Australian PC User contributing editor
Q&A – What speed memory do I need for a new Core i-series chip?
A. All new Core i-series processors from Intel utilise DDR3 memory. However, you’ll find the speed of the memory you choose will almost affect the pricing as much as the amount.
The trick is to look for the sweet spot, the point at which the faster the speed you choose, the more rapidly prices increase.
You can use any speed of DDR3 memory in most boards however at the extremes, you may find a few odd things happen.
First up, choose memory that’s too slow – DDR3-800 for example – and you might end up missing on the performance from the CPU you’ve paid for. At the other end of the scale, you might find that your motherboard cannot run the memory at its full rated speed. And given high-speed memory costs considerably more, you could also end up doing your cash again.
The sweet spot at the moment is DDR3-1333. In Australia, you should be able to pick up 4GB of this for around $130-$140 depending on the retailer. If you’re using the 64-bit version of an operating system, using 4GB will give you as good performance as your system is capable of.
Similar Posts:
- Choosing the right memory
- Q&A – What’s the best speed to burn my DVDs at?
- Q&A – What’s the fastest DVD burn speed?
- UserBench Encode 2009 – show us your scores!
- Q. How much memory does my PC need to run Windows 7?
- Q&A – Do I need to buy a new computer to get USB3.0?
- 12 zero-cost upgrade secrets
- Q&A – Can I use new USB3.0 gear on a USB2.0 computer and vice versa?
- Q&A – What applications are quad-core processors good for?
- Quad-core CPUs: why you don’t need one – yet
Social Media buttons brought to you by S-ButtonZ (WordPress Plugin)
| Print article | This entry was posted by Darren Yates on April 22, 2010 at 8:35 am, and is filed under CPUs, PC components, Q&A. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
No comments yet.
No trackbacks yet.
How to play Google’s doodle Pac-man
about 3 months ago - 2 comments
If you’re feeling the itch the play some history today, head along to Google’s search page and play Pacman, which celebrates its 30th birthday today.
Google’s daily doodle today is a playable version of the iconic game.
Here’s how you play it.
* Head over to Google’s search website.
* Hover your mouse over the Pacman doodle until you
Q&A – How do I put footnotes into a Word 2003 document?
about 4 months ago - No comments
A. Move your edit cursor to where you want the annotation to be placed, then from the main menu, select Insert -> Reference -> Footnote.
You shouldn’t need to change any of the settings, so just click the OK button and the cursor will move straight to the bottom of the page and give you your
Q&A – Can my computer monitor show 3D movies?
about 4 months ago - No comments
A. Not unless it has what’s known as a “refresh rate” of at least 100Hz. You’ll also need 3D video playback software, 3D glasses and some way of your computer to tell the glasses when to switch between each eye.
Not to mention some 3D movies to watch…
So, no, you probably won’t be watching 3D movies
Q&A – Australian health reform achieves… what exactly?
about 4 months ago - No comments
I don’t normally talk about non-tech stuff but a fellow tech journo tweeted a very good question this morning.
“Can someone explain to me what the health reforms have achieved?”
In fact, it’s a damn good question.
Let’s look at what we had to start with – in NSW, the hospital system as I understand it is set
Q&A – How do I get my netbook to play 720p video?
about 4 months ago - No comments
A. While my experience is that it can’t be done using Windows Media Player, it can be done with a combination of the open-source Media Player Classic video player and the FFdshow video codec pack. Combined, these two deliver smarter performance enabling the Intel Atom processor – even the original 1.6GHz N270 chip – to
Q&A – Is it possible to connect my iPhone to my TV or data projector?
about 4 months ago - No comments
A. Yes, you can. But you need to purchase either Apple’s Universal Dock – in Australia, it’ll set you back $69 – or grab hold of the Apple Component AV Cable or Apple Composite AV Cable (this is the cheaper option but you don’t get the remote).
The iPhone only supports a video frame size of
Q&A – What does a USB3.0 plug/cable look like?
about 4 months ago - No comments
A. A bit like this:
The plug that goes into your computer looks like an existing USB2.0 or USB1.1 except that the inner section is blue. (It’s known as a Type-A plug).
The other end has been redesigned and will only fit into a USB3.0 device.
USB3.0 devices are backwards compatible with USB2.0 except that you’ll only get
Q&A – Can I connect my iPad up to a data projector?
about 4 months ago - No comments
A. Yes, no reason why you shouldn’t be able to do that.
The only thing you’ll need is Apple’s iPad to VGA converter cable. You connect one end into the iPad and then a VGA cable into the other end of the converter. The other end of the VGA cable then goes into the projector.
The fact
Q&A – Will notebook screens ever go 3D?
about 4 months ago - No comments
A. Technically, there’s no reason why they couldn’t.
The technology that drives 3DTV is effectively the same as that used in notebook computers – essentially LED-backlit LCD display panels.
The only major difference is the need for what’s called a sync transmitter. 3DTV works by viewing through a pair of polarised glasses. The glasses are “active” in
Q&A – Can netbooks play Blu-ray movies?
about 4 months ago - No comments
A. If we’re talking about Blu-ray movies, the answer is no.
Netbooks using any of the single-core Atom processors (N70/280/450) are not fast enough to handle the decoding and displaying of 1080p video found on most Blu-ray movies.
There are two possibilities however – if you find a netbook with a dual-core Atom D510, it might be