chessmyantidrug

Sorry for not responding sooner and thanks for all the input.

I'm currently shopping for components. I'm in Iraq right now and I'll be home in a couple months. I probably won't start assembling my rig until November or December, but I will shop around for deals between now and then. For example, I found a Q9450 up for auction the other day. I'm currently winning with a $238.38 bid ($242.50 Canadian). There's another day left on the auction. My fingers are crossed.

Anyway, I've read the performance increase from DDR2 to DDR3 is rather negligible, especially when you consider the price difference. The good news is I'm not buying it today and probably won't until October at the earliest (unless I see a great deal).

I'm glad I started this discussion because I didn't know any more about RAM than that more is better.

Money isn't too much of a concern, but I still want to spend as little as possible. When all is said and done, I don't want to spend more than $2K on my rig.

MrSpock2002

To be honest 2.5k is probably more of a ball park figure for what your looking to get into. If you wanted to go water probably 2.8 to 3k.

Either way even if you went 2k you probably could make a nice rig.

BTW be safe over there!

chessmyantidrug

I haven't quite kicked numbers around or anything yet, but I figured $2K was a good ballpark figure. I don't want to get too crazy because I know how quickly technology grows and becomes obsolete. Dual core processors haven't been around that long and are the heart of budget offerings these days.

I'm still waiting to get my hands on Maximum PC's July issue. Their May issue said they'd cover cases priced under $100, but I guess their redesign delayed the topic. It's on the cover of their July issue, but I haven't seen one out here yet. They're also supposed to have motherboards priced under $100 in the issue, too.

All I know right now is I don't plan on spending more than $300 on my processor and $400 on my video card. The items I like today will most likely be what I end up with. And the longer I wait, the more the price will drop.

Right now, the Q9450 is in the $330 range. By the end of the year after Nehalem-core processors are introduced, Penryn prices should drop. I wouldn't be surprised to see the average price land in the $270 area by January. I believe the Q6600 started out in the $270 range and is now around $200.

So the longer I wait, the cheaper my rig will be. Probably the only blessing about being here.

RussianGrimmReaper

The Mushkin RedLine 2x2GB kits use Micron D9HNL. They are terrible overclockers. Mushking RedLine 2x1GB kits uses Micron D9GMH, the overclock very very very well. The only bad part about it is that if you want better performance, you need to give it more voltage. The D9HNLs however, if they don't reach your speed at low voltages, they won't reach the speed.

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Johnnyfive

Nope, they come in a kit. 2gbx2=4gb. I have 2 kits=8gbs.

What is this memory controller you speak of and how might I make it my *****? I am running it at 2.2v.

RussianGrimmReaper

The memory controller is in the NB. The memory controllers on all NVidia chipsets are y. Remove one of kits, and try overclocking again.

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Johnnyfive

Ok, but why would I run 4 gb's quicker then 8 gbs slower?

RussianGrimmReaper

Less memory modules. Puts less strain on the North Bridge. It will help you overclock them.

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low strife

In terms of overclocking (the extreme high end), you need DDR3. If you're getting a Q9450 or 6700, on mid range chips your RAM won't be limiting you. I would save $200 and go DDR2, because on the desktop you won't notice anything go any faster.

The money could easily be spent on a better video card that would provide a FAR greater performance boost.

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Johnnyfive

Ok fair enough, but overall performance compared with 8gbs at a slightly lower speed?