Newbie here and my 1st post

Hello everyone please bare w/ me since I'm new to rebuilding computer. I'm starting w/ mine! I just got the core i7 980x and a new MB ASUS Rampage II Extreme LGA 1366 Intel x58 DDR3-1600 ATX. I didn't realize the max Ram is 12gb on 64b. Max is 2gb per slot. So I'm considering returning it in favor of MB that can handle more like ga-x58a-ud5 lga 1366 x58 atx. This MB can take up to 24gb of rams. I don't know if 12 extra gb or Rams will make anymore if difference as far as my intention are. I'm 3d architectural artist using it for animations and video editing. Software are 3d max, photoshops, and After Effect. I hope i gave enough info to get my answer.

thanks in advance!

12GB should be enough depending on the size of files, laters, etc you are working with.

Also, the RIIE should support 24GB...it has 6 slots and newegg specs say it can (confirm on mfg website) support 24GB.

64bit OS will allocate and show 24GB available I believe...

EarthDog said:

12GB should be enough depending on the size of files, laters, etc you are working with.

Also, the RIIE should support 24GB...it has 6 slots and newegg specs say it can (confirm on mfg website) support 24GB.

64bit OS will allocate and show 24GB available I believe...

Click to expand...

Would you recommend get six 4gbs of rams?

Educate me here (remember I'm a Newbie) what is RIIE?

I would say try 12 first and see if that fits your needs. If not, sell the 12, and get the SUPER expensive 4GB sticks.

RIIE = Rampage 2 Extreme.

Yeah, on the RIIE page of Asus's website, here, it says max supported is 24GB in the specifications tab.

A 64bit OS should be able to use up to 2^64 bytes of RAM, so 24GB should be no problem.

Will you actually be using more than 12GB of RAM? As far as I know, adding extra RAM that you won't be using doesn't give you any benefits. You may need a ton of RAM if you're using all of your programs at once, though. Have you checked each program's RAM usage individually?

MattNo5ss said:

Have you checked each program's RAM usage individually?

Click to expand...

When I render big files in 3d max (I currently have 8gb RAM at work), i almost always max out the RAM and can never surf the net or use other software like photoshop and After Effect. No I never check the Performance on Windows Task Manager but I know i can't multi task when 3d max is rendering.

That could be b/c of the CPU maxing out... it does that when rendering with 3dmax, no doubt... verify that before you waste hundreds on 24gb.

EarthDog said:

That could be b/c of the CPU maxing out... it does that when rendering with 3dmax, no doubt... verify that before you waste hundreds on 24gb.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I will check into that. I think I will just settle for three 2gbs of rams and then fill in the next 3 slots if this isn't enough. Regardless, sounds like I'll keep the MB since I'm convince I can expand to 24gb of Rams later in future.