The under $100 upgrade, need help :P

[BlueEcho]

I want to upgrade my PC to enable better performance in upcoming games and the ones I currently play (Supreme Commander, F.E.A.R., BF2, GW:Nightfall etc) and I can't spend over $100.

With my current rig:
Abit AV8 3rd Eye 939 AGP Mobo
A64 3000+ Winchester 1.8ghz
ATI X850 Pro
1 (2x512) Samsung DDR400 RAM.

What would be a better upgrade? This 144 Opteron (I would OC) :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103600

Or add another 2x512 of Kingston HyperX RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144114

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Beau

 

[Alone]

More ram, but get some that matches what you already have.

 

[SergeC]

Originally posted by: Alone
More ram, but get some that matches what you already have.

 

[stevty2889]

Well, if you upgrade to that CPU, you'll still be using a single core, so it wouldn't make much sense, since you can overclock the one you already have. Adding 2x512mb sticks to your existing ram, will drop your speed to 333mhz, and 2T timings since you have a winchester core, however, several of those games, especialy BF2 will be faster with the larger amount of ram despite it's drop in speed. You might be able to set it back to 400mhz anyway, and 2T timings usualy doesn't have more than a 3% performance loss.

 

[yh125d]

either OC that winchester and get ram, or get this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103037

 

[myocardia]

I think you should buy the 4000 that yh125td linked to, plus one 1GB stick of RAM. That would be the best way to get the most performance, for the least amount of money. And since that 4000 is a San Diego core, it will let you overclock just as well with 3 sticks of RAM, without having to run at a 2T command rate, and with all 3 sticks @ 200 Mhz.

 

[Nickel020]

With 3 sticks you won't be able to use them in dual channel though, if you can get 3 sticks to work at all (I wanted to add 1GB to my VIA based motherboard as well, but decided to get rid of the 2x512MB and get 2x1024MB).
Performance wise, the largest upgrade would probably be the A64 San Diego 4000+, especially since you can probably overclock it to 3.0GHz or more (from 2.4GHz). I'm getting one of these myself as well =)
Other than that, I'd try to sell your RAM and buy 2x1024MB, probably Samung Original, since they almost always overclock to DDR500 at 3-4-4-8 and sometimes up to DDR580.

 

[myocardia]

Three sticks work just fine in dual-channel. At least on any motherboard with a good chipset. It's been so long since I've owned a Via chipset, that it doesn't seem like dual-channel even existed back then (for AMD, at least). Anyway, like I said to begin with, 3 sticks run just fine in dual-channel, at least with nVidia and ATI chipsets.

 

[Nickel020]

Well, when I asked here about getting another 1GB stick, I was told that I wouldn't be able to run the 3 DIMMs in dual channel anymore. And it shouldn't matter much what chipset you're using, since the memory controller is on the CPU anyway.

 

[nyker96]

I say get 7900GS for 144 (XFX one with rebate from newegg) sell off that 850 pro for 40 on ebay. This is really gonna give ya the best boost in speed, the 2GB ram will do far less for you in those games.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Nickel020
Well, when I asked here about getting another 1GB stick, I was told that I wouldn't be able to run the 3 DIMMs in dual channel anymore. And it shouldn't matter much what chipset you're using, since the memory controller is on the CPU anyway.

Well, I'm not sure who told you that-- it wasn't me. But, here's how dual-channel works. With 3x512 MB sticks, only 1GB will be in dual-channel; the other 512 MB will run in single-channel, but you'll benefit from having the extra ½GB of RAM, so it's still worth doing.

With 2x512 GB, plus 1x1 GB, all 2 GB's will run in dual-channel. Now, some software may report that you aren't running in dual-channel mode, with 3x512 MB, since it "senses" some of the RAM not being in DC. As far as it not mattering which chipset you're using, since the memory controller is on the die, then why wouldn't you be able to put two sticks in any two slots on the motherboard you choose, and still be in dual-channel?

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: Nickel020
Well, when I asked here about getting another 1GB stick, I was told that I wouldn't be able to run the 3 DIMMs in dual channel anymore. And it shouldn't matter much what chipset you're using, since the memory controller is on the CPU anyway.

Well, I'm not sure who told you that-- it was me. But, here's how dual-channel works. With 3x512 MB sticks, only 1GB will be in dual-channel; the other 512 MB will run in single-channel, but you'll benefit from having the extra ½GB of RAM, so it's still worth doing.

With 2x512 GB, plus 1x1 GB, all 2 GB's will run in dual-channel. Now, some software may report that you aren't running in dual-channel mode, with 3x512 MB, since it "senses" some of the RAM not being in DC. As far as it not mattering which chipset you're using, since the memory controller is on the die, then why wouldn't you be able to put two sticks in any two slots on the motherboard you choose, and still be in dual-channel?

Not all memory controllers work that way, with some athlon XP motherboards, you could run an odd number of sticks in dual channel, apparently some of the newest intel chipset boards will do what you are describing, one pair in dual channel, and the other stick in single, but as far as I know, there are no A64's or X2's that will do the same..if I add a 3rd stick to my X2 system, it's no longer running in dual channel, the mem bandwidth indicates single channel, if you have any evidence to support this theory, I'd like to see it.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: stevty2889
Not all memory controllers work that way, with some athlon XP motherboards, you could run an odd number of sticks in dual channel, apparently some of the newest intel chipset boards will do what you are describing, one pair in dual channel, and the other stick in single, but as far as I know, there are no A64's or X2's that will do the same..if I add a 3rd stick to my X2 system, it's no longer running in dual channel, the mem bandwidth indicates single channel, if you have any evidence to support this theory, I'd like to see it.

Well, I ran 2x512MB + 1x1 GB of RAM in my Ultra-D for ~3 weeks, until I could afford the second 1Gb stick of PQI Turbo. Unfortunately, I can't remember for sure whether or not it was running in dual-channel mode, because I have some pretty serious memory damage. So, let's just assume that you're correct, although I would swear that I was running in DC for those 3 weeks or so.

That gives BlueEcho two choices. Now, which would you rather use in your sytem: 2GB of RAM, @ 200 Mhz and a 1T command rate in single-channel, or 2GB of RAM @ 166 Mhz and a 2T command rate, in dual-channel? I know I'd choose the first option, especially since it not only would perform better to start with, it also involves being able to upgrade to 2x1 GB sticks for less than an extra $100, and still only having the original 2x512 MB sticks to sell, instead of then having to try to sell 4x512 MB sticks.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: yh125td
either OC that winchester and get ram, or get this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103037

I'd agree with this suggestion. Plus, the price has come down $4 since I bought mine. I got mine to 2.89Ghz @ 1.4v (1.35v nominal). Couldn't get 3Ghz stable, even with 1.475v.

If you plan on upgrading the video, you could probably get closer to $100 resale on your X850Pro, or at least $80. But I'm not sure that you would need that, unless you need more eye candy, or require SM3.0, or want to game at higher resolutions. The X800-series are powerful cards, alibeit SM2.0b-only.