Processor or Ram

[holyghost]

I had an AMD Tbred XP1800, 256MB PC2700 DDR, GF 4Ti 4200 & etc. I wanted to do an upgrade but due to financial reason, I can upgrade only one at a time. Which should I upgrade 1st so I can get better performance for my pc? Processor or Ram? My mobo is able to support 266FSB processor only so the highest I could go is Tbred XP2600.

 

[BlueWeasel]

It all depends on the primary use of the system.

If it's gaming, then upgrade the RAM first. Even if it's just used for office/email/browsing, I'd personally get more RAM before getting a faster chip.

 

[myocardia]

If it's used mainly for gaming, nothing will benefit you as much as a faster, DirectX 9 video card.

 

[Corporate Thug]

512 = mandatory

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: shady06
512 = mandatory

..and I bet 1 gig will be soon (1 year perhaps?)

Personally, see if you can overclock that 1800 because I bet you can. The price of the ram or cpu is sitll cheaper than any videocard you can get that will be better than your 4200. I find myself using just barely under 512 mb when I perform office applications. I have a lot of windows open though so. If you find yourself waiting for programs to respond and when you minimize them they take too long at times or end up hanging, get more RAM.

 

[holyghost]

I use my pc mostly on games & internet. I never did overclocking before & tried some websites which teaches how to overclock but was unable to really understand how to do it. Some even said I need to 'paste' some metal thing between my Tbred processor thread in order to overclock it. It really got me a headache. If someone could tell me where I can find an easier way of explaining how to overclock a Tbred processor, I would definitely be most grateful.

 

[myocardia]

If you can't afford a faster video card, just buy a 512MB stick of good, low latency ram, like Corsair XMS or Kingston HyperX.

 

[magratton]

RAM, 256 is quite inadequate for gaming. Get yourself a 512 stick as myocardia suggests above. I bet you see your system "come to life" as it were.

As for overclocking, just keep reading here. This board is pretty much been of tremendous value to me.

Many people who are using the ti4200 video card have been very pleased with their purchase. If I were you I would wait out on new standard video cards (PCIe) before upgrading off of that. You will have to run the newest games at medium, but to me anyways that is not a big deal.

 

[Unforgiven]

Originally posted by: shady06
512 = mandatory

hit the nail on the head. the only micro$oft os out right now that can even work at reasonable speeds with 256 and below are nt, 98 and 2k. i couldnt even imagine a gaming machine running xp on 256 megs of ram.

 

[kyparrish]

yeah buy the ram,

not trying to hijack the thread, but what's up with ram prices lately?

 

[holyghost]

Originally posted by: kyparrish
yeah buy the ram,

not trying to hijack the thread, but what's up with ram prices lately?

Ram price here in Malaysia has boom up recently. What about in other countires?

 

[myocardia]

Not only are ram prices rising, they are saying to expect them to keep rising for awhile.

 

[kyparrish]

/ tries to figure out how to get by w/ his PC-2700 for the forseeable future

 

[Unrealdude]

Go for the ram first as it is quite essential to have a 512mb ram for gaming these days.
after that get ur self an AMD 2500+ barton (economical)

 

[edmundoab]

man I still wanna stick to my BH-5 Chip corsair ram,
but i've only bought a 512 TwinX
;(

love the 2-2-2-6 timings at DDR 400

 

[Unforgiven]

as long as there isnt another earthquake in asia like there was about 4 or 5 years ago now, prices wont skyrocket like they did. i remember throwing down $150 for 128 megs of pc 100 and that was a score at the time

 

[holyghost]

What could be the cause of this price booming?

 

[Avalon]

I too have noticed the big price hike...got a stick of geil 512mb pc3200 for $85 several months ago...the same stick now goes for $126
I definitely agree that you could use 512mb ram
if you decide on getting a new processor but don't want a new motherboard, I would probably suggest an XP 2400+ mobile CPU for $77 at newegg...it's unlocked, so go multiplier happy if your motherboard supports it
if you wanted a better video card, I'd recommend the powercolor radeon 9800SE with 256bit memory configuration (L shaped memory, HDD power connector)
you can softmod that bad boy and it will run like a 9800 pro, all for roughly $150

 

[BlindBartimaeus]

You definitely need the ram first. Get a 256 mb of the forsale/trade forums here or www.fatwallet.com and find some deals. The video card is aging but will still be ok for a bit. I like the mobile 2400 idea depending on your mobo and if it has multiplier options etc.

BTW I wouldn't get a 512 stick since you should be due for a complete upgrade 6-9 months...so save your pennies now.

 

[Jeff7181]

Could get a cheap stick of 512 MB PC2100 or 2700 RAM and just ad it to what you have for a total of 768. RAM is definately slowing you down more than the processor right now.

 

[LostInSpace927]

If you want to look for articles on how to unlock your t-bred. Do a google search "Unlock AMD thorobred" that should get you tons of articles.

 

[im2good4u]

Originally posted by: Avalon
I too have noticed the big price hike...got a stick of geil 512mb pc3200 for $85 several months ago...the same stick now goes for $126
I definitely agree that you could use 512mb ram
if you decide on getting a new processor but don't want a new motherboard, I would probably suggest an XP 2400+ mobile CPU for $77 at newegg...it's unlocked, so go multiplier happy if your motherboard supports it
if you wanted a better video card, I'd recommend the powercolor radeon 9800SE with 256bit memory configuration (L shaped memory, HDD power connector)
you can softmod that bad boy and it will run like a 9800 pro, all for roughly $150

how do you softmod a powercolor 9800se to 9800pro?

 

[Tango57]

if you can only afford to buy only one component at a time choose on getting a high quality component then and don't just go for budget parts. i.e. get a good processor, ram, motherboard, or video card. if you hold onto your processor a bit longer, you'll see a big difference in upgradingg like these guys said with 512 MB of good ram or a mid-to-high end video card. if you go for the video card choose wisely. it's the most expensive upgrade to make so you don't want to get stuck with a junk card. besides if you can afford, the new video cards from ATI are coming out this month and for Nvidia i think next month. for the motherboard, make sure it will have all the specifications you'll want or need to support future upgrades i.e., RAID, serial ata, onboard sound, etc. if you're going to overclock, confirm that your motherboard has all the necessary options in it's BIOS to overclock, i.e., adjustments for vcore, vdram, chipset voltage, fsb, cpu ratio or multiplier.

 

[Tango57]

Originally posted by: im2good4u how do you softmod a powercolor 9800se to 9800pro?

i think you have to install omega drivers to convert your 4 pipelines into 8.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Tango57

Originally posted by: im2good4u how do you softmod a powercolor 9800se to 9800pro?

i think you have to install omega drivers to convert your 4 pipelines into 8.

No, it requires a BIOS flash and there's no guarantee it'll work.