Upgrading Advice: Processor or RAM (Low-end)

Pesticle · Nov 6, 2005, 10:38 PM

I don't have much money at the moment, but I'd like to get the biggest bang for my buck.

I've got a little over 200$ I could spend right now, and I'm torn between upgrading from a Athlon XP 2400+ to a Athlon XP 3200+, but I wanted to upgrade from 512 MB RAM to 1 gig.

I have 512 MB of PC2700 RAM, and I am planning to upgrade to PC3200.

Now I'm thinking of buying a 1 gig stick of 3200, but I want to know what would give me the better performance boost, having 1.5 gig of PC2700 (PC3200 clocked down), or just trashing the older 512 and just putting in PC3200.

Thanks ahead of time.

Questions are:

1. What would benefit me more, the Processor, or RAM?

2. See above about PC2700 vs. PC3200.

BTW. I'm talking about performance as far as gaming goes, I've got a 9800 Pro and adequate cooling + power in my case.

Necrosis · Nov 6, 2005, 10:42 PM

The first counter question would be what motherboard do you have?

Calinerti · Nov 6, 2005, 11:20 PM

I would say a processor would stand you in better stead than the ram. I'm in close to the same position (512mb ram and a 2500) and I am thinking to upgrade the cpu first, and the ram later, when I can afford good stuff.

swimtech · Nov 7, 2005, 01:45 AM

The processor upgrade will speed you up more than a ram upgrade from 512M to 1G if (as Necrosis implies...) your motherboard will support the XP3200+ and the FSB changes from 333 to 400. You should net about a 20-30% increase in gaming performance for your $200.00, if the existing mainboard, new CPU, and existing memory all play nice together - frankly, I don't think it is a very effective upgrade though.

Much more effective, especially if money is tight for you, is to wait and save about 400.00 to obtain a near doubling of performance with a new mainboard, processor, and ram bought all at once.

As an example...
ASRock Dual 939 board (AGP and PCIe slots for video) - 69.00
Crucial 1gig PC 3200 kit (dual channel DDR setup) 165.00
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego core (retail, w/fan) 233.00
Total 467.00

You could sell your old MB, Processor, and Ram for a hundred plus bucks and bring the price of this upgrade below 400.00 (cash out...). Your existing system should play games for a while yet too...

$200.00 is high for just a 20% or so performance jump...

Pesticle · Nov 7, 2005, 03:39 AM

I'm looking to max out this system as far as I can at the moment.

When I build a new one, it's going to cost a lot of money, I'd just like to have this one as a spare or for a friend. etc.

I found an Athlon XP 3200+ for 120$, I was just saying 200 was around my max.

I'll probably have enough to upgrade the processor and RAM.

**dj_stick** · Nov 7, 2005, 10:16 AM

imo i think you should try to overclock your 2400+ a little bit, or get a 2500+ and overclock that to 3200+ speeds (i did that for 2 years)

more ram will always help you overall

Pesticle · Nov 19, 2005, 03:35 AM

I had another question.

I currently have 512 of PC2700 RAM, and I was thinking of buying a 1 gig stick of PC3200.

Now what would benefit me more, having 1.5 gigs of ram, with the 1 gig stick clocked down, or simply removing the 512 of slower ram and going with just the one gig stick of PC3200?

BWX · Nov 19, 2005, 04:06 AM

Quote:

The first counter question would be what motherboard do you have?

DITTO

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Get a mobile barton like the one above..(but not that one obviously, or even one on ebay necessarily) I got my current CPU on ebay a LONG time ago though and it has done well. I might even get a mobil barton, or just start saving for PCI stuff now.

another example--
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=6809129744
Achieved clock speed:

2.2Ghz(200x11) with 1.525v, 2.4GHz(200x12) with 1.65v, 2.5GHz(200x12.5) with 1.75v

example- (I don't know anything about this guy- just using these chips as examples of what I would get)- this guy happens to be selling them.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=6808520567
Achieved clock speed:

2.2Ghz(200x11) with 1.50v, 2.4GHz(200x12) with 1.625v, 2.5GHz(200x12.5) with 1.75v

Pesticle · Nov 19, 2005, 08:20 PM

Oh, I have an ASUS A7V-600x

It supports PC3200 for sure.

Judas · Nov 20, 2005, 01:20 AM

imo... spending something on the top Socket A grade cpu just isn't worth it. Within a very short period of time the small increase in cpu power from 2400 to 3200 just isn't going to be worth it in any shape of form... it's a limitations of the motherboard/cpu more then anything. Even top OLD generation tech dies suddenly.

Ram on the otherhand, Getting an additional 512-1gb of ram will however increase your preformance in terms of how long your machine will last vs how long a smidge better cpu will.

Your running pc2700 ram now... getting another 1gb (dual channel kit if you could) of ram would bump you up to 1.5gb (not having to worry about the different speeds of ram due to the cpu still being synced)

What's the benifit of this exactly?

First, at some point in the future you will be probably looking to oventually upgrade you entire motherboard/cpu setup. At which point you probably arn't going to get a whole lot for it reguardless of the cpu/ram/motherboard power it may provide as there simply not much upgradeing anyone else could do.

However, buying a decent set of 1gb dual channel ram, would provide enough physical memory for now, but also prepaying for your future upgrade you may make say another 6months or year down the road to something that isn't going to be most likely top of the line. As the new kit you bought should work flawlessly and very well in the new system.

