Upgrade RAM or video card or SSD or.....
So I'm getting ready to consider making some system upgrades. My current dilemma is pined around the future move to Adobe PS CS5 as it is released.
I currently have 5GB of DDR2 ram with a PhenomII965black
Do I:
A) max out the DDR2 Ram at 16GB
B) get a motherboard that supports DDR3 and between 12-24GB of ram
C) get a Video card either a quadroFX3800 or GTX 480 (should get something so I'm not running on the motherboard graphics)
D) Get an SSD Drive
F) save the money and build a new system around a Core i7 980X or equivalent Xeon (maybe 2 CPU xeon)
I'm currently leaning towards saving the money and building a new system towards the beginning of next year and just holding out with the current system by bumping up the Ram to 8GB
I currently have 5GB of DDR2 ram with a PhenomII965black
Do I:
A) max out the DDR2 Ram at 16GB
B) get a motherboard that supports DDR3 and between 12-24GB of ram
C) get a Video card either a quadroFX3800 or GTX 480 (should get something so I'm not running on the motherboard graphics)
D) Get an SSD Drive
F) save the money and build a new system around a Core i7 980X or equivalent Xeon (maybe 2 CPU xeon)
I'm currently leaning towards saving the money and building a new system towards the beginning of next year and just holding out with the current system by bumping up the Ram to 8GB
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Comments
You won't find a board that supports 12-24GB in an AMD board, so B is pretty much along the lines of F. You can get a DDR3 AMD board, but it will be 8 - 16GB of support.
Going back to the 5GB thing, have you tried running just the 4GB kit? I think you will find things to be a bit faster with less ram. You are hurting overall ram performance with mis-matched densities.
Yes, I know, no recommendations yet, want to get those answered first.
I have 2x2GB and a 1GB it in dual channel with the 1gb unganged I tried 2x2gb 2x1gb but the dimms were miss mached and wouldn't run dual channel. I then tried 2x2GB which ran dual channel and much faster then when it was running single channel. Adding the single 1gb unganged added some additional boost to performance as well. (I forgot AMD caped out at 16GB, I've been looking at the i7's recently with boards that cap at 24GB)
After reading this review on the I980x I might opt for a lower cost chip if I go with a new set up, for CS4 it looks like anything around 870, 960, or 975 would be approaching 1.5-2 times as fast, but in many areas what I have would be fast enough for now.
Considering that review Choices are down to More Ram vs. Motherboard and DDR-3 ram vs. SSD
I think I'll opt for the video card on principal. (Revit is the big question on what would be the best video card, followed by future video editing with mercury playback which would need the QuadroFX3800)
ECS BLACK SERIES A790GXM-AD3 AM3 AMD 790GX
and
ECS Black Series A790GXM-A AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX
The down side to both of these is neither has USB3 or SATAIII
Looking at the costs I can get
2x2GB DDR2 for $80
2x4GB DDR2 for $250
4x2GB DDR3 for $220 Plus a motherboard for DDR3 at $130
considering the cost of a DDR3 setup with 8GB would run $350
and upgrading to 8GB of DDR2 would only be $80 (I have 4GB now)
I think the cost savings for DDR2 might largely outweigh any performance gain going to DDR3
unless someone can suggest something better I'm thinking just going with the 4gb upgrade.
This leaves the question of should I get an SSD drive for the OS or for a Photoshop scratch disk or no SSD for now.
And I still need to make a decision on a videocard.
Seriously though, what is your budget?
Overall, I think I should to wait to see what the system requirements for CS5 will be to be on the safe side for upgrade plans. (April 12 you can't come soon enough)
I think upgrading to 8gb by adding 2x2gb to my current set up is a no brainer.
Video card is a debate between Quadro FX 1800, 3800 or a geforce gtx 470
(on a strictly cost basis the geforce gtx 470 looks like a good option, unless nvidia releases performance drivers for CS5 and maybe for Revit 2011 or if I decide 30bit color is a must)
SSD is a debate between a pagefile/scratch disk 60GB drive or hold out for a 128-320GB OS and programs drive. but I' m thinking the performance gains vs cost might not be that great yet.
Or go for a larger OS/software drive?
Or even an OS only drive (although I'm not sure all that would have to be tweaked to keep the software on another drive, Moving the User profile and files to another drive is simple enough though)
Taking all that in to account, the SSD will be a major investment so may want to try getting the second kit of ram first and go from there. Should be a cheaper experiment while the SSD can be researched a little bit better or someone with more knowledge chimes in.
Video card I'm considering: GeForce GTX 470, QuadroFx 3800, or wait for fermi based quadro cards.
amount of Ram is still in question, but 8GB is the minimum
SSD is in debate either as just a paging file and scratch disk, or as an OS and programs disk
budget wise I think I'm limited to the QuadroFx 3800, GeForce GTX 470, or GeForce GTX 480
I would like to be considering the QuadroFx 4800, GeForce GTX 480, or Quadro 4000
in the end I would like to be debating the GeForce GTX 480 or Quadro 4000
Partly I'm waiting for Adobe to release a patch for the mercury playback engine and announce which fermi cards will be supported.
GeForce GTX 470 or Quadro 4000
I will continue to consider the GeForce GTX 480, until I buy a card or it's supported.
Price says GeForce GTX 470, it's hard to argue with since it's a good performer for about $300
but is there enough performance to gain by moving to the Quadro 4000 to justify Throwing down about $800?
no review comparing these two cards running professional software yet, there is a review comparing the Quadro 5000 and the GeForce GTX 470, suggesting a huge performance boost with the 5000. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/nvidia-quadro-5000_7.html#sect1