this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2023
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Prioritise RAM or processor? (lemmygrad.ml)
submitted 2 years ago by redtea@lemmygrad.ml to c/leftistunix@lemmygrad.ml
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Hello Comrades,

Thanks for all your advice about setting up Linux. It was a success. The problem is that I’m now I’m intrigued and I’d like to play around a bit more.

I’m thinking of building a cheap-ish computer but I have a few questions. I’ll split them into separate posts to make things easier. Note: I won’t be installing anything that I can’t get to work on Linux.

Should I prioritise RAM or the processor? My budget is limited so I will have to make a choice between RAM and the processor. Would it be better to go for e.g. 32GB RAM and a slower processor, or 8GB RAM and a faster processor? Or is balance better? Say, 16GB RAM and a 'medium' processor (that's 'medium' between the 'slower' and the 'faster' option within my budget, not 'medium' for the market).

Intel or AMD?

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[–] pyska@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

This is just my 2 cents, but I'd go for the CPU. Reason being you can upgrade RAM later with more sticks. However, it all depends on your use case, as this is the old memory-cpu tradeoff dilemma.

Want speed? Go for CPU. Want to have many tabs open, or guarantee a program does not crash due to low memory even if it doesn't run at full steam? Go for memory.

Many virtual machines open? Definitely memory. Gaming? CPU... most of the times.

[–] redtea@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 2 years ago

This is helpful, thanks. I didn't realise I'd landed on an age-old dilemma lol.