Please recommend a good processor and ram or a P5K mobo.

[ni-cad]

Hi, I was hoping to upgrade to a new mobo, 16 gig of ram and two i7 quad core processors, now it looks like I can't afford the mobo so I have to work with the one I have which is an Asus P5k premium. As I can only use one processor with this board and (I think) there is also a limit on the ram it can hold, 8 gig? What would be a good choice of Ram and Processor?

I use this machine for working with video in Adobe After Effects and despite currently having 8 gig installed and a 3ghz intel core2 duo I constantly get "windows virtual memory low" warnings and my PC frequently chokes, even short video compositions around as little as ten minuets can take up to 6 hours to render out, previewing video is all but impossible it's so slow, this machine just doesn't pack the processing power to work well with After Effects. It's obvious I need more Ram as video files I work with are fairly large, the more Ram I have the more video I can work with in After Effects, also a fast multi core processor would help a lot as After Effects supports multi threaded processing, but I'm confused as to what would be the best quad core processor to use and secondly it appears that the P5k has a maximum ram limitation of only 8 gig, is this true? if so is there a work around? or. . how can I optimism what I have ie what would be the best ram to install to get absolutely everything I can in terms of memory out of this system?

My biggest worry is compatibility with the P5K.

My specs.

Ati Radeon HD 4870 X-fire.
XP Pro 64.
Intel core 2 duo
P5K Premium mobo.
8-gig of cheep ram sad.gif


Regards

ni-cad.

 

[Peter.Cort]

I would suggest upgrading to a quad core, and with 8gb of ram you should be fine. The low on virtual memory is probably a windows error more than an after effects error.

 

[ni-cad]

Sure, I'll probably go with an i7 quad but there must be better or worse types of ram to choose from ddr2 or ddr3? I'd like really fast ram and if possible to use more than the board is rated for.

Is there a way to add over the amount of ram this mobo is limited to?

 

[Peter.Cort]

First off, the i7 isn't compatible with your motherboard. Your motherboard uses socket 775, the new i7's use socket 1366 so you'll have to get a core 2 quad processor. Also your motherboard only supports ddr2, not ddr3. As far as that goes, you can use ddr2-1066 which is the fastest supported ram that it supports, also you can't add more than the board is limited too.

 

[ni-cad]

Ahh, I see.

Hey thanks peter. So if I'm to get an i7 quad and 16 gig, I would need a new board Well that's not all bad.

What kind of boards support i7 processors and hold 16 gig of ram?

 

[Peter.Cort]

Newegg.com - ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

this is a solid board, one of the original i7 boards, and is still good today.

Most socket 1366 boards support up to 24gb of ram so it's just a matter of picking which one you want.

 

[ni-cad]

Thanks man, I was getting myself in to a frenzy there thinking I needed a board that could hold two quad's, that's probably overkill, the board you've posted looks more than adequate.

Do you think a 3ghz i7 would be a good choice? Are they good value for money, might I be better off with an Intel extreme or similar?

 

[Peter.Cort]

The Intel extreme is really only for overclockers because it has the unlocked multiplier so you can overclock it easier. The 3ghz i7 should fly for what you want.