I have a question for the hardware gurus out there... I have a system I put together about 4 years ago specifically to handle storing/editting the HD videos I was starting to accumulate. At the time it was the most money I'd spent on hardware in a long time, and included an ASUS P6T Deluxe LGA 1366 motherboard, an Intel core-i7 920 processor, and 3 matched sticks of 2GB DDR3 1066 RAM, which seemed like a lot at the time.
Now that I'm (finally) starting to seriously play with ~2hrs of HD content plus other assorted sound/image data I'm finding myself running out of memory. The first step is to update the 32-bit software I'm using to newer 64-bit versions that weren't available back then. But since I'm already bumping up against 4GB and I've barely begun to push it, I figure I should throw more memory at it while I can. The motherboard can support 24GB DDR3 1066/1333 without overclocking. Back then I opted for the 1066 because even that was almost $200 for 6GB. I still have 3 slots open, and figured I could always throw another 3 sticks in there if I needed it. However, times change and prices drop. I can't find DDR3-1066 in 6GB matched sets anymore. I can buy 3 individual 2GB sticks for ~$60. Or I can get 3 matched sticks of 4GB DDR3-1333 for about 50% more (another $30 or so). So the question is,... a) will I see any noticable speed boost from the faster RAM, and b) will the RAM access be faster by having the memory spread out in all 6 slots (2 banks of triple-channel RAM), or will the RAM access be just as efficient having it all in one set of 3 slots)? If the hardware is more efficient using all 6 slots I might be better off saving the money and filling it out with the cheaper/slower RAM. If not, I might as well upgrade to the faster RAM while I'm at it. john- _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
