POLL: Best Power for $$$: A Barton 2500+, or 512 of 3200/3500 RAM?

[Lyran]

any input wanted. which upgrade would help my system more in gaming and windows:

2500+ barton ($190)
2x256 of Corsair XMS3200C2 (for $165) / 2x256 of HyperX 3500 ($170)

hmm... decisions decisions... I want both of these things and can probably afford them both within 3 months, but what would give the biggest boost now?

once again, if you know ANYTHING on the topic, please chip in.

 

[mechBgon]

Barton: faster processing, presumably allows multiplier manipulation from mobo BIOS

TbredB: faster processing, allows multiplier manipulation

2 x 256Mb Corsair 3200C2: Allows boosting CPU/memory FSB to probably whatever your mobo can stand, in conjunction with an unlocked CPU. More importantly, gives you 512Mb of RAM so WinXP isn't swapping to disk. Enables dual-DDR for a slight performance boost.

2 x 256Mb HyperX 3500: Same as above


or....


2 x 512Mb Crucial PC2700: probably can still run over 200FSB, gives you 1Gb of RAM for $180 (I hear BF1942 benefits from this). Some users have Crucial PC2100 running over 190MHz FSB on nForce2's.

 

[tbates757]

Definately either Barton or Corsair, favoring the Barton.