Memory Help

[magruder13]

Ok, so im a sr in highschool and i thought it would be cool to build my own computer, i know enough for it to work, but i want it to work good. So i was useing some **** ddr2 ram and i wanted to get some 1066 ram to speed my computer up, but there is this thing with timings and i do not understand it what so ever, so i already bought some and its ok but i wanna know if there is anything i can do to make my computer faster/if i bought the right ram

Computer specs
Asus A3M Motherboard
AMD 9550
Kingston Hyper X Duel Channel PC8500 (1066 MHz) 5-5-5-15


I have a few more questions with my computer like i have a 9800 gtx (had 8800 then exchanged it for 9800 because i got $60 back) and i want to know if its worth it to get the 280 Gtx, motherboard does not sli. And i have XP cuz i hate Vista, but i want Direct X 10, and i wanted to know how much better 64bit is over 32bit. Thanks alot for helping me out guys!


Ok i just read the Memory FAQ and i learned alot but i still dont understand what i would like to know, so please dont tell me to refer to that. =]

 

[jitpublisher]

Welcome to the forums!
What memory do/did you have? Faster memory doesn't make a whole lot of real world difference, but an AMD processor will show more improvement over a similar Intel processor due to the AMD having the memory controller on the CPU. You will have to enter the BIOS and make sure the voltage, speed and timings are set correctly, as technically 1066 memory is overclocked, and your board will not detect and set everything for it automatically(usually)
If you want DX10, you have to have Vista. The main reason for going 64 bit is that Vista is a memory hog. 64 bit will allow you to break the 32 bit -4 gig memory limitation. (remember, a 32 bit OS can only address 4 gig of memory, and this includes ALL the memory in your system. Video card memory, CPU cache, Hard drive Cache, etc...ALL OF IT. This is even more important when if you decide to add a shiny new beast of a GPU with 1gig of memory.
Video card upgrade, it depends on what you are doing. Go here and look at the charts. http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/3DMark06-v1-1-0-3DMark-Score,794.html
However, personally there is not enough difference in the 2 cards for me to dump a wad on the 280 if I already owned the 9800GTX. I would prefer to get a 4870X2. As I said check the charts for what you play.

 

[magruder13]

Ok so i need to go into my BIOS and change my timings, voltage and speed, How exactially do i do that, im familiar with the BIOS but i dont want to mess anything up, im going to go look at it once i finish this post because im sure u dont know what the bios looks like offhand. Ok so i think im going to go with a 64 bit OS, but should i bust out the cash for vista because of all its problems and i heard Windows is comming out with a new os by the end of next year, and also ide have to buy more RAM cuz i only have 2GB atm. And im going to stay with my 9800gtx. Thanks so much for the help.

 

[magruder13]

Well, i have fixed it! I play WoW, yea gimme hell for it idc, and a dude in my guild is good with this whole technical part of computers, so we found out that my motherboards bios was way outta date, we cound not find a away around it so i had to "flash" my bios (i found out its something you dont want to do unless u have to?) then it let me set my latency, my RAM said its set at 5-5-5-15, and i put my board on auto and it set it at 4-4-4-14, so i was told that that is pretty good. So thats where im keeping it, and i think im just going to another 2gb of ram (only have 2 atm) to make my computer a lil faster.