Faster memory or more memory?

Soldato
Joined
4 Aug 2006
Posts
2,580
Hi :)

On an I7 875k overclocked rig, hoping to keep me going for at least 3-4 years, which would be preferable: 4gig 2000mhz memory or 8gig 1600mhz memory?
 
Personally, you'll notice little difference in the speed of RAM and you may never use the full 8GB of memory. I would just sit with what you have until there's an issue to address. If the PC gets bogged down after a few years, then start looking. My guess is you'll not need either but it depends on what you are doing?
 
I use my PC for a variety of things :)

As in; I listen to music, watch TV / movies, internet (obviously), audio editing / recording / mixing, moderate gaming (but I like good gfx / performance)

I don't do rendering / massive number crunching. I do want my PC to last a few years though.
 
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More RAM is always better, even if you don't use it I think Windows will for caching things (unless you have an SSD as I think caching is disabled with those).
 
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go for 8gb.

4gb is better than faster ram that gives u 2% - 5% more performance in a handful of applications.
 
Do you have the i7 875K yet? If not, then please don't buy it. For the same money you could get an i7 950 system or get an i7 860 and save some money (but still overclock just as well).
 
plus if you go for the i7 950, then u'll get tripple channel ram giving you 6gb instead, which is generally plenty for most things.
 
Interesting.

No I haven't bought it yet. Been debating the 875 vs 950 for a few weeks. I thought the 875 would suit better as it's slightly less expensive once coupled with the mobo / memory and runs cooler and uses less power.

I've no intention of going sli or crossfire, so the 8x / 8x PCIE thing is no issue. So after all that I just looked at some benchmarks and saw that the performance was almost identical, and occasionally favoured the 875 in gaming.

My room gets quite hot in summer so the power / cooling thing is an issue.
 
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