4GB, easy. The only thing I can think of that might be RAM-bound is ffdshow -- every filter you turn on requires a couple of memcpy()'s at minimum, and the operations are usually simple enough that a fast 64bit CPU won't bottleneck. Everything else is going to be limited by CPU, GPU, or disk. More RAM will help keep the disk out of play.
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I just bought parts for my new gaming rig on Saturday and previously upgraded my HTPC back in late February. Just an observation that 4GB of RAM today (two 2GB kits) cost me $20 less than the identical single 2GB kit in late February. That says nothing about whether you need the RAM, or what speed to run it at, but it was so cheap that I personally couldn't resist, and I don't even have a 64-bit OS
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I'm wondering exactly what processor you're talking about, and if you really meant 667 FSB (as opposed to say... 1333 FSB) as I'm slightly confused. And why would you have to run the RAM at 533 or 667 regardless, is your mobo too weak to drive all 4 slots at full speed? I can't imagine you're actually buying anything less than 800MHz RAM, as the cost differential in speeds is literally ~$5.
What I did on the HTPC was buy an E4300 and clock it up to 333x9 (2.97GHz) so that the 2GB RAM was running 667 with a 1:1 ratio. Since it was 800MHz CL5 ram I was able to lower the timings to 4-4-4-12 instead of 5-5-5-15 at the slower speed. This seems to be a good balance of system performance for me, and was achieved with all stock voltages and the stock cooler.
On the gaming rig I hope to do the exact same thing but with 4GB RAM. I use the machine for Blender rendering as well, so I'm hoping to get some minor benefit out of the RAM on fluid sims and such, even if games won't see a difference. Again, it was too cheap to pass up IMHO.
I'm wondering exactly what processor you're talking about, and if you really meant 667 FSB (as opposed to say... 1333 FSB) as I'm slightly confused. And why would you have to run the RAM at 533 or 667 regardless, is your mobo too weak to drive all 4 slots at full speed? I can't imagine you're actually buying anything less than 800MHz RAM, as the cost differential in speeds is literally ~$5.
What I did on the HTPC was buy an E4300 and clock it up to 333x9 (2.97GHz) so that the 2GB RAM was running 667 with a 1:1 ratio. Since it was 800MHz CL5 ram I was able to lower the timings to 4-4-4-12 instead of 5-5-5-15 at the slower speed. This seems to be a good balance of system performance for me, and was achieved with all stock voltages and the stock cooler.
On the gaming rig I hope to do the exact same thing but with 4GB RAM. I use the machine for Blender rendering as well, so I'm hoping to get some minor benefit out of the RAM on fluid sims and such, even if games won't see a difference. Again, it was too cheap to pass up IMHO.
I'm talking about a Laptop. I upgraded to 4GB of Ram at 533mhz (price is no object here) and I was wondering if I would have been better off with my 2GB at 667mhz.
I know it might be hard to classify a laptop as a true "HTPC" but my new laptop is MUCH MUCH faster than my true "HTPC" so I'll be giving it a workout
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Magius /forum/post/0
I just bought parts for my new gaming rig on Saturday and previously upgraded my HTPC back in late February. Just an observation that 4GB of RAM today (two 2GB kits) cost me $20 less than the identical single 2GB kit in late February. That says nothing about whether you need the RAM, or what speed to run it at, but it was so cheap that I personally couldn't resist, and I don't even have a 64-bit OS![]()
I'm wondering exactly what processor you're talking about, and if you really meant 667 FSB (as opposed to say... 1333 FSB) as I'm slightly confused. And why would you have to run the RAM at 533 or 667 regardless, is your mobo too weak to drive all 4 slots at full speed? I can't imagine you're actually buying anything less than 800MHz RAM, as the cost differential in speeds is literally ~$5.
What I did on the HTPC was buy an E4300 and clock it up to 333x9 (2.97GHz) so that the 2GB RAM was running 667 with a 1:1 ratio. Since it was 800MHz CL5 ram I was able to lower the timings to 4-4-4-12 instead of 5-5-5-15 at the slower speed. This seems to be a good balance of system performance for me, and was achieved with all stock voltages and the stock cooler.
On the gaming rig I hope to do the exact same thing but with 4GB RAM. I use the machine for Blender rendering as well, so I'm hoping to get some minor benefit out of the RAM on fluid sims and such, even if games won't see a difference. Again, it was too cheap to pass up IMHO.
I'm talking about a Laptop. I upgraded to 4GB of Ram at 533mhz (price is no object here) and I was wondering if I would have been better off with my 2GB at 667mhz.
I know it might be hard to classify a laptop as a true "HTPC" but my new laptop is MUCH MUCH faster than my true "HTPC" so I'll be giving it a workout
1 - 14 of 14 Posts
