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New hard drive or more RAM?

D

de8212

Diamond Member
Looking to make a small purchase to get more performance out of my current pc.
Specs are:
p4 3.2e Prescott
1GB (2x512) Kingston RAM
XFX 6800GT vid card
250GB maxtor HD
NEC 8x DVD burner
Dell 2100 LCD
Logitech MX1000

Thinking of getting either a WD Raptor 74GB SATA drive or another 1GB or RAM.
Both would be withing $20 - $30 of each other.
Since building this new system I haven't even played a game. So I just want to get something that would be better for general use. Maybe a small amount of graphics.
Any other ideas on upgrades?
 
what type of gfx? ram helps gfx a lot. raptors help file transfer(above 1 gb a lot[any less and the difference isnt that big.])

how bout upgrade to a 16x dual layer burner?
 
I just piddle around in photshop, etc. Not that much though.
I don't really use the dvd burner too much as it is so that's why I didn't want to upgrade.

Only other thing I would like is a good wireless keyboard to go with my MX1000 but I don't know when Logitech will release one that will go with the mx1000.

My mobo is only ata100 so I figured the raptor was a wise investment in speed. Just wnat to make sure I will see a difference. I may install some games on here one day just not alot of time for that.
 
There really isn't that much you can do to for a huge performance increase.

Putting your OS and your most used programs on a Raptor might give you something.

Ram might help if you do lot of workstation type programs.

Of course, you could always spend the money of cooling equipment and try to OC to 3.6 or 3.8.

(By the way, if you don't mind something a little OT, how do you like your RAM?
Do you run it at 2-3-2-6?)
 
Definately harddrive.. you have enough RAM, especially for a non gaming computer. Hard drive speed is the only thing i could see making a difference for general use.
 
krcat1
I thought about a better hs/fan. I'm only using the stock one now and temps are a little high.
The RAM is OK. I had to up the Voltage to +.2 to get windows to run. Not sure what latency it is. I've never adjusted it so whatever default is. Come to think of it I don't even know where that setting is in the BIOS on this mobo.
I'll have to try and look one day.

Phoenix
That's what I was thinking. I may go with the raptor. I still have another week or tow to decide. Gonna wait until income tax return gets here.
 
Originally posted by: de8212

Since building this new system I haven't even played a game. So I just want to get something that would be better for general use. Maybe a small amount of graphics. Any other ideas on upgrades?
Click to expand...

Hard Drive for sure then. Unless you are into heavy graphics design and photoshop, the hard drive will offer a feel of "snappiness."

You listen to music or watch movies? maybe get a good sound system + sound card. That is always high on my list for upgrades.

 
You can never have too much storage IMHO. Your rig looks pretty high end already, so you're not going to be able to go much faster. You could always save your money for when better components are available.
 
What MB do you have? The Kingston RAM have a SPD at 200 MHz is 2.5-3-3-8 in CPU-Z.

If you can set the RAM in bios to 2-3-2-6-1T, it might give you a free couple of percent improvement.

 
I'd go for the RAM.....if yer a gamer.


Originally posted by: de8212
Looking to make a small purchase to get more performance out of my current pc.
Specs are:
p4 3.2e Prescott
1GB (2x512) Kingston RAM
XFX 6800GT vid card
250GB maxtor HD
NEC 8x DVD burner
Dell 2100 LCD
Logitech MX1000

Thinking of getting either a WD Raptor 74GB SATA drive or another 1GB or RAM.
Both would be withing $20 - $30 of each other.
Since building this new system I haven't even played a game. So I just want to get something that would be better for general use. Maybe a small amount of graphics.
Any other ideas on upgrades?
Click to expand...

 
Originally posted by: krcat1
What MB do you have? The Kingston RAM have a SPD at 200 MHz is 2.5-3-3-8 in CPU-Z.

If you can set the RAM in bios to 2-3-2-6-1T, it might give you a free couple of percent improvement.
Click to expand...

mobo is a gigabyte 81k1100
I don't remeber seeing where to change this in the BIOS. I'll take a look at the manual.
 
Just looked in the manual and BIOS. On my old epox mobo I adjust the RAM but I cannnot find where to do it on this mobo. Anyone knwo where it is?

 
I can't find adjustments for RAM in bios or the Easytune software. If there is a way, it is in the Easyshare thing.
 
Originally posted by: krcat1
I can't find adjustments for RAM in bios or the Easytune software. If there is a way, it is in the Easyshare thing.
Click to expand...

Is easytune/easyshare a third party software?
Do you have the same gigabyte motehrboard as I do?
 
No, I have an Asus MB. The Easytune (not Easyshare, I was doing two things at once) is the software that you can download from here

Easytune4 Intro

This software will let you adjust the settings that you normally would have to change in the bios without constantly rebooting the computer.

I cannot find how to change the RAM timings with Easytune, either.
 
Originally posted by: de8212
Just looked in the manual and BIOS. On my old epox mobo I adjust the RAM but I cannnot find where to do it on this mobo. Anyone knwo where it is?
Click to expand...

I believe on gigabyte boards you have to Press F1 to bring up the advanced options menu since its hidden. So try pressing F1 under the CPU configuration or Performance section or something like that. Also read carefully, sometimes the bios has messages on the right or bottom to tell you what to press to perform an operation.
 
Originally posted by: Flamebird
You can never have too much storage IMHO. Your rig looks pretty high end already, so you're not going to be able to go much faster. You could always save your money for when better components are available.
Click to expand...

I agree with Flamebird. Unless you can actively identify an area that's a problem (Is your computer too slow?) then save your money.

I purchased a Raptor for my new build, and I have to say that it's not that much faster. I didn't do any sort of in depth analysis, but I'd say it shaved <5 seconds off of a 30-40 second level load time (UT2K4, in this case). And the premium you pay probably isn't worth it. I got it more for bragging rights than anything else. 🙂

I know that with 1GB I never come close to maxing out. (Correction, I came close once, but that was when I accidentally opened 20+ windows of vhdl files).

Anyway, save your money and over the next week or two, try and see if you're pushing the limits of your system. Are you using 700MB on a regular basis? then yeah, probably the RAM is a good idea. But it seems to me that you've got a pretty good system right now, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
(exception: the bragging rights thing)
 
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