RAM upgrade vs CPU upgrade for responsiveness

largebluefox

Honorable
Sep 6, 2013
11
0
10,520
I am looking to build a new Win 7 PC for non gaming but memory intensive usage, like having several google chrome browsers each with several tabs open. I plan to disable paging so that all stuff will be in the memory and response will be quick.

Should I, after selecting a core i5:

1. Spend on an upgrade of the RAM speed, like 2400 MHz (1600 MHz seems to be standard today) or

2. Get 1600 MHz RAM and upgrade on a larger cache CPU?

Which will give me more responsiveness, all other things being equal between these two choices?
 
Solution
You won't notice much of a difference between RAM speeds - and an i5 is plenty for what you need. Make sure you get 8GB of RAM, and an SSD would speed things up nicely.