I see on Newegg there are lots of good deals on RAM. Am I better served buying DDR3 1333, 1600, 1866 or even 2133? For example, 8GB of Corsair XMS3 1333 is $45, 8GB of GSkill Sniper 1866 is $60 or the same amount in GSkill Ripjaws 2133 is $70. I know that more is often better and faster is also, but many times it goes unused/underused in a system.

To open another can of worms, I have been an AMD guy since I got rid of my P90 eons ago. Other than price, are there advantages of AMD over Intel or vice/versa? When I get my MB/CPU I will most likely get it on a combo deal matched to whatever RAM I pick. Basically, picking up parts at the best price over the next several months.

Apple fanboys/Jobs-ites need not respond since you drank that Kool-ade long ago...

Depends on the mobo Mac. If the board doesn't support the RAM then its a no go. As far as Intel vs AMD it really doesn't matter much for general use. If you plan on overclocking then Intel is by far the way to go today. I use AMD and will use it again in the future. I like the bang for the buck of AMD. Without overclocking my CPU runs at 3.6GHz. Not stellar by today's standards of 4.0GHz or more, but more than enough for the job. Let me look around NewEgg today and see what I find for you in a combo deal. I personally think 8 Gigs is more than enough for everyday use in a computer for RAM today on a 64bit OS. You do know that you need a 64Bit OS for BF3 right? If you plan on doing heavy video, image, or audio editing/creation then you should consider more, but 8 Gigs is enough.

This is one of the older CPU's, but one of the better ones. Also threw in an Asus Mobo to take advantage of all the newer speeds on USB, PCI, and SATA 6Gb/s, etc., etc.. Could go with the newer FX Zambezi CPU for a few dollars more.






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If your shopping for RAM, 2133 is they way to go. I jumped from 1333 to 1866 in my laptop and I can see a difference between the two. So I can only imagine what 2133 would run at. On my new build back home, I plan on using 2133 corsair or Ripjaws 2133.

If you us 16G of ram, then you can eliminate the paging file(virtual memory) being done on the hard drive. Which only means faster read/write speeds. Not much, but every little bit helps. ;)

Originally Posted by Guerrillero

If you us 16G of ram, then you can eliminate the paging file(virtual memory) being done on the hard drive. Which only means faster read/write speeds. Not much, but every little bit helps. ;)

exactly what I did, go for the big money mac.

I have 6 gigs ddr3 if you need it. Corsair dominator 1600 I believe.

Originally Posted by SgtDeadred

I have 6 gigs ddr3 if you need it. Corsair dominator 1600 I believe.

You wierdo X58 guys keep forgetting your the only ones on the planet using 3 sticks of ram.

I still say the Intel 1155 cpu/motherboards are the way to go for great performance and lower cost. AMD is cheaper but simply can't compete, in my opinion, for a gaming machine. If gaming is your focus for this pc that's where I'd go. As for RAM more is always better but there aren't noticeable differences for gaming in DDR speed that I've seen. Then again it all depends on the purpose of the build.

Ideally you want a minimum 8GB of the fastest RAM your board will take. For comparing CPUs: PassMark Intel vs AMD CPU Benchmarks - High End is great. They can give you a pretty good %age improvement between old vs new etc. Another good one is http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/2.