I’m putting some parts together to build Tiggrkitty a gaming machine. I know what parts I’m getting for the most part. What I’m not sure about is what memory to get.
Now, this is the motherboard I’m getting her. Now, if you’ll notice, the Corsair memory that is talked about on that page is dual channel PC3500 memory. However, if you look at the specifications for the board, it says the fastest speed memory the board can support is DDR 400, which is PC3200. Is that contradictory information, or am I reading something wrong?
I don’t think she will want to pay for that Corsair memory, which is where I’m running into my problem. I don’t know for sure what memory would work with that motherboard. Would this memory work? It seems to me like it would, but I want to make sure that’s the type of memory I’m needing before I purchase something.
Also, for when I’m ready to put my mega gaming machine together, what is my best option for not only gaming, but for a longer lasting performer (keeping in mind possible future software advances, namely operating systems): an AMD FX, or an AMD X2?
AMD chips, such as the athlon 64 you want to use, run RAM at a max of DDR400 (PC 3200). A dual core athlon is an option, but as of yet the fastest single core athlon is still quicker, and nothing yet (key word) uses the multi-threads of the multicore chips well.
You won’t see any real world difference between PC3200 and PC3500 memory. Since this is a gaming machine buy a pair of 1GB memory sticks (total 2GB), so you can upgrade to 4GB in the future. If your friend finds this too expensive, get two 512MB sticks.
In any case do not get less than 1GB of memory. Most new games require as a minimum 512MB and there’s a demo from Valve (Lost Coast) that requires 1GB as a minimum.
And yes, the memory kit you have linked to works on this motherboard since it is DDR. Your motherboard wont accept DDR2 memory though so be wary. AFAIK DDR2 only works with Intel 915/925 chipsets so far.
However, I’d still like to know why the PC3500 memory is listed as being compatible with that motherboard, when it won’t support anything faster than PC3200. Is it because that memory can clock itself back to 400MHz? If that’s the case, then what’s the point of putting in PC3500 memory if it’s going to be clocking itself at a slower speed? Is it because it’s high density memory? Or is it a marketing thing?
Really, I can only see spending the extra money for the Corsair memory if I’ll be able to actually notice a SIGNIFICANT difference. If the differences only show up when running benchmark tests, then then I’ll be going with a less expensive option.
Also, since I forgot in my previous posts, how much cooling would the computer need? This is actually my biggest concern.
I don’t think she’ll want two video cards, at least at first (me, I want 2 of these ). With a good power supply, would the processor heatsink/fan, video card heatsink/fan, and 2 120mm case fans be enough for a computer not running in SLI?
PC3500 is for overclocking your motherboard. You’d change the bus speed to something greater than 200 Mhz. That’s where the extra speed from PC3500 is useful. If you’re not going to do this, you don’t need PC3500 (and you probably don’t need it even if you were going to.)
Stock cooling for the CPU and and the two case fans is ample cooling unless you plan on doing any serious overclocking.
If you have the cash for a an SLI system, then spend the extra $100 and get yourself a dual core processor. Already two next generation games (Elder Scrolls 3 Oblivion, and NWN 2) plan on supporting this. A lot of the newer video editing apps also support dual core tech.
The RAM can likely clock at the lower speed, but will operate at a higher clock speed too, in case you are overclocking (something I recommend all gaming enthusiasts to do).
I would definatly go with a dual core processor, rather than a high end single core CPU. In todays games, they will be slightly slower (but you will probably be video card limited anyways) but for everything else they are much faster and smoother.
). With a good power supply, would the processor heatsink/fan, video card heatsink/fan, and 2 120mm case fans be enough for a computer not running in SLI?