$$$ or performance?

[fishoutofwater]

I am not into gaming(Yet anyway) Looking to make my first build for music, home movies, and pix.

ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

Core 2 Duo E7200

Should I go ahead and load it up with 4G or will 2 be sufficient to play around eith in the beginning? Any and all advice is much appreciated!!!:

Can't figure out how to paste components list style>>>So much to learn!

Looks like i've got it now...thanks y'all!!!!

 

[Yellowbeard]

Vista 32 bit or XP 32 bit, 2gb is fine if you are not a power user of some sort. If you want a better long term machine and/or you will run Vista 64, get the 4gb.

Also, 4gb is DIRT CHEAP so really it is the better option regardless of the OS. If you get 4gb with a 32bit OS you won't be able to utilize all of it but it is still a very sensible upgrade.

 

[DSF]

As cheap as RAM is, I don't see any reason to avoid 4GB.

 

[fishoutofwater]

OK...so 4G it is...Let's see if I can get any takers on this one...

Do i go 4 x 1, or 4 x 2 and what is the difference?

Now looking at building around:


Intel Core 2 Duo E8400

ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

 

[Yellowbeard]

2 x 2gb is the better option if it is within your budget.

 

[fishoutofwater]

Any recommendations as to speed, etc. Not for heavy gaming, mostly editing/encoding, music and whatever else I learn along the way

 

[BlueAcolyte]

DDR2-800 for the average Joe, DDR2-1000 if you want to overclock heavily. Get the cheapest stuff from a name brand possible. If you go to my FAQ, it says that most chips are from the same company, with a different heatspreader and brandname slapped on.

Edit: Remember that lower timings are better but not worth a lot of extra money.

 

[fishoutofwater]

Yeah...Already perused the FAQ's. Got a few weeks before I build(or buy) so I am trying to spend more time searching & reading than posting stupid questions when I don't know what I'm really asking. Really want to build...hate to spend a lot of money just to wind up with a lot of dialers, etc. that I won't use. Have several good links on assembly...and am not really intimidated by the hardware end.

I know this isn't the right place to ask, but what I would really like to find & look over is some info/tutorials on partitioning & formatting, etc. I catch on to stuff pretty quick & happen to have some free time on my hands for the next couple of months.

So if anybody reads this and understands what I am trying to say, I will know am surrounded by geniuses.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Originally posted by: fishoutofwater
Yeah...Already perused the FAQ's. Got a few weeks before I build(or buy) so I am trying to spend more time searching & reading than posting stupid questions when I don't know what I'm really asking. Really want to build...hate to spend a lot of money just to wind up with a lot of dialers, etc. that I won't use. Have several good links on assembly...and am not really intimidated by the hardware end.

I know this isn't the right place to ask, but what I would really like to find & look over is some info/tutorials on partitioning & formatting, etc. I catch on to stuff pretty quick & happen to have some free time on my hands for the next couple of months.

So if anybody reads this and understands what I am trying to say, I will know am surrounded by geniuses.

FOr hard drive information StorageReview is great for info about and reviews on hard drives. Here's their FAQ, which has answers for some of your questions:

SR FAQ

 

[fishoutofwater]

Thanks a whole heap for

http://faq.storagereview.com/

Had the proverbial cart before the horse for a few days...instead of just shopping & dreaming, I am now just soaking up whatever info I can. Keep up the good work!!!