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AJLynn · May 15th, 2008

I think those numbers sum it up quite well - the Cinema4D test and the Cinema4D animation render on the next page, and the Photoshop and Premiere tests, show very close to zero difference for different RAM speeds and timings. For games, the difference is a lot larger. (Remember that sites like these are usually written for gamers and will place more emphasis on games in their written analysis.)

They already tested single and dual CPUs and didn't show a difference between those when it comes to how much the RAM speed matters, and going to a quad isn't going to change things. Stick with the cheap RAM but make sure it's got some clock speed headroom - e.g., it's rated DDR2-800 and all your CPU needs is DDR2-667 or 533, and the latency numbers are reasonably low.

The 9450 is quite good, probably worth the $100 over what you can find the 6600 for, BUT under some circumstances it can be more difficult to overclock. The multipier is 8, not 9, so your MB and RAM need to support higher RAM/FSB speeds to achieve the same overclock.

May 15th, 2008	#4 (permalink)
AJLynn Moderator Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Beantown Age: 30 Posts: 4,554 Name: Andrew Lynn	Re: Q9450 - DDR2 vs DDR3 I think those numbers sum it up quite well - the Cinema4D test and the Cinema4D animation render on the next page, and the Photoshop and Premiere tests, show very close to zero difference for different RAM speeds and timings. For games, the difference is a lot larger. (Remember that sites like these are usually written for gamers and will place more emphasis on games in their written analysis.) They already tested single and dual CPUs and didn't show a difference between those when it comes to how much the RAM speed matters, and going to a quad isn't going to change things. Stick with the cheap RAM but make sure it's got some clock speed headroom - e.g., it's rated DDR2-800 and all your CPU needs is DDR2-667 or 533, and the latency numbers are reasonably low. The 9450 is quite good, probably worth the $100 over what you can find the 6600 for, BUT under some circumstances it can be more difficult to overclock. The multipier is 8, not 9, so your MB and RAM need to support higher RAM/FSB speeds to achieve the same overclock.