cheap, reliable, overclockable memory

[Faceman]

The question is about board specification. I know boards which say 2400/2600/2800 support sticks of those speeds, but what I'm not sure on is boards which say 2400-OC/2600-OC/2800-OC such as the Asrock board in my linked build. http://pcpartpicker.com/user/patrickjp93/saved/4FrmP6

Does the OC tag mean a stick of base speed 2400 is supported with just a BIOS adjustment, or does it mean a stick of 2133 must be overclocked to 2400?

I'm not sure about that, that is a good question because I've never thought of that.  I'm sure that you will be able to drop in a kit and OC it to the desired speed, but check elsewhere to confirm.

 

I do think an APU will work for his intended uses, I am just so adverse to recommending an APU because it seems like every day someone comes onto the forum saying that they regret buying an APU and need something with a stronger CPU.  Those people have gaming in mind though, so it is not a fair comparison.  I think an APU will work for you.

 

This monitor is very nice, I am not sure if it is matte or glossy.  I live in Florida, and I have light in my room and the screen doesn't reflect the light at all, where my other monitor/television does suffer from bad reflection.

[patrickjp93]

I'm not sure about that, that is a good question because I've never thought of that.  I'm sure that you will be able to drop in a kit and OC it to the desired speed, but check elsewhere to confirm.

 

I do think an APU will work for his intended uses, I am just so adverse to recommending an APU because it seems like every day someone comes onto the forum saying that they regret buying an APU and need something with a stronger CPU.  Those people have gaming in mind though, so it is not a fair comparison.  I think an APU will work for you.

 

This monitor is very nice, I am not sure if it is matte or glossy.  I live in Florida, and I have light in my room and the screen doesn't reflect the light at all, where my other monitor/television does suffer from bad reflection.

Sounds like Matte or at least anti-glare!

 

And yeah, if this was gaming (especially without Mantle) I wouldn't go near an APU until Carrizo with R9 Graphics on it and AMD finally getting rid of its modular CPU core architecture (what in the bloody 9 Hells were they thinking having 1 floating point scheduler per 2 cores?). But even a quad-core APU will be a huge upgrade over his 32-bit 11-year-old quad-core CPU. And it only has to last him 2-2.5 years until the Skylake/Cannonlake/Knight's Landing CPU line comes out from Intel.

 

I've shaved his build options down to these:

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/patrickjp93/saved/PnqhP6

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/patrickjp93/saved/4FrmP6

 

It really makes you notice how much Intel charges you for chips you can overclock, or even just hyperthread >  <--Bah I wanted angry face. How do I get angry face?

[Faceman]

Sounds like Matte or at least anti-glare!

 

And yeah, if this was gaming (especially without Mantle) I wouldn't go near an APU until Carrizo with R9 Graphics on it and AMD finally getting rid of its modular CPU core architecture (what in the bloody 9 Hells were they thinking having 1 floating point scheduler per 2 cores?). But even a quad-core APU will be a huge upgrade over his 32-bit 11-year-old quad-core CPU. And it only has to last him 2-2.5 years until the Skylake/Cannonlake/Knight's Landing CPU line comes out from Intel.

 

I've shaved his build options down to these:

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/patrickjp93/saved/PnqhP6

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/patrickjp93/saved/4FrmP6

 

It really makes you notice how much Intel charges you for chips you can overclock, or even just hyperthread >  <--Bah I wanted angry face. How do I get angry face?

I would go with the Intel build, at such a similar price point, and he won't be doing anything very graphics intensive, so an APU isnt really necessary, integrated Intel graphics will be enough, and the computing power, which is what he really needs, is far superior.  He would be fine with an i3 even.  I wouldn't get the i5-4690, just not worth the price premium for a few extra 100Mhz.

 

i3-4130 - $115

i5-4460 - $185

[patrickjp93]

Going back to Knight's Landing for whoever was interested:http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/171678-intel-unveils-72-core-x86-knights-landing-cpu-for-exascale-supercomputing

 

This will be a standalone 3" by 3" (HUUUGE DIE!) processor with 3 TFLOPS of DOUBLE Precision. Essentially, it is the death of the need for Discrete Graphics on a motherboard.

[patrickjp93]

I would go with the Intel build, at such a similar price point, and he won't be doing anything very graphics intensive, so an APU isnt really necessary, integrated Intel graphics will be enough, and the computing power, which is what he really needs, is far superior.  He would be fine with an i3 even.  I wouldn't get the i5-4690, just not worth the price premium for a few extra 100Mhz.

 

i3-4130 - $115

i5-4460 - $185

I did double check the Excel Solver algorithms he uses and the updated instructions are actually heavily used. I'll delve into how many clocks that cuts over the next day, and then if the difference is negligible then yeah, I3 I imagine.

[Faceman]

I did double check the Excel Solver algorithms he uses and the updated instructions are actually heavily used. I'll delve into how many clocks that cuts over the next day, and then if the difference is negligible then yeah, I3 I imagine.

The i3 does have hyperthreading, so it should really excel in computing tasks, and it is clocked higher than the i5-4460.  If this is a stop-gap and you only plan to use this for 2 years, I think the i3 will be the best option because of how inexpensive it is, and how much of a punch it packs.

[patrickjp93]

The i3 does have hyperthreading, so it should really excel in computing tasks, and it is clocked higher than the i5-4460.  If this is a stop-gap and you only plan to use this for 2 years, I think the i3 will be the best option because of how inexpensive it is, and how much of a punch it packs.

Sounds good to me! Have a good weekend sir!