high-end MoBo or high-end Ram? money for only one

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william_90

william_90

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Feb 2, 2013
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Im not really into this "go for the middle" thing
I've got a 3770k & amd7970 in the rig,
now i can buy a quad 8Gb (4x8) ram 2400MHz or a Asus Maximus V Formula
i've got money for only one of them
plus i've a dual 4Gb ram (2x4)1600MHz from previous rig
thank you

+my money...~300$
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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Oct 9, 2006
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On the ram:
Faster ram past 1600 buys you little in real app performance. Read this:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3

If you will be running 64 bit enabled apps like photoshop, then buy all you can.
Save that, or heavy multitasking, 8gb or 16gb is probably the most you should buy.
Remember that to access >16gb, you will need more than home premium.

You will not perform any better with an expensive Z77 motherboard.
If you are trying for a record overclock, then yes. Or, if you want triple sli capability then yes.

With $300 to spend on a satisfying upgrade, I would look at a SSD if you don't already have one, or perhaps a second monitor.
 
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SchizTech

SchizTech

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Jan 16, 2011
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Of those options Definitely go for the board. High end RAM doesn't make a big difference, besides it can easily be upgraded. The better mobo can add more features, more connection options, etc - and would be a much tougher chore to upgrade.

(edited)Though as others have said, look at how much you need the features in a new board compared to your current one. An SSD makes a nice upgrade, as I can see in my desktop.
 
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william_90

william_90

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Feb 2, 2013
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guys u all meant by SSD a solid-slate drive?
well what use does it have when I dont need storing anything, just running apps and deleting things i used, if it affect the speed of apps and games, etc, it would be great
i dont overclock, so from what I've gathered by now, the Ram's bus, doesnt make difference? in real life and a high-end MoBo is useless when there's no overclocking or SLI/CROSSFIREing, right?
so its a total waste putting that money on high-ending, maybe I just upgrade the monitor, its a simple 1400*900 syncmaster nwx1943
orrr just keep the money and save it for my son?
 
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13thmonkey

13thmonkey

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Jan 10, 2006
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SSD = faster booting, snappier, the same effect you might have been trying to get with fast RAM.

I thought you were not a middle person?

SSD will give you the biggest incremental improvement in performance.
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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Oct 9, 2006
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A SSD makes everything you do go much quicker. Boot times are faster, files open instantly, apps or games load faster.
A one hour windows install or update may take 10 minutes.
The only drawback to a ssd is that it costs much more per gigabyte than hard drive space.
A good 240gb ssd may cost you $200.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167128

For Normal desktop usage, buy a great monitor. And, keep your old one. The extra screen real estate is very helpful.
A 24" 1080P monitor will be $200. Game on the big one, and keep e-mail and such active on the small one.
 
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S

smeezekitty

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Sep 11, 2012
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Actually SSDs have two disadvantages:

High price / GB
Limited write cycles

The high price is very true but if you like fast boot times and program load times it is worth it.
Limited write cycles is not a big deal but you should avoid TLC SSDs and avoid putting a swap file on an SSD. Then you should be fine for many years in a normal situation.
 
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