Upgrade memory or cpu

E

Emeritus

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Which would be better to do first...

This is my system:
Abit KT7A-RAID v1.3
Athlon T-Bird 1Ghz/100Mhz FSB
256MB SDRAM PC133/CL3
Leadtek GF ti4600
Maxtor ATA100 20, 30 & 80Gig HDs
Plextor 40/12/40 CDRW
D-Link DFE-530TX+ 10/100 NIC
400W PS

I want to either upgrade the memory to 512MB SDRAM PC133/CL2 Crucial or to a Athlon XP 2100+ Thoroughbred.

Optinions on which I should do first...Thanks all!
 
cheapest way would be the ram and see if it makes a difference.

that's what I would do, first.

yes the 2100+ is nice and alot faster then wot you got now, but your looking at alot more money, new motherboard, new cpu, new ram (ddr).

IMO

cool.gif
 
Actually...

My current mb supports the Palomino core to 2100+, and so far pricing is around 104 for retail. The ram I found at 80. So not much of a difference. I am going to do both. I just want to do the best one first.
 
depends what you do with your comp. and where do you think it falls short? if you play newer games like bf1942, ut2/2k3, or have lots of programs open, then more ram will certainly help. i play a lot of bf1942 and there was a considerable difference when i simply went from 256mb to 768mb.

but 1.73ghz is nice, too. good for games all-around and encoding-type stuff.
 
I mostly game on my system. The upgrade to the GF4 ti4600, made a tremendous difference. But I know the system needs to keep up also. I know I don't have DDR, but my system has never let me down. I think it still has a lot of life in it!
 
stick with it and upgrade the whole shebang in one shot..

my m8 put together an excellent little system (no software) for around 350... includes a 2100+/256mb ddr2700/msi kt3-ultra 2 mobo and cooler...

was quite a nice little baby...

just an example...

you could of course just upgrade the memory... which is cheap (to more... instead of ddr... which I believe may not be supported on your mobo)

this way you will save more money :)
 
THE CPU THE CPU!

You have a very hot video card and based on tomshardware.com latest video review with that 1gig athlon you are loosing a lot of performance.

Unless you are doing video editing or 3d modeling the step from 256 to 512 meg of ram will do nothing (a buddy and I both tried it with no improvement).

SDRAM 133 is dead and there is no point in buying more.

Get a good processor now (athlon xp's are dropping nicely) and latter (DDR ram is falling again) upgrade the MB and go with DDR RAM which will give you a real performance boost.
 
Originally posted by LeeJend
THE CPU THE CPU!

You have a very hot video card and based on tomshardware.com latest video review with that 1gig athlon you are loosing a lot of performance.

Unless you are doing video editing or 3d modeling the step from 256 to 512 meg of ram will do nothing (a buddy and I both tried it with no improvement).

SDRAM 133 is dead and there is no point in buying more.

Get a good processor now (athlon xp's are dropping nicely) and latter (DDR ram is falling again) upgrade the MB and go with DDR RAM which will give you a real performance boost.

why?

you can instead save up for a barton based system/or see a nice price drop WHEN the barton comes out...

upgrading the system is also more expensive than just buying more memory to tide you over till you can upgrade more completely... IMO...
 
emeritus, if you don't have the money to spend on a whole new system, just stick to your plan and get the most out of your current setup. that's what i've done with my old kt133 chipset. lasted me almost 2½ years so far.

more memory and a new cpu will be good for another 6 to 18 months to a year, depending on how picky you are. at that point you've saved up enough and can get better technology than you could if you bought a whole new system now.
 
i would say do the ram. your gona have 2 upgrade it soon anyway so might as well do it now + wait for a high power cpu to drop in price. ram will stay pretty much the same price. cpu's will get cheaper as the new versions come out.
 
I'd get the Ram now to take care of present needs and then buy the board and any other parts you need to get another PC going because 2 are always better than 1.
 
ha...started out as a cool discussion, now everyones goin for the ram

here's the twist

dealer rule of thumb...(perris's thumb)

if you have less then 512 ram, go for the ram

if you have more then 512 ram, go for the cpu
 
and just to exemplify the pint everyone's making;

my 1 gig laptop clocks down to 450 when on bats

512 ram

this laptop clocked down is much faster then any of my customers computers that have 256...even with three times the cpu
 
Ram ....... XP loves ram as stated before get the ram and see the diff right now and start saving pennies for a nice new MB and CPU
 
Originally posted by dealer
and just to exemplify the pint everyone's making;

my 1 gig laptop clocks down to 450 when on bats

512 ram

this laptop clocked down is much faster then any of my customers computers that have 256...even with three times the cpu

lol...

well its a dang good thing he has a desktop system init :)

incidently whats your laptop worth @ the mo? I been looking to lug a low powered one around on campus and dock it @ home so I can do work on it all the time...

specs would be appreciated incl bat life and weight :).. highly important...

I don't much care for the looks so if its fugly... its still ok :)

its gonna be in my book bag anyways...
 
I recently upgraded from an asus a7a266 with a T-bird 1ghz processor and 758mb pc 133 ram TO: Asus A7N8X deluxe ($139), a 2100+ T-Bred (B)(from www.newegg.com for around $100) and 512mb stick of pc 2700 kingston ran ($116). I am VERY happy with the change and it was worth every penny. I would say to save up your $ and wait to do a complete overhaul like I did, you won't regret it.
 
ha...right now this thing is pretty much worthless

I have to jiggle the power cord to get the ac going...and the fan's startin to cry when I fire it up

I can't fix the power thingy without changing the mother board.

I'm pissed...I love this thing
 
I can't thank everyone enough for your feedback! I have decided to go for the RAM. I should have it in a few days! Thanks again everyone!!!

P.S. This is a great board!!!
P.S.S. I am going to get the CPU also. I am going to see how prices go later on!
 
Yeah, I would say the RAM too. Ever since I gave my wife half of mine (had 512) I have noticed quite a big hit on performance and a LOT more swap file activity.

Not sure for that mobo, but you could try running your T-bird at 133FSB instead of the 100 you are at now. That would increase it's speed to 1.33GHz. Heat shouldn't be an issue: I ran mine like that for 2 years on a stock HSF and it only got as high as ~43°C idle / ~49°C full load on a stock fan. Now my wife is using it the same way and it's running fine with even slightly lower temps because she has a bigger case. This might at least squeeze a bit more out of your CPU until you can upgrade.
 

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