That's interesting. I thought it was a concern because it also
determines how fast the RAM can be. For instance, if I were to go with
Kingston memory, I see choices all over the place -- from 2 sticks of
533 MHz RAM (2 GB total) for $43.00 up to 2 sticks of 1066 MHz RAM (2 GB
total) for $124. I also encountered "high performance" Kingston RAM (a 2
GB kit again) costing as much as $434.75, so I am quite confused!
Bottom line: What exactly is "high performance" and is it worth the
considerably extra premium? And even if I were to avoid high-performance
RAM, how much of a performance difference is there between 533 MHz and
1066 MHz?
OK, as far as RAM goes, you need to be aware that there are several
qualities that determine performance, and just one of them is clock speed.
In other words, one stick of 533 RAM can perform better than another. Main
thing to look for is latency. In this case, lower is better. So, CL3 would
be 'slower' than CL2 or CL2.5. But you can literally drive yourself nuts
worrying about such details, and there's really no need for it, unless you
are a competitive gamer. In which case, you'd probably go for the
ultra-expensive high performance RAM. In return for the bucks you spend on
it, you might gain a few FPS while playing your favorite game. OTHER THAN
THAT, YOU'D NOTICE NO DIFFERENCE. So unless you know you need the ultra
high performance (like a gamer), then you really don't need to worry about
RAM that much.
This is what I'd advise you to do, as far as RAM goes.
1) Choose your motherboard
2) Find out the fastest RAM the mainboard will support, and what type.
3) (referring back to 2) Buy two 1GB sticks of name-brand RAM such as
Kingston or OCZ or Crucial, for a total of 2GB of really high quality RAM
that is supported by your mainboard
Actually, that build was a preliminary one, a result of configuring a
system at Tiger Direct, which by now, seems like a limited choice! It
seems the consensus here so far is to choose an X38 chipset. What's your
take?
My take is, it makes no difference at all. The P35 and X38 chipsets look to
be very similar, in terms of features. The X38 looks like it might support
some faster processors. HOWEVER, it is somewhat unlikely that you'll ever
replace the CPU without replacing the motherboard also. And in any case,
the price is about the same. So I don't think you can go wrong by choosing
either. If the X38 was significantly more expensive, I'd advise you to
stick with P35. But if the price difference is negligible? I don't think
it matters.
Finally, you had also stated:
Again, interesting as the consensus is different. Can you recommend a
site where I can compare? Or is this just based on personal experience?
It's based on 20 years of work in the IT field. Asus is IMHO the most
over-rated brand there is, and they do NOT deserve the reputation that they
have. There are much better brands in terms of build quality and
reliability. Some of them are less expensive than Asus, also. But again, I
have some strange tastes in hardware, ****according to the consensus****.
The most reliable boards I've worked with have been Biostar, which many
consider to be crap. (???)
But based on my experience, if I'm building
a system for myself or someone I care about, I'm leaning toward AOpen or
Biostar or Intel for the mainboard brand. If I can't find something I like
among those three (unlikely), there are other brands I'll consider, like DFI
and Chaintech and a few others. I also tend to prefer AMD processors
usually, but not exclusively. This system I'm using now is AMD, but the
last three builds I did were all Intel processors.
Oh, I could recommend some sites to compare at. But I think THIS NG is
probably the best resource for you. Even if most people here would disagree
with some of my choices of hardware, you will get good advice from them
(usually). So you've come to the right place already. -Dave
