Maximum PC

P. 67 in your February issue under Build It section states "RAM 38GB Patriot G2 DDR3/1600 @ http://www.patriot.com for $49"

1. Isn't it http://www.patriotmemory.com ? (I admit I am too lazy to read a sitemap nor research a parent company if indeed it is... it's easier to have someone whom knows what they are talking about tell me rather than dig myself )

2. Under your #'ed tasks - #1 Says use the two tan second and fourth slots - assuming you are using two 16GB sticks.
(I have been unable to find these 16GB sticks at the $49 price on http://www.patriotmemory.com nor any other site)

I admit I have not been up to date with my tech pc build info - so I am not in the mainstream know...
I have only found HP and Kingston 16GB DDR3 1066 at $248.98 but this single 16GB stick of RAM is "system specific memory"

3. Can we even use this $248.98 "system specific memory" NOT $49 RAM?

I seriously want to know, want to build the PC, but want to know if the $49 price is a major editorial oversight...
-eagerly awaiting the tech Gods to smite this post

I'm a Tech Cherub and I'll smite the article, but not your post in it's wantings It's my first issue back after a spell and this kind of stuff has me pondering that decision.

The board can handle 32GB, there's no memory available over 8G per stick. One misunderstanding of tech is acceptable. To continue an article based upon a mistake is confusing and looks more ignorant. $50 may get you two 8G sticks on a great day; so I'd love to hear that source w/o free shipping, no tax, and no rebate.

"Maybe" they meant they indeed stuck 32G in there, but at $50 a pop, and still has issues. I just asked my daughter once again to try and fix an editor; "32 divided by 8 at $50 per 8? That's $200". Still doesn't answer the Tan Slot deal to me though.

I'm pretty sure it's 8GB, not 32.

I'm thinking the "3" was an accidental addition.

If you think about it, if answers the price ($50) and the tan RAM slots.

I couldn't find my February issue, but then realized that my neighbor must of had it since I asked him to watch my box for a few days while I was out of town. bastard. lol

Damn, couldn't believe they made such an obvious error and no one checked on it before it went to press. Shit, even their BF3 build a month or two ago which used the same ram modules were correct both in print and on the web. BF3 battlebox build - November 2011

In any regards, the article just showcases if you wanted to build an "8 core" gaming rig (I say this because really its 4 modules that "act" like 8 cores) for $1500, that's how you'd do it. But even Nathan explains that it doesn't even beat an old i7 920 OC system from a generation before with the fx at stock speeds. And even then, you could OC the i7 920/930 to 4ghz with a similar all-in-one LC cpu cooler and pretty much match the FX 8150 clocked around 4.6-5ghz.

Plus the article doesn't even go into how much wattage the FX soaks down at those OC speeds. OC from 3.6ghz stock to 4.8ghz can bloat from 244w to 586w of total system power under a cpu stress test. (bit tech article)

For price/performance and performance/wattage, the 2nd gen i's still has the FX's beat.