4 gig or 8 gig and how will a new GPU affect this?

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right guys,

been playing about with my rig

spec

Q9450 @3.45ghz
8gig xms2 ram pc6400 running at 430 fsb 2/1
Corsair TX650
currently an 8800 gts 640 with a 6970 enroute atm

questions

what is going to give the overall better system

i can run the cpu at 3.6ghz if i drop to 4gb ram so its

3.6ghz/4gb ram or 3.45ghz/8gb ram


and does the memory on the graphics card affect system memory i vaguley remember something about video memory being deducted from system memory or perhaps thats the beer talking


thoughts pls guys
 
win7 64bit

any thoughts on the graphics card question?

as the 6970 runs 2gig of video memory
 
Assuming you're on 64-bit then the memory on gpu will not affect system memory.

RE the rest of it, knowing what the main uses are might be helpful!

4GB is generally considered "enough" for gaming, but 8GB is more suitable for encoding/editing.
 
Usually when people talk about video memory affecting system memory is when someone have a 32-bit (rather a 64-bit) OS. In which case the roughly 3/4GB of accessible memory is taken from the video memory, so even less system memory is accessible.
 
RJC said:
You will be fine running 8gb and the gpu without any problems :)
Click to expand...

but what would be better ?


8gig and cpu at 3.45 ghz or 4 gig and cpu at 3.6ghz or is there going to be no noticable difference?
 
Foxtrot26 said:
but what would be better ?


8gig and cpu at 3.45 ghz or 4 gig and cpu at 3.6ghz or is there going to be no noticable difference?
Click to expand...

I'd be inclined to go for 3.6Ghz.

You'll get more frames and more min fps than you will with the 8GB and lower clock as more often than not a chunk of that 4GB ram will not be used - so with 8, you've just got even more not being used.

There won't be any massive noticeable difference, but the higher clock will most likely result in a 2-3fps boost to your minimums.
 
Sorry, the extra memory will probably help with photoshop ect and the performance difference I suspect would be minimal.
 
hmm food for thought,

seriously tempted to keep the 8gig and go for a 4gig ram drive
 
Hope you don't mind me asking a question in relation to what the OP said. :)

Why is it that dropping from 8gb of memory to 4gb makes it easier to overclock the cpu? I have heard this before but don't know the answer.
 
I believe it's to do with the extra stress on the Northbridge on the motherboard, as sometime you need to increase the Northbridge (MCH) voltage to assist.

Hopefully some one can confirm :)
 
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