Before you head out to grab a Core i7 system loaded with 6GB or 12GB of memories for your gaming needs today, we will check out if you really need that much and if it is better to invest your money to get a more powerful graphics card. This article is suited for those who will be buying a Core i7 system primarily for gaming. Using the Core i7 920 processor overclocked to 4GHz on ASUS Rampage II Extreme board loaded with Windows Vista 64 SP1, we will check out how the latest games out there such as Crysis Warhead and Far Cry 2 perform along with benchmarks like 3DMark Vantage and Tropics. We test using the Palit Revolution 700 HD 4870X2 graphics with 2GB graphics memories for the hardcore gamers as well as the mainstream card, Radeon HD 4650 with 512MB graphics memories.
Test Bed
- Intel Core i7 920 @ 4GHz (21 x 190MHz)
- ASUS Rampage II Extreme (0602 BIOS)
- 3 x 1GB Kingstone HyperX DDR3-1800 / 6 x 1GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1800
- Palit Revolution 700 4870X2
- Sapphire Radeon HD 4650
- Catalyst 8.11 Official
- Vista 64 SP1
- Dell 3007WFP
As you can see, there isn't much of a difference between having 3GB and 6GB of memories if you are just going to use the system to play the latest games out there. Of course, if you are also using the system for other apps like photoshop or video editing that requires large amount of memory, more RAM certainly helps. If not, saving some money to get a better graphics card is a wiser choice if you are facing budget constraint.
Benchmark Screenshots - HD 4870X2
3DMark Vantage - 3GB
3DMark Vantage - 6GB
Crysis Warhead - 3GB
Crysis Warhead - 6GB
Far Cry 2 - 3GB
Far Cry 2 - 6GB
Tropics - 3GB
Tropics - 6GB
3DMark Vantage - 3GB
3DMark Vantage - 6GB
Crysis Warhead - 3GB
Crysis Warhead - 6GB
Far Cry 2 - 3GB
Far Cry 2 - 6GB
Tropics - 3GB
Tropics - 6GB
How much RAM do you need for your Core i7 gaming PC?
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