Upgrading my memory

[Rettere]

Hi everyone,

I am running an AM2 rig with two gigs of Corsair Value Select PC5400 DDR2 memory. I have an Athlon X2 3800+ and an 8800GTS. I am thinking my memory/processor is bottlenecking my system. Would it be worth it to go for an Athlon X2 6400+ and 2 more gigs of memory? Or should I just replace my current two gigs with two faster gigs? My biggest question is on what to do about my memory, as upgrading the CPU seems like a no-brainer.


Thanks for any and all help,
Rettere

 

[cozumel]

Please state which motherboard you are using and which OS.

My thoughts would be that I do not really like the Corsair ValueSelect range. They're stable but sluggish in performance. I would be upgrading your memory. The exact modules you would need depend on your OS and mobo. Would you planning to overclock?

 

[Rettere]

I'm running XP on an MSI K9N Neo-F. I'm not really planning to overclock. I use this computer mainly for gaming, but limit myself mostly to RTS's like Company of Heroes. I know about the XP limit to ~3.5 gigs, and it doesn't bother me. I have basically decided to upgrade my CPU and am wondering whether I should move to 4 gigs of Value Select or 2 gigs of something faster. I guess I might consider 4 gigs of something faster but I don't know.

 

[cozumel]

Take a look at both Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 or GSkill PC2-6400 HZ series. Both use the same ICs from Micron and offer a quick performance. Check out the prices.

If were you were going to intall 4GB on your board then you need to hunt around and see how your board functions with all 4 slots utilised. 2x2GB module are availble.

I would suggest upgrading to Vista x64 if you want 4GB. Other people have told me their was a significant real-life performance gain when gaming using Vista. Vista would also be able to use all of the 4GB RAM

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'll confirm that, and also add that there aren't too many 2 x 2GB kits out there. I can't find any for Crucial. Somebody else found a bargain, though, on 2 x 2GB GSKILL PC2-8000's. The kit price was marginally less than the DDR2-800's you mention.

 

[Rettere]

I had thought about going vista 64-bit, but I heard the drivers were a nightmare. Would I be under-utilizing my upgrade from 3800+ to 6400+ CPU if I didn't upgrade my memory as well?

 

[cozumel]

I think the memory upgrade is far important than the CPU. I am not sure how much a performace boost you would get from 6400+. Maybe you should hold on to that upgrade and put it aside for later when you have more money for a mobo+CPU upgrade. I do not use AMD so maybe someone else will confirm or deny the value of a CPU upgrade. Definitely the DDR2 upgrade would improve performance.