I built my rig a few years back (Intel Core 2 Duo E8500, Asus P5Q Pro mobo, Radeon HD 4870 1GB). I can't remember the exact RAM but CPU-Z tells me 4GB Dual DDR2 with a DRAM frequency hovering around 400 MHz. I feel like tinkering with the rig a bit and thought a good addition might be additional/all new RAM. What advice would you give? What would provide me with a noticeable difference in performance?
Upgrade from 4GB DDR2 to what?
- Thread starter cypress
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Looking at the Asus website for your mobo ---> http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5Q_PRO/#specifications It seems like you could run your memory at a much better speed than 400MHz. You could also add more Ram too.
The cooler and OC'ing interests me. I never considered OC'ing before but maybe I should. Also I have those 'silent' Noctua fans (can't remember exact model but were they best when I got them) for my case and have actually always found the PC a bit noisy. Maybe this is the stock intel fan on the cpu.
Sliver, do you mean run my currently installed memory faster? Through the BIOS?
Sliver, do you mean run my currently installed memory faster? Through the BIOS?
I think you will find that 400mhz that cpu-z is showing actually translates to 800mhz RAM. It will probably overclock somewhere near to 1066mhz but it is very unlikely that overclocking it will net you any noticible performance improvements. Overclocking the processor will give a performance boost and the E8500 was a very good overclocker and able to reach around 4ghz with a good air cooler iirc. That is what I would look into next.
Regarding your comment about noise, the stock intel cooler is fairly noisy in my experience, mainly due to its small fan. A third party cooler (maybe one of noctua's offerings?) will more than likely be quieter. Some of these are quite large however so make sure you have enough clearance in your case before buying one.
Regarding your comment about noise, the stock intel cooler is fairly noisy in my experience, mainly due to its small fan. A third party cooler (maybe one of noctua's offerings?) will more than likely be quieter. Some of these are quite large however so make sure you have enough clearance in your case before buying one.
Yes, but Blusky's post above says what you should be looking at first.