CPU speed vs. 2Gb ram

[jorbo87]

My friend is buying a new pc, but he has two choices. Which one of these would be best for gaming?

comp 1: amd 64 x2 5000+, 1gb ddr2 ram

comp 2: amd 64 x2 4600+, 2gb ddr2 ram

The reason I'm only posting these specs is because these are the only diferences between the two computers. He plans on playing games like bf2 and bf2142.

 

[DonNagual]

Assuming all other parts are the same (ram speed first and foremost), I'd go with the 4600+ and the 2Gb of ram. Particularly for BF2142 as that game LOVES ram.

What graphics card does that system come with?

 

[jorbo87]

alright thx

 

[Tedster]

answer A.... more than 1GB of RAM really doesn't matter for 95% of games except a few titles.

Also seriously consider a CORE2 duo based system. These beat AMD now hands down. AMD has some cathing up to do. For the same amount of money, you get a better CPU.

 

[DonNagual]

answer A.... more than 1GB of RAM really doesn't matter for 95% of games except a few titles.

BF2142 is one of those games.

Also seriously consider a CORE2 duo based system. These beat AMD now hands down. AMD has some cathing up to do. For the same amount of money, you get a better CPU.

Agreed 100%!

 

[jorbo87]

i heard that with 2gb you get no stuttering at all in games. If he did get a amd x2 5000+ with 1gb would the processor make up for the other gig?

 

[DonNagual]

Well, the most important part of the system, much more so than ram or cpu is the graphics card. You can have the best CPU in the world, and a bajillion gigs of ram, but if you have an FX5200 graphics card (lol) your games are completely unplayable.

 

[jorbo87]

well both computers have a 7950gt in each sooo

 

[DonNagual]

Nice card!

Personally, I'd go for the (slightly) slower CPU and the 2Gb of ram if he is wanting to play BF2142. As I said earlier, that is one of the games out that LOVES ram, and there is a performance increase when you go to 2Gb.

The X2 4600+ is a nice CPU, and more than enough to run the game at high settings.

 

[jorbo87]

thx dude, I just needed another opinion

 

[DonNagual]

Hang in there and see what some others say as well. As you said, it is a hard decision. That's my take on it based on the specific game you are wanting to play, but always best to get as many opinions as you can. Cheers, and good luck!

By the way, some good reading:

Corsair has published a detailed document that describes and demonstrates performance impact moving from 1GB to 2GB of RAM...... An Intel machine running Battlefield 2 scores a whopping 35% improvement for the additional RAM

Source