Help wanted w/x1900 xt system!!!

[bluntside]

I'm planning to order
DFI lan PARTY nf4 ultra
x1900xt
1gb Kingston hyperX pc4000
a 450w psu
x-fi xtreme music
amd+3700
My stumped question to all of U is, Will I need 2gb of memfor this system?? The power supply is antec smartpower 450watt, will I need something higher. I am really nill on cash$$ so I will need to improvise is my spending wisley.
I wont be playing any battlefield2 so Im guessing That I shouldnt get 2gb worth of mem, But what about my psu?? Maybe something higher??
PLZ HeLp, any alternative hardware I should purchase??
Just found out that my tax return wasnt near to what I expected it to be :roll:

 

[mdd1963]

"Will I need 2gb of memfor this system?? The power supply is antec smartpower 450watt, will I need something higher. "

You can always start off with a single 1 gb stick (albeit at the expense of dual channel and perhaps a 2-3% performance hit), and add another 1 gb stick later....the 1900XT is worth the 1 gb sacrifice initially, get it!! (Most games are still fine with 1 gb, except for BF2...)

As the integrated 8 ch. sound is quite adequate on most boards save for perhaps the most dedicated of audiophiles, you could skip the sound card altogether...most don't miss it.

(450 watts? I'd be happier with a 550 watt unit for 1900 series of cards which require even 5-10 watts more power than 1900GTX, but perhaps you will be ok)

 

[cleeve]

Yep, buy one good-quality 1 GB stick of RAM. Dual channel memory offers an insignificant performance gain, and you can always buy a second gig later.

More RAM won't increase your framerates, but it'll lower level loading times a bit.

 

[TabrisDarkPeace]

Just get 2 x 512 MB, then add another 2 x 512 MB later on.

The board does have 4 x DIMM slots right ?

That way you get dual-channel performance today... and tomorrow.

Do you think it'll ever need more than 2 GB installed (4 x 512 MB) ?


If the people above are saying single-channel is 'OK', then 2T CMD RATE in DUAL-CHANNEL (with 4 x DIMMs down the track) is going to be a hell of alot better. 8)

If not overclocking +25%, then don't waste money on PC4000 only to run it at PC3200 speeds with its SPD table timings. :roll:

 

[cleeve]

I'm going to have to disagree with you there, Dual channel memory will get you less than a 5% increase in performance.

It's not worth it to use all those ram slots. 1 GB now and 1 GB later when you can afford it is the way to go, especially if you have 3 or less slots for the ram... even with four slots I'd use single GB sticks. The more slots you use the more power you use and stability can be affected also, especially in dual channel mode.

Plus, if you ever upgrade and want to migrate your RAM with you, it's nice to be able to expand to more RAM in the future.