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comp needs an upgrade! what should it be?

O

Okasa

Member
ok so my current specs are as follows:

Asus a7n8x-e dlx
amd 2100+
300GB seagate 7200 8mb 133
120GB maxtor 7200 8mb 133
80GB maxtor 7200 8mb 133
ati radeon 9800 pro w/ zalman heatsink

3x 256mb kingston valueram 2100
latency @ 2.5 3 3 6

audigy 2zs
420w antec truepower

im pretty sure that nothing else would affect preformance of the comp overall so i wont list them.

anyways, my thought is that the most cost effective bottleneck to lose would be my ram, upgrading it to maybe some crucial ballistix 3200 2x 512 or (3200 is the highest for my mobo). or maybe some other ram. that way i can overclock my cpu and relieve that bottleneck a little as well.

however, im hoping to get some feedback, any suggestions will be taken gladly (tho i wont upgrade the mobo, perhaps change it to an a7n8x dlx [got one lyin around] if anyone thinks its better or something, but if i were to upgrade the mobo i would have to replace numerous different components)

thanks a lot for your suggestions
 
Definatly new CPU/Mobo/RAM I would have let the ram slide if it was a decent speed, but PC2100 is holding you back bad.

May I suggest 3000+ and a couple of PC3200 1Gb Sticks? As for the mobo, the Asus A8V is pretty good.

9800Pro is still good, but the rest of your setup needs an overhaul for sure.
 
You would be best served by getting a whole new CPU/RAM/mainboard combo, but since it sounds like you don't want to touch the CPU/mainboard right now, your RAM upgrade sounds like a good idea. It should noticibly improve performance, especially if your CPU overclocks well. The other upshot is that when you do decide to upgrade the CPU/mainboard, you should still be able to reuse your PC3200 RAM (unless you wait so long that DDR2 is the only standard supported anymore, but that's still a *long* way off, if it will ever end up actually happening).

Your current video card is good for that setup, and it's questionable about whether adding a new card will improve performance given the slow CPU and RAM, so I think that if you're only going to upgrade one thing, the RAM is your best choice. Note also though that if you wanted, you could probably pick up a *very* cheap socket A chip rated for faster than your current CPU, and upgrade both the CPU and RAM.
 
id like to spend maybe around 200-300 or so. however, watching my power supply voltage carefully lately, my 12v has jumped to 13v frequently, the 5v to 5.5v and the 1.6v to around 3v... im worried that my psu is going bad, so i may have to replace that as well.
 
if i were to spend say 200 on some good ram, would it really help my system dramatically, i mean 768mb kingston valueram[current ram] really sucks. however, the 2100+ isnt so hot either...is it worth my money to upgrade the ram and not the cpu?
 
Originally posted by: Okasa
if i were to spend say 200 on some good ram, would it really help my system dramatically, i mean 768mb kingston valueram[current ram] really sucks. however, the 2100+ isnt so hot either...is it worth my money to upgrade the ram and not the cpu?
Click to expand...



I don't think so.

what about sell your current setup and get all new !
 
because...that costs money of course. lol, im a cheapo, maybe ill get a new system next year, but for now this baby will have to do.

i mean i could potentially get 3200 ram and and a 3000 barton as the max my sytem can handle, but im not sure what kind of preformance increase i would see
 
Yeah, I'd say get a new mobo/PSU. I'd recommend Socket 754 and maybe a 2800+ Athlon 64. You won't be using dual channel anyways, S754 will save you some money, and the integrated memory controller on the A64 should make PC2100 less of a bottleneck.
 
well im not really trying for a full system upgrade. im simply trying to get a little more out of my system. i plan on building a new system in a year or more anyways, so a new mobo/cpu/ram dosent really seem like the best idea at the time, but i do concur with the ram. perhaps i could spend the money i save on valueselect on a new proc to upgrade that...
 
See, the problem is that you have an Athlon XP, and slower PC2100 RAM really hurts it. If you upgraded to an Athlon 64, your PC2100 RAM wouldn't hold you back that much, because the memory controller on the A64 is much better. If you're going to be building a new system in a year though, just sit tight and save your money.
 
If you're planning on upgrading in a year or so, get 2x512MB (DDR400/PC3200) that will overclock alright. That way, you have more RAM, and can OC your proc. Then just take your RAM to your new system next year.

The 9800Pro is a good card, but if you did a CPU/MoBo upgrade, you would probably want PCI-E, which would mean getting rid of the 9800. If I were you, I'd just do the RAM.

RoD
 
well i know that the 2100+ is an amazing o/c, but i cant oc the fsb on it without getting faster ram, maybe i should just upgrade the ram, some curcial value or something and see where i stand preformance wise with a little ocing. tho i may need a little better cooling...i know this isnt the forum for it, but how much could i get out of my proc with an slk700 and a panaflo?
 
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