? example: 2.5 GHz compared to a 3 GHz

This is all assuming running 5 accounts on 1 computer.

[Beerbastard]

I can tell you that, unless you are running a 64bit Operating system, that anything above 4gigs doesn't matter. 32bit OS only use up to 4gigs of ram, and actually show having less than that, due to some addressing limitation i think.

So in short, No difference between 6gigs-8gigs of ram on 32 bit OS.


As for the cpu question, I don't know. Performance isn't just a measure of cores, or mhz. However, I think 500mhz, considering if it's a quad core is quite a big jump in performance.

[JasonB87]

I can tell you that, unless you are running a 64bit Operating system, that anything above 4gigs doesn't matter. 32bit OS only use up to 4gigs of ram, and actually show having less than that, due to some addressing limitation i think.

So in short, No difference between 6gigs-8gigs of ram on 32 bit OS
Yea 64-bit is a given and It'll be vista 64-bit at that which is why I'm thinking 8 gigs might be better. As for the cpu after doing some research here it seems that a quad core is best suited but I'm not sure if I should shell out another $100 for say a 2.5 GHz or save some green and go with a 2.33.

[mikekim]

processor wise, go with the Q6600 2.4 G0, as you can overclock it to over 3Ghz on standard cooling..

[pengwynman]

processor wise, go with the Q6600 2.4 G0, as you can overclock it to over 3Ghz on standard cooling..This.

you will notice a difference of a few hundred MHz when multiboxing, running 5 instances of wow will tax pretty much every part of your system. My fps improved by 15+ after overclocking my Q9550 from 2.83 GHz stock to 3.4 GHz

[JasonB87]

Well after a little searching on newegg I ended up buying a Q8200 2.33 GHz I really wanted my mobo's native fsb of 1333MHz. I also read some reviews that say it is fairly easy and reliable to overclock up to 3.0 GHz. I also purchased 8gb of 1066 ram. Stuff should be here tomorrow or monday.

[pengwynman]

Well after a little searching on newegg I ended up buying a Q8200 2.33 GHz I really wanted my mobo's native fsb of 1333MHz. I also read some reviews that say it is fairly easy and reliable to overclock up to 3.0 GHz. I also purchased 8gb of 1066 ram. Stuff should be here tomorrow or monday.looks like a decent cpu, only thing i see that might cause some concern is the relatively small L2 cache, i don't know if this would hinder performance for you

edit: OMFG WHY DIDN'T I WAIT to buy my q9550???

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
Free Intel water bottle w/ purchase, limited offer

[JasonB87]

Yea that line has popped for me so many times lol. From what i've read although it does have a small l2 cache it makes up for it in it's architecture and in benchmarks beat out similar Q6600 by 7%. But hey that's what I've read I'll have to wait to truly see.

[heffner]

edit: OMFG WHY DIDN'T I WAIT to buy my q9550??? Why, did you want the free water bottle? :P

The RAM you purchased is way beyond what you need also. To get a 1:1 ratio you only need 667MHz. If you overclock you would need it to be higher, but I imagine 800MHz would have been fine. Not that it matters at this point anyway.

[JasonB87]

Haha yea but I like to do a lot of video editing and transcoding so it should help there.