Quad core or dual core

[frodbonzi]

If you're building a new PC, 64-bit OS is the way to go... And if you decide to go DDR2, there's no point not going to 8gb... it's REALLY cheap now

And while OCing 4 sticks IS harder than 2, it's still not too difficult. I REALLY can't overstress the importance of a good motherboard though. I suggest paying a few extra bucks and getting one of the Asus RoG boards (x48, x38 or even 790i). They make basic OCing something even a practical novice can do - although I still suggest doing it manually if you DO know what you're doing!

As an aside, has anyone else noticed that Asus seems to leave the voltages higher than necessary when "auto-overclocking"? I assume that this is to prevent crashes (they don't care if you waste power), but I find you can always decrease the voltage after doing the auto-set, and usually get a working POST...

Have my q9450 running at 500FSB, 4ghz, and looks like it's actually going to stay stable (I'll know for sure in a day or so).

 

[frodbonzi]

oops.... my bad, double post

 

[Schfifty Five]

Originally posted by: frodbonzi
If you're building a new PC, 64-bit OS is the way to go... And if you decide to go DDR2, there's no point not going to 8gb... it's REALLY cheap now

And while OCing 4 sticks IS harder than 2, it's still not too difficult. I REALLY can't overstress the importance of a good motherboard though. I suggest paying a few extra bucks and getting one of the Asus RoG boards (x48, x38 or even 790i). They make basic OCing something even a practical novice can do - although I still suggest doing it manually if you DO know what you're doing!

As an aside, has anyone else noticed that Asus seems to leave the voltages higher than necessary when "auto-overclocking"? I assume that this is to prevent crashes (they don't care if you waste power), but I find you can always decrease the voltage after doing the auto-set, and usually get a working POST...

Have my q9450 running at 500FSB, 4ghz, and looks like it's actually going to stay stable (I'll know for sure in a day or so).

Holy crap your computer is nice. And if it gets the 4ghz stable, then that is even better.

 

[rgldsmth]

4 memory sticks are not a problem if single bank sticks, this way the NB is not stresses as much, it still see's 4 banks, most folks have lets say 2 sticks double banked, thus also 4 banks, single side are seen as the same 4 x 1=4 banks..