What's my system's bottleneck?

[ugh]

Hi folks,

I've had my PC for about 2+ yrs and it's starting to show its age.

First off, my system specs:

AXP2000+ (DU3TC)
Epox 8KHA+
256MB Kingmax PC2100
MSI GeForceTi4200 64MB
80GB WD 8MB cache HDD
40GB Maxtor 2MB cache HDD

Can anyone tell me which is the component which is underpar and can recommend an upgrade w/o puncturing my wallet? Or should I just wait for the 64bit prices to be more sane?

Thanks!

 

[JBT]

256 Mb of Ram up grade that thing to atleast 512 and it will seem alot better.

 

[ugh]

I've checked the Task Mgr after booting up and it just takes up ~100MB RAM (I'm using WinXP BTW). I've tried 512MB and it doesn't really feel that much faster. I've been playing NFS:U and it seems that its kinda jerky at times. Perhaps I'll try the 512 again and see what happens.

 

[EeyoreX]

Depends on what you do. Could be your video card. Could be the amount of RAM. Could be your processor. You have to be more specific with what your computer is used for and what seems slow.

\Dan

 

[high]

256ram, mobile barton, raptor

 

[ugh]

EeyoreX: Sorry bout not being specific. Looking for a way to tweak it up to be a gaming machine mostly.

 

[Regs]

The only thing reasonable to upgrade would be the ram. Maybe get 512 Megs of value PC3200. So you won't have to upgrade the ram later when you make the CPU/mobo jump.

 

[ugh]

Regs: Thx for the advice. One question, since the vid card only has 64MB RAM, is it a limiting factor?

 

[k3nt]

Originally posted by: Regs
The only thing reasonable to upgrade would be the ram. Maybe get 512 Megs of value PC3200. So you won't have to upgrade the ram later when you make the CPU/mobo jump.

for athlon xp system, get pc2700

 

[ugh]

Originally posted by: k3nt

Originally posted by: Regs
The only thing reasonable to upgrade would be the ram. Maybe get 512 Megs of value PC3200. So you won't have to upgrade the ram later when you make the CPU/mobo jump.

for athlon xp system, get pc2700

Reason being AXPs can't OC that high I presume?

 

[Regs]

Originally posted by: ugh

Originally posted by: k3nt

Originally posted by: Regs
The only thing reasonable to upgrade would be the ram. Maybe get 512 Megs of value PC3200. So you won't have to upgrade the ram later when you make the CPU/mobo jump.

for athlon xp system, get pc2700

Reason being AXPs can't OC that high I presume?

Well, overclocking aside, why put in money for more ram when the ram won't work when you upgrade to a affordable A64 solution later on? That's why I recommend at least PC3200. XP will run cleaner and applications may boot faster. But until you get a CPU/Mobo combo that supports a faster bus speed you wont see much performance gains from anything short of a complete overhaul.

Pc3200 gets you a step closer while doing some favors in the mean time.

 

[Markfw]

What ^he said.. Get at least PC3200. Other than that, you need mobo/cpu/vid card, all of them for the next step.

 

[ugh]

Thanks for the help guys.

Any input on the GFX card?

 

[EeyoreX]

I am not a big gamer, but I should think that in your system as it is, a new GPU won't make that much difference. Then you'd end up with a high end graphics card hobbled by a slow (relatively) processor. This leads to a need/want to upgrade the CPU, and the mobo, and the RAM, and all of the sudden, since it seems you are on a budget, it makes a lot more sense to wait for Athlon 64 systems/parts to drop in prices and for the new stuff to be available at reasonable prices. Of course, if you need that speed now, there is no point waiting, since one can always try to wait for the "next big thing" but if you are okay for a while yet, I'd just wait. Maybe someone who is more of a gamer will come in and recommend a GPU upgrade. I just am not so sure how worthwhile it would be at this point.

