Quad core and RAM speed questions

[g3neralknyght]

Hey guys, just a couple questions regarding some PC upgrades I want to make.

Current setup:
Gigabyte mobo
AMD 2.4 dual core
DDR2 2x1GB at 800mhz
Geforce 9600 GT
Windows Vista 32bit

I purchased all but the graphics card about 2 years ago.
My first question is how much does RAM speed affect gaming? I'm looking at some of the DDR3 2x2GB at anywhere from 1000-2000mhz. Would this be a good upgrade? When will I need more than 4GB? Should I opt for a 6GB or 8GB setup? Or get a higher RAM speed?

What is the benefit to getting quad core over dual core? I have read that current games don't take full advantage of quad core but I would assume that windows 7/ newer games will be written to take advantage of quad core.

I have no preference between AMD and intel. I realize that I will need a new mobo to facilitate these upgrades.
I plan to run windows 7 RC (32bit at least during the trial period) soon and then continue with it when the trial period ends. Gaming is the only demanding app that I run. (Norton 360 also)

thanks for the help

[Khalil]

The first thing you want to do to improve your gaming is get rid of that Norton360 or at least turn it off if you can while gaming. You are not going to catch a virus while gaming.
You will not see much change with DDR3 for gaming.
Gaming relies first on the GPU(video card) secondly on the CPU, 3GB of RAM is plenty for any game, DDR2 is all you need.
For Dual Cores Intel E8XXX series are much faster but cost a lot more than the AMD Dual Cores, so the bottom line it all depends on how much money you want to spend.
Unless you plan on building a new computer I recommend you only replace the video card and you should get a huge boost in gaming.
What is the power supply in your computer?

[g3neralknyght]

Thanks for the help, I'm really just asking what my best course of action to improve my gaming for the next couple years.

My PSU is 500W Raidmax with the Raidmax Smildon case.

If I need a new PSU I will probably just begin building a 2nd comp altogether.

What about the cache on the processor? How does it affect gaming?

How does the Avast! 4 home edition compare to norton 360?

Thanks again

[shadowpr]

I don't trust raidmax psu's.

And I would go with avast over norton personally.

[glc]

Raidmax power supplies are questionable quality. Buy a strong video card and power supply now, then look at upgrading the rest of the platform later if money is tight now. You may want to wait for i5 to do that.

If you want a decent antivirus with a small footprint, get Avira Free.

[g3neralknyght]

Ok thanks, for now I'll upgrade just the PSU and graphics card....

But back to my questions earlier:

What about the cache on the processor? How does it affect gaming?
Can anyone confirm Khalil's opinion that DDR3 has a minimal effect on gaming?


If in 12 months my system looks like the following what would be the bottleneck holding back gaming performance? This of course includes a

CPU - One of the 2 below
Which is better?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037 - Dual Core
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115018 - Quad Core

RAM - 2x2GB DDR2 1066mhz Should I get 6GB or 8GB? I often run like 6 internet tabs, a FPS like Team Fortress 2 or Farcry and Ventrilo at once.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231166
GPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130442

[Khalil]

E8400 will be better for gaming but I would go for the E8500 instead. Anymore than 4GB is a waste unless you are using a 64bit Operating System. I have 16GB in my gaming rig and I have never gone over 3.1Gig use even running 2 instances of Supreme Commander which is extremely demanding on CPU/GPU and Memory.
I found that the only reason you need more than 4Gigs of Ram is if you are rendering.