a few technical querries

[steve4433]

Hello, can anyone help, just need to clear some stuff up that i dont quite understand.

Firstly, memory. Does it matter what make you buy, wheather its registered or not, and what is the whole pc-2700, pc-3200, this is the speed isnt it, so is 333 the fsb speed. Can you run have two different speeds and have them running to their full potential. Ihave 4 slots on my mb so technically could i have 2048 mb ram.

If their are any website that explain about memory theyd be very welcome.

Also are sata alot better than udma hard drive, are they worth spending money to buy a new mb to accept one. Is western digital a good make of hard drive. Is it worth geting one with a large cache

Finally its an old argument but, which is better latest amd or intel. Is the 64 bit processor really good, is the p4 64 bit. I am going to be playing games, doing video editing, photoshop, web design and quite possible 3d modelling. Is it worth going for a dual processor option.

Thanks for any help, I hope the questions arnt too stupid and im not being really dum

 

[RS3RS]

It matters what memory you buy. Brand name memory is more stable than no-name memory. Corsair, kingston, mushkin, crucial, OCZ, etc. are all good name brand memory.

The PC2700 and pc3200 are the speed of the memory. If you have an actual FSB of 200 mhZ, then you'll need at least pc3200. If you have an actual FSB of 133, then you'll need at least pc2700. Look at the memory FAQ at the top of General Hardware for more info.

SATA is faster than UDMA. It's not worth buying a new MB to accept one, it's not THAT much faster, but it is faster. Western Digital is a great brand. And yes, it's worth getting one with large cache, it is faster.

AMD or Intel are tied. It depends on what you'll be doing. For what you say you'll be doing, I'm going to say a Pentium 4 would probably be more what you'd like, but an AMD processor would work just fine too. 64 bit doesn't matter, because no 64 bit software is out. If you buy a 64 bit processor, it will still run at 32 bit. But 64 bit processors are just as fast at 32 bit computing as a 32 bit processor is. And no, the P4 is not 64 bit.

I'd probably stay away from dual processors, probably not worth it for the price. Keep in mind that two 2 ghz processors does not equal 4 ghZ. You'll still be using 2ghZ for most things. However, if you get heavy into photoshop and 3d imaging, dual processors could really pay off.

Hope I helped a little

 

[stumpy]

Technically you could actually have 4 - 1GB sticks of memory for a 4GB total, but there is nothing that will actually use that much, 1GB should be fine unless you're doing heavy 3D rendering.

 

[steve4433]

thanks for the help guys,
two more questions, is there a way to view your fsb speed and memory speeds in windows (ive got xp), also does whether its parity or non parity make a difference with memory? Oh yeah and if you get a speed of memory faster than your fsb will it run faster or will it be the same.

 

[djnes]

Originally posted by RS3RS
It matters what memory you buy. Brand name memory is more stable than no-name memory. Corsair, kingston, mushkin, crucial, OCZ, etc. are all good name brand memory.

The PC2700 and pc3200 are the speed of the memory. If you have an actual FSB of 200 mhZ, then you'll need at least pc3200. If you have an actual FSB of 133, then you'll need at least pc2700. Look at the memory FAQ at the top of General Hardware for more info.

SATA is faster than UDMA. It's not worth buying a new MB to accept one, it's not THAT much faster, but it is faster. Western Digital is a great brand. And yes, it's worth getting one with large cache, it is faster.

AMD or Intel are tied. It depends on what you'll be doing. For what you say you'll be doing, I'm going to say a Pentium 4 would probably be more what you'd like, but an AMD processor would work just fine too. 64 bit doesn't matter, because no 64 bit software is out. If you buy a 64 bit processor, it will still run at 32 bit. But 64 bit processors are just as fast at 32 bit computing as a 32 bit processor is. And no, the P4 is not 64 bit.

I'd probably stay away from dual processors, probably not worth it for the price. Keep in mind that two 2 ghz processors does not equal 4 ghZ. You'll still be using 2ghZ for most things. However, if you get heavy into photoshop and 3d imaging, dual processors could really pay off.

Hope I helped a little

We don't always agree, but I have to say everything in your post is absolutely correct. Well explained too.

 

[steve4433]

oh yeah one other thing, is udma the same thing or a type of ide, or are they two separate types of interface, cos my mb takes ide so what do i need to look out for?

thanks

 

[Vertigo Acid]

Pairity hasn't been an issue for years, I don't even think you can get parity RAM anymore.

