PCIExpress and RAM question

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SteelRain

Hey all!
I just built a system for myself and now a friend wants me to hook him
up. I have $2000 to build a gaming machine, which is much more than I
put in. I will be going with AMD socket 939. The questions I have are:

1. Is dual PCIE with 2 vid cards worth the expense?
2. He wants 2gigs of RAM and doesn’t overclock. From what I have
read
you don’t see any improvement from 1gig unless doing video
editing
and such. Will 2gigs improve gaming performance?

Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks
 
SteelRain said:
Hey all!
I just built a system for myself and now a friend wants me to hook him
up. I have $2000 to build a gaming machine, which is much more than I
put in. I will be going with AMD socket 939. The questions I have are:

1. Is dual PCIE with 2 vid cards worth the expense?
2. He wants 2gigs of RAM and doesn’t overclock. From what I have
read
you don’t see any improvement from 1gig unless doing video
editing
and such. Will 2gigs improve gaming performance?

Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks
Click to expand...
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2358


--
And it really doesn't matter if
I'm wrong I'm right
Where I belong I'm right
Where I belong.

Lennon & McCartney
 
For games, if he is an avid gamer, yes it's worth it... BUT if he is really
looking to build a dream system he might hold off till the end of the year
when either a) the prices drop or b) new and better PCIE chipsets are
released by ATI and nVidia..

Memory is always better the more you get.. cheapest way to improve
performance.. more is always better... most boards coming out now will
support 4GB of memory.

Although for games, perhaps put more money toward the graphic card and cpu..
1GB is okay.. but a super duper graphic card will usually be up there in
priority for gamers.. shaders make games look better and the big buck cards
support all kind of neat new graphic gizmos.

Hope ya get a good system set up..
 
Hey all!
I just built a system for myself and now a friend wants me to hook him
up. I have $2000 to build a gaming machine, which is much more than I
put in. I will be going with AMD socket 939. The questions I have are:

1. Is dual PCIE with 2 vid cards worth the expense?
Click to expand...

Anytime someone asks "is it worth the expense" the answer is
generally "no". If this is the type of person who feels
$500 for video card(s) is acceptible _AND_ plans on
replacing them again every 18 months then yes, if they need
top-notch gaming (which they don't, actually, games are
designed to run on current/common hardware, not $2000
systems only). Otherwise, it would be better to just buy a
new card again, sooner. Historically we've seen that very
high FPS doesn't help in the long run. Take nVidia FX5900-
still among the fastest cards ever created for DX8, but now
with DX9 and DX10 around the corner it's not so great
anymore. Same goes for trying to get uber-high performance
today... tomorrow there will be some new DX version or
tricks that give the edge to new cards.

2. He wants 2gigs of RAM and doesn’t overclock. From what I have
read
you don’t see any improvement from 1gig unless doing video
editing
and such. Will 2gigs improve gaming performance?
Click to expand...

No, there are no games that need 2GB of memory. Even
1280-1536MB would be a lot but ballpark-appropriate for a
$2000 box with high-end (everything else).

The greatest benefit for gaming (beyond the obvious
hardware) is overclocking. Get a board with a lot of FSB
versatility, a CPU with some headroom to exploit that higher
FSB, memory to keep good timings at that higher bus and a
great heatsink so it's not only cool-running but sounds more
like gentle breeze than a hair-dryer.
 
The greatest benefit for gaming (beyond the obvious hardware) is
overclocking. Get a board with a lot of FSB versatility, a CPU with some
headroom to exploit that higher FSB, memory to keep good timings at that
higher bus and a great heatsink so it's not only cool-running but sounds
more like gentle breeze than a hair-dryer.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't disagree with anything you have said. I just want to point
out, that the type of memory is becoming critical for 939 motherboards.
On the Athlon 64, the memory controller doesn't run at bus speed, it runs
at CPU speed, meaning 2:2:2 rated DIMMs are close to mandatory.

http://www.mushkin.com/epages/Mushkin.storefront/4224616801548f602740c0a8010205f2/UserTemplate/27
 
thunder said:
I wouldn't disagree with anything you have said. I just want to point
out, that the type of memory is becoming critical for 939 motherboards.
On the Athlon 64, the memory controller doesn't run at bus speed, it runs
at CPU speed,
Click to expand...

And where are you buying your DDR4000?
 
I wouldn't disagree with anything you have said. I just want to point
out, that the type of memory is becoming critical for 939 motherboards.
On the Athlon 64, the memory controller doesn't run at bus speed, it runs
at CPU speed, meaning 2:2:2 rated DIMMs are close to mandatory.

http://www.mushkin.com/epages/Mushkin.storefront/4224616801548f602740c0a8010205f2/UserTemplate/27
Click to expand...

No completely untrue.
There is no need for 2,2,2 memory, it is no more necessary
today than ever, BUT if you want highest performance and are
willing to pay a premium for that last 3%, then sure, no
holds barred, get 2,2,2.
 
No completely untrue.
There is no need for 2,2,2 memory, it is no more necessary today than
ever, BUT if you want highest performance and are willing to pay a premium
for that last 3%, then sure, no holds barred, get 2,2,2.
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure. I just finished building an AMD64 on an Abit KV8. I was
having all sorts of stability problems until I added a clock cycle unto
the tRCD, making my 2:3:3 2:4:3. I'll grant that my knowledge of memory
is quite limited, but I did defer to the Mushkin site. By the way, I
wasn't spamming for Mushkin. I must have blown the link. There is an
article, Athlon64 Special Report, explaining how the AMD64's memory
controller runs at CPU speed, rather than bus speed. From that article:
"Bottom line is that when shopping for memory for the Athlon64, it is
highly advisable and in most cases mandatory to only consider memory with
a tRCD of 2 or, to make it simple, memory that is rated at 2:2:2 a the
designated speed." YMMV, but I wish I had read that article before I
purchased my 2:3:3.
 
thunder said:
I'm not so sure. I just finished building an AMD64 on an Abit KV8. I was
having all sorts of stability problems until I added a clock cycle unto
the tRCD, making my 2:3:3 2:4:3. I'll grant that my knowledge of memory
is quite limited, but I did defer to the Mushkin site. By the way, I
wasn't spamming for Mushkin. I must have blown the link. There is an
article, Athlon64 Special Report, explaining how the AMD64's memory
controller runs at CPU speed, rather than bus speed. From that article:
"Bottom line is that when shopping for memory for the Athlon64, it is
highly advisable and in most cases mandatory to only consider memory with
a tRCD of 2 or, to make it simple, memory that is rated at 2:2:2 a the
designated speed." YMMV, but I wish I had read that article before I
purchased my 2:3:3.
Click to expand...

The statement that "the AMD64's memory controller runs at CPU speed" is
misleading. It runs at "CPU speed" on the *CPU SIDE*, which is the reason
it was integrated onto the chip, but it runs at "memory speed" on the
memory side just like it does with northbridge memory controllers. The
difference is the controller is not restricted by the FSB speed when
talking to the CPU since it's on die and can run at "CPU speed," on that
side of the controller.
 
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