On The Verge

[Dino]

Nothing to do with Grass

I'm very close to ordering my new system - Never been in a position to buy a top notch rig and have been looking at lots of firms,

CYBER POWER, BEAST, ALIEN etc....a lot of money

However I have come across PC Specialist http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/ and they seem to be a lot cheaper...anyone had any dealings with them?

I have configured a system on their site based on a ASUS P5N32-E SLI board with a INTEL Core 2 Extreme QX6700 processor. Now this is stuff of my dreams and to compliment it I wanted 4 GB of DDR II 800MHz RAM, however the configuration system would not let me saying

"Unfortunately there is a problem with the NVIDIA chipset on the ASUS® P5N32-E SLI PLUS motherboard which causes instability with 4GB of DDR II 800MHz RAM. Please click back and either change your selection to 4GB of DDR II 667 MHz RAM or change to 2GB of DDR II 800 MHz RAM"

I have done a fair bit of research and have read in this forum and other sites of memory compatibility problems with this board but I am still confused.

This company uses Corsair XMS2 RAM which I thought was a decent make and might have been OK with the board.

PC Specialist will not deviate from their specs, I suppose you can understand that for warranty purposes.

The bottom line is this - I'm a Gamer, who likes to surf the net and mess with my many photographs, using Paint Shop Pro X. I do a little Word Processing when I have to.

So bearing in mind that this is a one off opportunity to buy my dream system do I go for 2 GB at 800 MHz or 4 at 667 MHz

[sorry for my long post - well I think its long - this is the first computer forum I have registered on] :wavey:

 

[Ham]

Quick answer to your question would be go for the slower 4GB. Amount of ram>ram speed by a fair bit.

Can't you build it yourself? It would be a bit cheaper and you can always post on here for advice if you get problems.

Welcome aboard btw:wavey:

 

[llwyd]

Building it yourself is by far the best way to do it mate, especially with a membership here, you'll never be short of advise

It may sound daunting i know but once you're done you will think 'was that it?'

 

[Dino]

Thanks for a prompt reply mate! I tend to agree with you

If it was an every day system - like this P4 2.4, 1 GB, 9600 XT etc - no probs, I built and have re built it many times. I believe I have the ability to build my new one but with the cost involved.....I don't know, maybe a lack of confidence or just going for the easy option

 

[llwyd]

Thanks for a prompt reply mate! I tend to agree with you

If it was an every day system - like this P4 2.4, 1 GB, 9600 pro etc - no probs, I built and have re built it many times. I believe I have the ability to build my new one but with the cost involved.....I don't know, maybe a lack of confidence or just going for the easy option

I see where you're coming from. Lowering a £150+ motherboard into a case makes the most experienced of us nervous lol.

What I will say though is that the durability of modern components is considerably higher than people expect (doesnt stop 90% of all recent components from dying for no reason ). I've dropped my 7800gtx a few times and had water drip onto my SB Live! while running and they're both still fine.

At the end of the day though it is completely up to you mate

 

[Toxcity]

Thanks for a prompt reply mate! I tend to agree with you

If it was an every day system - like this P4 2.4, 1 GB, 9600 XT etc - no probs, I built and have re built it many times. I believe I have the ability to build my new one but with the cost involved.....I don't know, maybe a lack of confidence or just going for the easy option

Welcome to the forums.

Well, if something goes wrong(which is you are super careful it won't)

You can always send it back.

 

[Ham]

You can always send it back.

QFT

 

[JN]

As the other guys have said mate, build it yourself. That way you can get exactly what you want.

If you want 4gb ram, then pick a different motherboard. And also the money you'll save by doing it yourself could easily pay for building even more of a monster.

You'll always have the help of the guys here, and also if you get the components from one of the companies that have support forums here, you'll have an easy way to get hold of them if things do go wrong.

 

[macgamesrule]

I was in a similar position a little over a year ago. I'm a college student on a rather tight budget, and had saved for some time to get a high end system. My choices were to buy premade from a company or build my own. I was somewhat nervous, having as my only computer experience adding RAM to a machine which is pretty trivial, but I read the relevant guides/instructions and gave it a go... and my system turned out all right. Modern systems really aren't that hard to deal with as far as putting it together; most things come with clear instructions, the cables only fit in one socket, etc. And there's forums like OC3D to ask questions on I encourage you to check out your options on BIY.

To answer the question you asked, if you do wind up going with the prebuilt system, get the 4GB 667.

 

[chudley]

Hello first of all Buid it yoursel mate- simple as that! benefits far outwiegh any uncertanties you might have. 4gb wins every time

 

[FarFarAway]

Hey mate and welcome here, nice to see ya @ OC3D :hello:

 

[AussieMum]

Hi and welcome, :wavey:

Even I say build it yourself (and I'm no computer expert, I'm just here for the chat) You will feel better knowing that you did it.