Opinion on Intel Core 2 Quad setup

[tomjoyce]

hi!
i'm looking to sell some parts and then build up a shuttle pc for college. here's the parts i have picked out ... but i'm not sure if i can afford all of them:

Shuttle SG33G5B, Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield, and OCZ Titanium XTC 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800
. (I already have a good hard drive to use and a dvd burner to use)

Question is ... if I wind up not being able to afford all of it, should i buy the maxed out processor and less RAM (with intent to upgrade the ram later), or should i buy a lesser processor with maxed out ram (with intent to upgrade the processor later)? Which is more cost effective in the long run? Which is gonna save me more money *now*? Which will give me better performance?

Thanks,
Tom Joyce

 

[vsboxerboy]

You could also get less expensive ram:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220227

Really though, for the price that processor is going to be impossible to beat. I wouldn't call a Q6600 'maxed out' rather an awesome bang for the buck kind of thing. What else were you considering as your processor because you would be hard pressed to find anything else near that price for that performance level.

 

[Ocellaris]

4GB should be considered the minimum RAM for a new enthusiast system purchase now. Also consider that you can get cheaper RAM too, and you really will not notice the difference.

4GB of decent RAM and a Q6600 is really the sweet spot right now for price/performance.

//update: posted this before reading that someone else also reccomended cheaper ram