philo-sofa
n00b
- Joined
- May 18, 2008
- Messages
- 30
I don't see how you got a 2 to 5% increase. My math shows an increase of less than 1% (around .95%) by going with faster RAM. I'll cede the fact that there is a performance increase but I do not think that the higher speed RAM warrants the higher costs for a mere 1% increase in performance.
It's probably a defintional difference - I suggest a 2-5% range of performance increases, which if you do the maths is correct. As (no disrespect dude, but it's getting a little frustrating) I've said about four times now, I agree the performanc benefit is not that huge when moving to higher speeds, my point was primarily related to the divider issue. However given that Crysis gave the maximum performance differential when not GPU limited, I'd say a 5% performance increase in demanding aps for what is (locally) about a $U30 increase for good PC2-8500 over PC2-6400 is not so bad.
After much reading I would like to hear some different view points.
I'm stuck with the 680i as i've already purchased it, so whatever. But Should I be looking to get 2x2gb or 4x2gb of ram?
I mean if i were looking at doing an SLI of two video cards do you really require SLI ram? Because I can only ever seem to find it in 2x1gb, which does not help at all when running Vista x64.
2 x 2 GB for now.
Alright, So The question of all questions, is my decision right? Should I be going with a GTS?
Lets say for a moment that money variance of a couple hundred dollars is not an issues. Should I be getting the 9800 GTX and overclock it?
and last quesiton why can i not run the 9800gx2?
The 8800 GTS 512 is the 9800 GTX - they're the same card with a different cooler.
Bear in mind that Nvidia's GT200 and ATI's 4000 series (the true new gen cards) are looking set to be released fairly soon now, so it might not be the idea time to upgrade. Assuming your local pricing is the same as it is here, I'd heartily recommend using the 8800 GT for SLI over 8800 GTS', unless you dislike cards that can get reasonably loud. I have a single GTS, which I love dearly, but the main reason I upgraded from a GT was because it's a lot quiter.
The GTS has about 20% more performance than the GT, but is about one and a half times the price (and I believe the performance difference is actually smaller when comparing two cards in SLI), so if you're price sensetive and the pricing is the same wherever you are, I'd recommend one of two things:
- Waiting until the end of June for a new next-gen card (though bear in mind these release schedules can and often so slip)
- Purchasing two 8800 GT cards and using SLI
Thank you.
Alright 2nd to last upgrade question.
Hard drives.
This is what I was thinking
1 36gig Raptor for OS
1 36gig Raptor for programs/games
Or is it better (performance wize)
2 36gig raptors in Raid 0 for OS
2 36gig raptors in raid 0 for Programs/games
Or any other variations.
**I have a dedicated server box for movies and everything else.**
+1 to Silent-Circuit's Velociraptor suggestion. Also note that RAID 0 gives an absolutely miniscule performance advantage for desktop setups. Basically it's a waste of money.