$1200 Gaming Computer that needs tweaking (List Provided)

[PP Mguire]

Yeah the build in my Sig is LONG gone...and theres not edit button to change it so i dont know what to do about that. I sold that computer a long time ago due to Wife aggro.

Now I currently have:

E6600
500GB HDD
2 GB DDR2 800
7800GTX

As far as the DDR3 Ripjaws, just read the reviews on newegg. There is a lot of people complaining about that issue. The manufacturer actually comments on some of them stating that each kit is only made to worth with the RAM inside each kit.

And it's all BS. Little piece of advice from somebody who has been going to Newegg close to when they first opened the site up. 90% of the reviews on there are crap. Google the specific kit you want and look for reviews from sites like Toms Hardware, Anandtech, Techpowerup, Bjorn3d, Here, ect. As long as the DDR3 in question isn't the higher up voltage (almost non existant these days) then mixing and matching is perfectly fine. The timings and clocks are set to match the slowest sticks. If they are 2 exact same kits then there will be no problems.
As to G.Skill commenting that, they just want people to buy their more expensive kits that are "matched". I guarantee you they are the same as slapping two kits together. Also, some AMD setups have problems running all slots at the same time, but that was a problem with older setups and overclocking.

 

[Fayt19]

Well that's good to hear about the RAM. On another note about the RAM, is it better to get 4x4GB of RAM or 2x8GB of RAM? They are about the same price and it would leave 2 slots open incase for some ungodly reason I wanted to bump up to 32GB? Also maybe it was just back in the day but I heard running RAM in 2 slots is better than running ram in all 4 Slots? I'm sure that's not true either but I thought I would ask.

Is having an SSD mandatory nowadays? I kind of want to get the computer under $1k and since it seems SSDs have been constantly dropping, I feel as if I could get the rest of the build and maybe buy an SSD come X mas time or maybe black Friday.

If that's not possible then is there any other suggestions to tighten this build up a bit and get it under 1k?

 

[PP Mguire]

Well that's good to hear about the RAM. On another note about the RAM, is it better to get 4x4GB of RAM or 2x8GB of RAM? They are about the same price and it would leave 2 slots open incase for some ungodly reason I wanted to bump up to 32GB? Also maybe it was just back in the day but I heard running RAM in 2 slots is better than running ram in all 4 Slots? I'm sure that's not true either but I thought I would ask.

Is having an SSD mandatory nowadays? I kind of want to get the computer under $1k and since it seems SSDs have been constantly dropping, I feel as if I could get the rest of the build and maybe buy an SSD come X mas time or maybe black Friday.

If that's not possible then is there any other suggestions to tighten this build up a bit and get it under 1k?

2x4GB would be better. Like I said in my last sentence in some older AMD setups while overclocking you could have stability problems when RAM is occupying all slots, but in newer Intel rigs there isn't a problem.

SSD isn't mandatory, but having one surely makes the whole experience much better. When you ditch the HDD for your OS you get to really see how fast your PC can be.

 

[Fayt19]

did you mean 4x4GB? and why is it better? just because it saves me some money?

 

[PP Mguire]

did you mean 4x4GB? and why is it better? just because it saves me some money?

No I meant 2x8 actually would be better. You want as little sticks as possible if you can afford it. The newer Intel platforms have no problems running 4 sticks, but having 2 slots open reserves space for more RAM if needed later. There is no real advantage besides that.