 

[djnes]

Originally posted by steve4433
oh yeah one other thing, is udma the same thing or a type of ide, or are they two separate types of interface, cos my mb takes ide so what do i need to look out for?

thanks

UDMA and IDE are interchangeable in terms of buying a HDD.

 

[Stiletto One]

Originally posted by Vertigo Acid
Pairity hasn't been an issue for years, I don't even think you can get parity RAM anymore.

Parity = ECC?

Anyhow, when they say stuff like UDMA/133 or ATA/133 or IDE/133 (the latter is really rare, and if a site calls it that, you probably shouldn't be shopping there), they mean the exact same thing. It's an IDE hard drive capable of UDMA transfers and follows the ATA/133 speed & signalling spec.

As for SATA being better than ATA, it depends a lot on drivers. In general, the difference isn't relevant, unless you're talking about Raptors. The cables are nice though.

 

[steve4433]

Im looking at a WD Caviar 120.0GB UDMA100 (is the 100 bit the speed or something?). It says the buffer size is 2mb is this the cache?

Also with memory what are timings? I saw this on another thread:

"Also when you buy, try and get a series that supports very low timings. 2-2-2-7 for example. i've noticed for me anyway with heavy multitasking like you're doing, setting the ram at lower timings make a HUGE difference in how fast programs load, your data gets processed, and overall performance. That's me though. But to get low timings, you need to set them yourself in the bios for one, and two you need high quality ram that can support the timings like i said before. get some HyperX or better yet Mushkin Level II PC3500 or PC4000 that supports 2-2-2-7 as stated above as well, and you will be very happy!"

What does that mean and is it easy to set that in the bios, i dont remember seeing it last time i was in there.

Sorry im a bit dense but i want to learn as much as possible!

 

[Black Morty Rackham]

Originally posted by RS3RS
[...]
I'd probably stay away from dual processors, probably not worth it for the price. Keep in mind that two 2 ghz processors does not equal 4 ghZ. You'll still be using 2ghZ for most things. However, if you get heavy into photoshop and 3d imaging, dual processors could really pay off.

Hope I helped a little

I'll have to disagree with you on that... Dual processors can help a whole lot at tasks like Photoshopping, video editing and 3D graphics (not games, that is). It is pricey, yes, but if the performance is important, it doesn't really make it all that more expensive, considering the gain. In some things, it actually does double your performance (well, close enough anyway), and it's a hell of a lot cheaper than buying two computers.

 

[steve4433]

do dual processors help when running games at all. E.g, with something like battlefield with graphics right up and maximum players?

 

[BlindedByScience]

Originally posted by steve4433
do dual processors help when running games at all. E.g, with something like battlefield with graphics right up and maximum players?

....in my experience, the answer for most games is "no".

Now, having said that, there is software that shows breathtaking improvements when using duallies, but for most of us....the advantages don't justify the cost.

I have a dual Xeon workstation on my desk at work, and for 99% of what I do, a single P4 of similar clock speed pretty much eats its lunch.

FWIW - B.B.S.

 

[Black Morty Rackham]

Originally posted by steve4433
do dual processors help when running games at all. E.g, with something like battlefield with graphics right up and maximum players?

I have no idea. It depends... if Battlefield[size=small](?)[/size] is written to support multiple processors, yeah. Otherwise, maybe. Games with otherwise no support for SMP (several processors) can sometimes put some of the tasks on other processors. For instance, UT2004 can put the sound server on another processor, but other than that, it doesn't help to have several processors.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by Vertigo Acid
Pairity hasn't been an issue for years, I don't even think you can get parity RAM anymore.

Pretty much 100% of servers use parity (ECC) RAM. It's a bit slower, but much more stable, and you don't take a performance hit when adding more and more sticks. I *think* the Athlon64 requires ECC RAM.

Parity=ECC=Registered

 

[Black Morty Rackham]

Originally posted by jagec
Pretty much 100% of servers use parity (ECC) RAM. It's a bit slower, but much more stable, and you don't take a performance hit when adding more and more sticks. I *think* the Athlon64 requires ECC RAM.

Parity=ECC=Registered

Only the Opterons require Registered, I think... Maybe the A64 FX, too, but not the A64 n+.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by Black Morty Rackham
Only the Opterons require Registered, I think... Maybe the A64 FX, too, but not the A64 n+.

oh, OK. I knew it was ONE of them. Thanks for the clarification.