\Dan

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: ugh
I've checked the Task Mgr after booting up and it just takes up ~100MB RAM (I'm using WinXP BTW). I've tried 512MB and it doesn't really feel that much faster. I've been playing NFS:U and it seems that its kinda jerky at times. Perhaps I'll try the 512 again and see what happens.

try 768mb... i know i didn't feel any improvement at all going from 256 to 512, but there was a big difference between 512 and 768... windows loads faster, programs load faster... i can definitely feel the improvement...

and the graphics card... with the 9800pro going under $200... if you're a hardcore gamer i don't see why not?

 

[Alkaline5]

A Ti4200 isn't really that bad, so I'd do something about your CPU first. There's supposedly a beta BIOS that will let you run a Mobile Barton in your 8KHA+. But if you're not adventurous, nForce2 boards are pretty cheap.

 

[Gagabiji]

Originally posted by: k3nt

Originally posted by: Regs
The only thing reasonable to upgrade would be the ram. Maybe get 512 Megs of value PC3200. So you won't have to upgrade the ram later when you make the CPU/mobo jump.

for athlon xp system, get pc2700

EDIT: N/M, sorry didn't read any further than that and wanted to straight that guy out.

 

[k3nt]

I quote MaximumPC magazine:

"To get the most out of an Athlon XP system, you should use DDR memory clocked at the same speed as your CPU's FSB. That is, an Athlon XP that runs on a 333mhz bus will perform best in conjunction with DDR333 memory."

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: k3nt
I quote MaximumPC magazine:

"To get the most out of an Athlon XP system, you should use DDR memory clocked at the same speed as your CPU's FSB. That is, an Athlon XP that runs on a 333mhz bus will perform best in conjunction with DDR333 memory."

Maximum PC sucks... If you run async mem/fsb ratio you dont lose performance, you just get diminishing gains because the A-XP cant use the bandwidth. Being $5 apart its very smart to buy 3200 now so you wont have to down the road with an A-64/P4E upgrade.

Even if it were true you could still buy PC3200 and just run it at 2700.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: k3nt
I quote MaximumPC magazine:

"To get the most out of an Athlon XP system, you should use DDR memory clocked at the same speed as your CPU's FSB. That is, an Athlon XP that runs on a 333mhz bus will perform best in conjunction with DDR333 memory."

Maximum PC sucks... If you run async mem/fsb ratio you dont lose performance, you just get diminishing gains because the A-XP cant use the bandwidth. Being $5 apart its very smart to buy 3200 now so you wont have to down the road with an A-64/P4E upgrade.

Even if it were true you could still buy PC3200 and just run it at 2700.

Actually, you lose a little performance by running your ram faster (it's been tested), BUT, nearly all PC3200 ram will run tighter timings at PC2700 speeds, which means you're getting alot for that few dollar difference, besides being able to use the memory later.

 

[ugh]

I'll get a 512MB 3200 stick then. It's a better long term investment. Price difference is negligible compared to a 2700 anyway.

I just noticed that the AXP2000+ I'm having is a TBred. Not sure if it's an A or B. It's a DUT3C. But I don't know if it's a AIUHB or AIUHA {g}

 

[gsaldivar]

A RAM upgrade for your system will definitely give you the most bang for buck.

 

[Sid59]

1. more ram

2. that board can take bartons? if it can upgrade that.

 

[gsaldivar]

Originally posted by: ugh
Thanks for the help guys.

Any input on the GFX card?

Your video card is limited with only 64MB, but I would suggest holding out few more months at least until the new cards are released this summer.

Upgrades (in this order):

1. RAM to 512MB or 1GB
2. Video Card

 

[ugh]

Originally posted by: gsaldivar

Originally posted by: ugh
Thanks for the help guys.

Any input on the GFX card?

Your video card is limited with only 64MB, but I would suggest holding out few more months at least until the new cards are released this summer.

Upgrades (in this order):

1. RAM to 512MB or 1GB
2. Video Card

Can I determine how often the 64MB vid ram gets used up in games?