buying higher clock or overclocking

[Orbidal]

Just another noob question from me.

Is it better to buy 1600Mhz and OC it or,

Is it better to buy 2000Mhz and run it under normal timings, etc...

couldn't find a direct answer to this so I had to ask... sorry if someone is able to find something that I couldn't, but any direction is always appreciated.

 

[vmbgap]

There are pros and cons to both but if you are not familiar with overclocking I would suggest buying the clock speed you want.

If you are willing to risk the potential loss of the chip and/or motherboard and don't mind spending some extra on a good fan overclocking can be a cheaper way to get a faster CPU.

Other factors, look at the CPU as a hole what other features are you getting if you get the 2.0 vs 1.6??? "L" level cache, "bus speed" etc. should play a part.

 

[Blain]

It's better to buy high quality memory, that's rated to run at JEDEC standards or better.
1.65v is higher than JEDEC DDR3 1.5v, but it's not better.
With voltage lower is better in general.

There is no free lunch with memory > Buy High Quality

 

[P4man]

Both Core iX and Phenoms are not very bandwidth constrained, especially not the core i7 which basically have an overkill bandwidth already, so it really doesnt pay off to spend much on super fast ram. The only point I can see is if you have a multiplier locked CPU you want to overclock, so you need RAM that can keep up.

If you have an unlocked CPU or dont intend to overclock much, dont spend too much on your RAM modules, its not worth it.

 

[Ben90]

Even with a multiplier locked processor, RAM rarely limits an overclock. DDR3-1066 will allow a 920 to go up to 3.73Ghz before it runs 1hz out of spec.

 

[Zap]

I think it is better to spend the extra money on the GPU (for gamers) or the CPU/cooling (for overclockers).