CPU or RAM quesiton

[mayakindaguy]

Thinking of one of these combos.

3.0c (around $230) and 4x512 Mushkin PC3200 2-2-2 special I believe theyre BH-6 (around $500)-total $730
OR
3.0c and 2x512 PC3200 Mushkin PC3200 blue 2-3-3(aound $400)-
total $$630
OR
3.4c (around $420) and 2x512 Mushkin PC3200 2-2-2 special-
total $670

Just wondering if more ram or cpu will increase performance in THESE combinations. Price to performance ration. Also wondering if 2-2-2 would increase performance that much and u can't overclock the 2-2-2 right? since that's the lowest it's supposed to go? and if I don't wanna overclcok is the 2-2-2 gonna give me that much of a boost over the 2-3-3.

The excess in RAM is because I'm doing video editing, rendering and photoshop. Kind of like 2 GB because I was working on a 100MB file on photoshop and illustrator while scanning and rendering and it ate up 80% or my RAM.

But was thinking perhaps 2GB isn't absolutely necessary now and I could just get 1GB and upgrade when DDRII drops lower and lowers the DDR price. But don't know when that'll be and whether by that time a complete system upgrade will be necessary.

Well, thanks for the input guys

 

[Dan_D]

At stock speeds the faster processor will always be faster. And if your at a gig of ram there is no real need for more out of a desktop or workstation machine. If your not doing 3d rendering or database / server stuff it isn't necessary.

Of course the lower latency your ram is the faster the combination would be. Reguardless of which processor you use. This is a fairly universal thing.

At stock speeds you should simply get the fastest processor you can afford. And the lowest latency memory modules you can find. Of course with the lowest latency possible.

Performance vs. dollar ratio the 3.4 is excessivley priced. I wouldn't buy one right now unless I just had the money. In which case I would own a Pentium 4EE 3.4.

 

[BillLeeLee]

The 3.4C is too expensive for my tastes; the P4 3.2C would be a better buy if you wanted a fast stock processor. The 3.0 C is $60 cheaper and both are very good choices.

THe Mushkin 2-2-2 specials can be overclocked. IT has low timings, but that doesn't mean it hampers overclocking. Overclocking increases hte memory's speed; it doesn't necessarily affect the timings.

I'd suggest looking at Mushkin Level I RAM instead. THey do 2-3-2-5 timings but aren't as OCable as the 2-2-2 probably, but it shouldn't matter that much. Level I is much cheaper too.

If you can hold off on buying a second gig later on, I'd suggest one gig for the time being. 2 GB is overkill for most purposes, but it sounds like you might need more than a gig sooner or later.