Argh I am just about out of spending cash....

[Washoe]

What should I get?

Memory? Larger hdd? Graphics Card?

Here are my current system specs:

Barton 2500+CPU (locked; currently stable@183X11)
EPoX 8RDA3+ mobo (rev. 3)
Kingston 512MB HyperX 500MHz PC4000 (1 stick@7-3-3-2.5)
2 Maxtor 40GB hdd, both @7200RPM
Antec 300w PSU
GeForce FX5200
Audigy Sound Card

I'm thinking I should pick up another 512MB stick of Kingston PC4000 so I can get Dual Channel memory.
But man 80GB hdd space seems like it's just not cutting it for me these days. There is a 200GB WD hdd at Circuit City on sale now for $129. Hmmmm...

I also could obviously use an upgrade in the PSU department.
If I go with any 1 of these, though, I will not have the cash for another Graphics Card for awhile. I'm O.K. with the FX5200 for now, but either a Radeon 9800 or GeForce 5950 card would smoke the 5200.

Decisions, decisions. At the moment I am leaning heavily on that 2nd stick of Kingston memory although I haven't yet pushed my Barton as far as I know it could go, and I would like to be sure I can at least push it beyond 200MHz. Any suggestions?

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

You probably won't notice much of an improvement with 1GB ram. If storage is a problem at 80GB I think your solution will be removeable media like a CD-RW or DVD-RW. I'd, personally, get a better vid card. Factor in what you can get by selling your current card and get at least a GF FX 5700 or 9600 Pro for ~$125 or, better yet, a 9800 Pro for ~$200.

 

[Maximilian]

GRAPHICS CARD!!! if your a gamer. Btw duel channel dosent give that big a performance boost. But if your running out of hdd space (i never filled my old 40 GB drive) then buy new HDD. Id get a new g-card as the 5200 is okay at whatever it was designed for (sure as hell wasent gaming) but the 9800 pro is far superior.

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: Washoe

Here are my current system specs:

Barton 2500+CPU (locked; currently stable@183X11)
EPoX 8RDA3+ mobo (rev. 3)
Kingston 512MB HyperX 500MHz PC4000 (1 stick@7-3-3-2.5)

A bit offtopic but I find it interesting that you have bought memory that can reach 500Mhz and paid quite a deal for it I suppose, when it only runs at 366Mhz. You could probably have gotten 1Gb PC3200 CL2 for the same price.

 

[pukemon]

I'd say go for a video card if you're a gamer. Otherwise, if you need more hard disc space to store all that pr0n for late nite wanking while the roomie's asleep, check out the Hot Deals forum for the Hard Disc thread. 😛

 

[Regs]

Graphic card.

Duel channel ram for a barton is worthless.

 

[Washoe]

Originally posted by: biostud666


A bit offtopic but I find it interesting that you have bought memory that can reach 500Mhz and paid quite a deal for it I suppose, when it only runs at 366Mhz. You could probably have gotten 1Gb PC3200 CL2 for the same price.

Well I can get it well over 400Mhz - there is a setting in BIOS where you set the memory FSB as a percentage of the CPUs. 120% is where I'd like it to be, which (with the current CPU speeds) gets me around 440MHz. My options are 80%, 90%, 100%, 120%, 125%, and 150%, but the thing is, I've heard that it's best to keep your CPU and Memory FSB speeds the same. Ideally what I would like to do is get that CPU hitting over 200MHz to start take advantage of the memory capabilities, and also keep those FSB the same. It's just too bad my multiplier is locked.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: Washoe

Originally posted by: biostud666


A bit offtopic but I find it interesting that you have bought memory that can reach 500Mhz and paid quite a deal for it I suppose, when it only runs at 366Mhz. You could probably have gotten 1Gb PC3200 CL2 for the same price.

Well I can get it well over 400Mhz - there is a setting in BIOS where you set the memory FSB as a percentage of the CPUs. 120% is where I'd like it to be, which (with the current CPU speeds) gets me around 440MHz. My options are 80%, 90%, 100%, 120%, 125%, and 150%, but the thing is, I've heard that it's best to keep your CPU and Memory FSB speeds the same. Ideally what I would like to do is get that CPU hitting over 200MHz to start take advantage of the memory capabilities, and also keep those FSB the same.

Maybe a mobile barton would suit you then. You could even step down the multiplier and ramp up the frequency to be NSYNC with the memory if you had to.