I have no idea. I am on xp. lol.

quote:

Originally posted by inconspicuous aren't there different qualities of ram, though? I remember some number rating from when I looked at this pc...like 2:3:3 or something...latency, iirc. how much of a difference does that make?

in my experience latency makes fuck all difference. certainly not the $100s differences you see in prices. you would always buy sticks of the same latency of course, whichever ones you buy.

also remember that ram latency has an effect on how much you overclock your cpu. im not sure how exactly it relates though. just that there's some kind of bell-curve relationship between latency and ram mhz as you increase the mhz.

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They have different timings. 5-5-5-15 4-4-4-12, etc. Lower (tighter) is better...It tends to move data around a little faster. Tight timings can help if you are trying to squeeze every ounce of performance out of it but honestly it's not a big deal. I have done benchmarks on my machine with timings at 5-5-5-15 and 4-4-4-10 and the performance difference was negligible.

What matters most is the speed (mhz) the ram runs out. The standard today is DDR2 800mhz and that is perfectly fast for most people.
They make DDR2 that goes up to 1333mhz and are even selling DDR3 memory now..but that is totally unnecessary since most CPU's and mobos don't even go fast enough to take advantage of it...so it's a waste of $$. For the next 3-4 years, stick with ram that's DDR2 1066mhz or 1333mhz. Ram that speed will be perfectly fast for any game.

quote:

Originally posted by inconspicuous I have no idea. I am on xp. lol.

well, i know in order to get to get 4gb running in xp you need xp 64.

dont understand the technical details, just know that 32 xp has a limit of 2gb of ram it can use. im not sure if vista is a little different or not, but fuck vista anyway.

if this machine is just for gaming then i really dont think you need more than 4gb.

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I thought the theoretical limit was 3gb?

4 is ideal as there's background processes that take up RAM too but it's not essential. This is for Vista though, not XP.

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Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN sites like anandtech.com is where i get all my info when shopping.

Good choice. Add www.guru3d.com into that equation and you can keep up with all the info pretty easily

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quote:

Originally posted by Fledz I thought the theoretical limit was 3gb? 4 is ideal as there's background processes that take up RAM too but it's not essential. This is for Vista though, not XP.

I believe its 3.2 to 3.5

However in vista (64), 32 bit programs can only use 2 gig.

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quote:

Originally posted by inconspicuous My 2005 Alienware Aurora 5500 is just too outdated for me (inb4alienwareh8). I'm willing to spend...well, I can probably convince myself of anything up to about $1500, but something under $1000 would be nice. I've already got a sound card, speakers (& amp), mouse, keyboard, monitor, a 700w power supply, 820 gigs of external drive space & a 150gb Raptor that might still be of use. The case for this thing is nice, & it's got a liquid cooling system in it, though I have no clue as to whether that's something I can utilize or not. If a decent blu ray drive can be got for under $100 or so, that'd be nice, but otherwise, I'd rather just put that into a normal player. The more expandability, the better, especially when it comes to hard drives. Also of note: if it's not much more, I'd rather not have to build it...too lazy & not quite good enough at this stuff to get the setup done smoothly. So what should I get? damn you, PKC. edit: oh, 2+ monitor output would be awesome, and hdmi a must.

I got a blu ray drive for that price, but you're going to want a widescreen monitor that does at least 1080p.

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quote:

Originally posted by Zild I got a blu ray drive for that price, but you're going to want a widescreen monitor that does at least 1080p.

already got this:

http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/...d=LS26TDNSUV/ZA

quote:

Originally posted by inconspicuous already got this: http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/...d=LS26TDNSUV/ZA

You're all set then any more questions about computers? I just put a new one together so I'm fairly up to date with new hardware. Oh yeah and if you are running XP you can only use I think 3.5 gb of that. So I would go with 4gb.

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Absolutely no need to go to 64 bit, unless you really want more RAM, but will you see a performance difference...maybe slight, and in most cases, none.

What are you building the computer for? High-end gaming rig, or multimedia centre.

I was not aware that all modern cards came with HDMI. Most of the high end ones last time I checked, did not, but rather only had two DVI ports, and rely on a DVI to HDMI dongle.

Also, yeah, forget the AGP architecture. You really want to start from the core here, with a new MOBO, video card, and CPU.

Do you want to keep your current case? It may be easier for you to just get a new case. If you decide that you want to keep this case, you will have to first drain all the coolant in your system. Even then, you'll have some spillage probably, but no big deal if you're careful. I doubt you will be able to use the liquid cooling system, as it will probably not be compatible with a new motherboard and cpu. Like I said, IMO it is a better option to keep your current PC for whatever multimedia etc you use it for, and build a new tower from the money you have.