Help me build a desktop

[Rathji]

What Ken said, but the exact value is about 3.2 GB.

We are at the point where it doesn't make sense to ever get a new PC without a 64 bit Os. In fact I would be shocked if there was any more than a trivial amount of x86 systems left on the market at this time,

[sa226]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Maybe its just me and my usage, but I would not be buying a PC with less than 16gb RAM at this point.

Me and my 775 socket mobo with an OCed q6700 and 4gigs of RAM, get along just fine. Though I don't do any gaming.

I know what you mean though.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Rathji

What Ken said, but the exact value is about 3.2 GB.

[Rathji]

I stand corrected, but only partially.

Depending on the SP and the exact system, xp will show various amounts of ram being used by the system. Most often the variance is the onboard video ram being included in that value or not. The bios can also restrict this amount as well, which is where my 3.2 amount came from I think.

In the end, you are technically more correct, since 3.5 is the amount that is most often used, even if some is reserved by the video.

[Vulcan]

Windows 7 Home Premium is limited to 16 GB of ram on X64. Pro and above can use 192 GB.

Windows 8 x64 can use 128 GB with the pro version using 512 GB.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...mits_windows_7

[secol]

thanks for all the help.....went to memory express today and got a good hunk of stuff that they had in stock and PM'd a couple. just missing CPU, MOBO and PSU

GSkill RipJaw 4GBx2 RAM
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200 RPM SATA
Gigabyte GTX 660
Corsair 400R (only corsair widths fit into the computer hole in desk at home)
DVD RW
Logitech MK120 Keyboard/Mouse
21.5' BenQ Monitor x2
Windows 7 Home

Came to under 800 bucks, so looks like i'll be going over budget by 100-200 but i got 2 year IPR on the monitors and the GPU along with windows 7.

Likely going to get the 3570K and the P8Z77-V LK when they have stock with Antec High Current Gamer 620W with PM should be around 400.

[BananaPancakes]

This is a bit off topic but does using non-matching RAM harm your computer in anyway?

I bought a 2x4GB kit to upgrade my existing 2x2GB kit. Can I use all 4 sticks for 12GB of RAM or is it best to keep 2 slots empty? They're are different brands and timings but the voltage is the same.

[BlackArcher101]

As long as it's the correct type of ram, you'll be ok. I believe the only downside is the speed of all sticks will be degraded to match the slowest.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

As long as it's the correct type of ram, you'll be ok. I believe the only downside is the speed of all sticks will be degraded to match the slowest.

Correct. One small thing you can do to gain a bit of performance though, even if the memory will be clocked to the lowest common denominator, is to check how your motherboard would like the RAM to be slotted as well - if for example, it has four slots and supports dual channel, it will like matched pairs of DIMMs to be installed in a specific order (for example, A1-A2-B1-B2, or on other motherboards, it's A1-B1-A2-B2). This should be spelled out in the manual, or the motherboard may have colour coded slots (or possibly small labels printed on the motherboard itself next to each slot)

Basically, you want to use the same size DIMM in the paired slots to gain dual-channel performance benefits. (or triplets or quads, depending on whether the motherboard supports dual/triple/quadruple memory channels)

Here's more than anyone ever needed to know, along with nice pictures:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/print...hitectures/133

It's not going to be a huge performance boost, but with even a 10% performance gain for the sake of being accurate in the build, you might as well. It's an especially good idea with system with integrated graphics, since the graphics controller and CPU are competing for bandwidth on the same bus.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by ken0042

The key there is a 64 bit O/S. 32 bit systems will only see about 3.5 GB of ram.

In addition to the lower amount of addressable RAM, not using a 64 bit OS on a x64 compatible processor means you don't get to use the 8 extra CPU registers, nor the 64 bit width the base 8 registers support. This hobbles the CPU, because you are quartering the amount of data it can operate without going to the L1 cache or out on the memory bus on for any given set of instructions/clock cycles, broadly speaking.

Having twice as many registers, that are twice as wide, as an x86 processor is a significant advantage on the kinds of tasks that modern CPU's are asked to perform, like audio and video encoding/decoding, doing intensive image editing with heavy effects and filters, data encryption/de-encryption, etc.

(* although from a programmer's perspective you have twice as many, twice as wide registers to work with on x64, under the hood it's actually much more complex. Modern CPU's have many more registers under the hood (potentially hundreds), but they aren't named, and thus aren't accessible to programmers writing assembler, or to compilers generating assembler from higher level languages. The CPU uses a technique called register renaming to make internal use of these unnamed registers, and that's what lets it parallelize the instruction pipeline, do out of order execution, hyperthreading, etc)

[Mattington]

What is the advantage of building your own computer? If I "built" a computer from Dell for ~$1500 w/monitor and MS Office, could I get a computer built at Memory Express for the same price or cheaper?

[Jacks]

I haven't used a computer from one of the big makers in a long time but they used to have some disadvantages.

- The motherboards used to be proprietary, it was difficult to find updated drivers, especially when the computer was a few years old. I remember trying to reload windows on a 3 year old HP computer once, getting the sound, network, etc. working was a chore.

- They are usually loaded with tons of garbage software, search bars, start up screens, etc.

- The cramped custom cases usually make it difficult to upgrade anything.

Some of this may not apply anymore, maybe someone who owns a Dell can chime in. If you aren't in a hurry you can get some pretty decent components on sale at MemEx, plus if you build it yourself you can put exactly the components you want in.

[secol]

better bang for buck, usually the GPU on pre-built aren't very good

also you can shop for deals on each part individually and price match them which results in lots of savings

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by secol

better bang for buck, usually the GPU on pre-built aren't very good

also you can shop for deals on each part individually and price match them which results in lots of savings

A corollary to this is the power supply is normally the bare minimum required for such a system, so any upgrades to the Video Card will also require a power supply upgrade.

[Vulcan]

Also last time I looked you can't over clock a Dell etc.

[secol]

and even if you're a complete noob at overclocking, some motherboards, graphics cards and processors come with overclocking software with it that you can play around with pretty easily

[Coys1882]

I've heard - HEARD - that the components in the pre-fab PCs aren't of the same quality as the ones you buy in the box at Mem Express.

The way it was expressed to me was like this: 'you know when you go for wing night at a pub and the wings are tiny? And you're thinking to yourself "I know the wings are bigger other nights when I just order them off the menu" - it's like that, it's still a chicken wing but it's not as good of a chicken wing'