I'm building a new PC

BasharOfTheAges · Post by **BasharOfTheAges** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 5:39 pm

About 4/5 of the programs i use are in the 32 bit folder, as for drivers... never really had an issue, but then again i don't have a million and one I/O devices. just a DVD burner, 3 HDDs, video card, and everything else is USB - which pretty much always works.

I think i've gotten used to MeGUI thanks to the help i've gotten with it, but thanks. i'll test it out if you need testers though.

Beowulf · Post by **Beowulf** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 7:57 pm

Ok new question.

4 gigs of ram at 1066 or 8 gigs at 800?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145176

vs.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6820145179

I'm leaning toward 8 gigs at a slower speed. Is the SPEED of ram a big deal when you're dealing with video editing/creative work, or is it primarily a gaming thing? I'm open to expertise of course, and again price isn't the issue.

Kalium · Post by **Kalium** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 8:24 pm

If my computer architecture classes are serving me well, RAM speed is far enough above HD speed that it only really reflects how fast data goes to and from on-chip cache.

I think you're better off going with the 2-gig chips. It'll make it easier for you to expand in the future.

BasharOfTheAges · Post by **BasharOfTheAges** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 1:19 am

In general, faster = better for future expansion. You also probably won't see that much of an advantage with 8GB over 4 i'd think (right now at least).

YouTube · Post by **Ileia** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 1:58 am

The components inside are irrelevant. All you need is a badass case.

Like this one for example.

Willen · Post by **Willen** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 9:33 am

Ileia wrote:The components inside are irrelevant. All you need is a badass case.

Like this one for example.

Still needs some case mods. Like a Hello Kitty sticker or Swarovski crystals and a Wacom tablet to go along with it.

In all seriousness, I had high hopes for AMD's Phenom but Intel still has the edge. And I also concur on the 4 GB RAM choice. While the speed won't be really noticeable for non-gaming tasks right now, the advantage of 8 GB probably isn't much either. Unless you set up a RAM drive...

Koopiskeva · Post by **Koopiskeva** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 9:52 am

I suggest going 8gbs - I actually used up all 4gbs as I was editing last night.... |:

dwchang · Post by **dwchang** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 2:53 pm

Beowulf wrote:Ok new question.

4 gigs of ram at 1066 or 8 gigs at 800?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145176

vs.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6820145179

I'm leaning toward 8 gigs at a slower speed. Is the SPEED of ram a big deal when you're dealing with video editing/creative work, or is it primarily a gaming thing? I'm open to expertise of course, and again price isn't the issue.

I guess I'm in the minority, but I say 4 GB at 1066. Why? You want your FSBs matching in an ideal case. Assuming you get Q6600 or something similar, it has an FSB of 1066. To optimize performance, the two values on your processor and Memory should match.

Now of course, if they don't match it's not a HUGE deal, but know that for all memory transactions, your memory will be slightly lagging your Processor.

At the same time, the argument about expanding I think also supports going 4 GB at 1066. 800 is a dying breed. 1066 is already out there and 1333 is on the horizon (as is DDR3) so I think matching things up now is the best solution. Also with DDR3 this entire argument may be moot (but my estimates are it'll be awhile for that...oh and you'd have to get a new processor/mb for that too...so forget DDR3)

.

Also from personal experience, I only have 2 GB of 800 RAM and it works fine. Then again, when I edit it's usually just a few layers and nothing fancy, but yeah the two vids I've worked on with this machine weren't a problem. Then again, I'm OLD SCHOOL -_-;;

...and wish I had more RAM

Beowulf · Post by **Beowulf** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 4:34 pm

Thanks for that info danny. I think I'll go with the 4 gigs @ 1006. Ok, I think I have the preliminaries figured out.

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131219

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145179

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115017

Video Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130312

HDs:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136131 x 2

DVD Burner:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827135156

Sound Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6829127002

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129021

Power Supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139006

Heatsink:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835118223

Windows XP 64:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6832116378

My main question is about the motherboard. My initial justification for it was to give my rig some head room for upgrading. Do I need it? What is the primary advantage of the Intel X38 northbridge chipset, over the other chipsets? Will the mobo be able to run at 1066 like my ram and cpu, or will it only run at 1333/1600?

If I overclock my CPU to 3ghz (like everyone else), will that naturally increase the mobo speed up to around 1333?

Also, will there ever be DDR2 ram at 1200 speed? If there will be, then its a good reason to pay a little more now so I won't have to buy a completely new motherboard/cpu/ram combo when the time comes. Am I investing in a mobo with head room that I'm just going to skip over in 2 years?

I'm pretty set on Corsair products. They are damn expensive but they have never failed me in 7 years.

Any input would be very appreciated

Zarxrax · Post by **Zarxrax** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 4:54 pm

For the hard disks, you might want to consider getting a raptor, or one of those new-fangled flash-based disks. You could load your operating system and apps onto this fast disk, in order to get fast loading times. Then just use your large disks for storage space.