Processor or Ram. Which is more important for a math machine?

[legocitytruck]

What is more important for a new desktop that will be used for a lot of MathCAD and SAP2000 but no gaming; ram or processor speed? How much of each is necessary? Is it best to shoot for a compromise between the too? The budget is about $600 excluding case, monitor, and any external hardware.

 

[mmntech]

Good combo deal on at Newegg right now.

Intel Core i5 750
Asus P7P55D LE Motherboard
Seagate Barricuda 1.5tb 7200rpm SATA HDD
OCz 4gb DDR3-1333mhz

For $497
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?ItemList=Combo.262080

That's quite a robust system. Lots of raw calculating power. Just throw in a cheap graphics card and you're set. For a math system, I'd say CPU is more critical than RAM. Then again it depends on how much you're trying to do or whether these programs are 64-bit. You will definitely want quad core for this though. If you want something cheaper, you could always go with an AMD Phenom II X4 setup. Also supports DDR3, somewhat cheaper than the i5/i7 but not as powerful. Don't go with LGA775 chips (Core 2 Quad) as that's on it's way out.

 

[jae]

agreed

 

[sunshinetechnology]

Originally posted by: legocitytruck
What is more important for a new desktop that will be used for a lot of MathCAD and SAP2000 but no gaming; ram or processor speed? How much of each is necessary? Is it best to shoot for a compromise between the too? The budget is about $600 excluding case, monitor, and any external hardware.

I believe matlab / mathcad type applications really depend on what tasks you are doing. Ie, if you are doing lots of image manipulation or calculating then RAM and Disk IO speed are important. If you're just calculating away and not storing much in your file, then CPU counts.

 

[0roo0roo]

i'm getting the feeling that if you really needed heavy duty power for what you were doing, you would know exactly how much and why. so don't worry about it.