Hopefully i didn't lose you in my explanation..

RAM= the cheapest preformance upgrade. To many systems today i see are waisting cpu cycles and resources trying to cycle through pageing files, when it could be saved just quickly transfering the crap right to the available physical memory.

Pesticle · Nov 20, 2005, 01:31 AM

Looks like I'll be going for th ASrock and 3700+ 64.

Unfortunately I'll have to wait on the RAM for a little while though.

BWX · Nov 20, 2005, 02:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

imo... spending something on the top Socket A grade cpu just isn't worth it.

Sad but true... You could get some extra performance now, but in the end wouldn't be worth it.

swimtech · Nov 20, 2005, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pesticle

Looks like I'll be going for th ASrock and 3700+ 64.

Unfortunately I'll have to wait on the RAM for a little while though.

Dig the CPU support on that puppy of a mainboard - I know it ain't a DFI Lanparty - but for the price conscious enthusiast this board is a godsend...

ASRock Dual CPU Support

One other thing to look at - running dual video cards - haven't checked - will post back with an edit...

Edit: Answer is yes, with minor configuration issues (of course...), it'll run and AGP and PCIe at the same time! Nifty link for user sourced info: OCworkbench forum

Pesticle · Dec 14, 2005, 09:58 PM

I've got another sort of Dilemma.

I'm hearing good things about Opterons, and I see that a Opteron 148 is just two dollars more than the 64 3700+ I'm considering buying.

I'm looking to have the most performance in the long run, after I upgrade my RAM and Graphics card.

Dual-core is tempting, and seeing people pairing these up with seriously high end machines is making it worse.

I want the performance for gaming also, and need an opinion from some of you guys on what I should do, these things are going fast.

Thanks in advance.

Drakon · Dec 15, 2005, 12:19 AM

The 14x Opterons are very good oc'ers from what I've read. Btw, what is your budget?

Pesticle · Dec 15, 2005, 03:01 AM

Well, the 3700 was about a maximum.

But I see the 148 as only like 2$ more than the 3700+, and seeing that it's a dual core and whatnot.

Would it be worth upgrading to the 148 to play on stock speeds for awhile? Because I don't have the extra side cash (or at least I think I don't.) for a third party fan or heatsink?

Drakon · Dec 15, 2005, 04:41 AM

The opteron 148 isn't a dual core. The dual core opty's start from 165.

Pesticle · Dec 15, 2005, 12:22 PM

Oh yeah?

Well, that still doesn't change much I suppose, Should I go for the Opteron or stick with the 3700+?

waterloo · Dec 22, 2005, 05:56 AM

I might not know what I talking about...

Umm Dunno Athlon XP 3200 CLock Speed is something or another but whatever you buy something MIGHT lag up the other. For example buy memory, cpu might make it work slower, buy CPU , and memory might slow it down... Then Hd could slow down WHOLE pc, or the GPU Could SLOW Down WHole PC... Umm if you're not into hardcore gaming buy a newer CPU. But in your case you are talking gaming so I say CPU and Memory!!! BUT make sure MOBO can handle and it anit gonna lower whatever and whatever

1 GB PC3200 Cost 140 @ bestekpc + Tax.
OCZ 512 MB X 2 150 @ bestekpc + Tax
www.bestekpc.ca = link!
GOOD LUCK

PS... I went to Bestekpc and this is the upgrade kit thing I bought

Upgrade Kit 1

Motherboard: ECS Mainboard - Buy
CPU: AMD 64bit Sempron 3000+ - Buy
Memory: 256MB DDR400 Major - Didn't Buy

Case: BESTEK Case w/PSU - DIdn't buy this

This would cost me 239.00 + Tax but cuz of case and memory gone i spend like 199-200 bux... :P.

ECS mainboard don't suck either... So another choice would be buying a cheap upgrade kit.... It anit lot of money only when you want 2 buy expesnive mobos for ocing and stuff. Average users won't take full benifits of a expensive board (sometimes?) anyway i think...

What you looking for 939, or what?? AThlon XP and Optrons have differnet pins... Athlon XP got like Socket A or something, Opteron are 939...

Pesticle · Dec 22, 2005, 10:39 PM

I'm talking long term.

I'm going to be pairing this up with a highend GFX card and 2 gig dual channel RAM, somewhere down the line.

waterloo · Dec 23, 2005, 05:03 PM

Umm... HIgh END GFX... MEANS PCI-EXPRESS... MEANING NEW MOBO... Which cost like 170 Bux... Meaning new CPU...

Pesticle · Dec 28, 2005, 06:28 PM

Uh....no?

The reason I bought this is because it has an AGP slot and a PCI-E slot.

and it supports all the latest AMD processors D:

Pesticle · Feb 2, 2006, 05:27 AM

Little update:

I got the board and processor up and running, what should I go for my next upgrade?

I got 512 PC2100 RAM running in Dual Channel right now, but I have this big temptation to upgrade to a better video card first, would RAM be more wise?

Pesticle · Feb 4, 2006, 11:58 PM

and my current GPU is a radeon 9800 pro

BWX · Feb 5, 2006, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pesticle

Little update:

I got the board and processor up and running, what should I go for my next upgrade?

I got 512 PC2100 RAM running in Dual Channel right now, but I have this big temptation to upgrade to a better video card first, would RAM be more wise?

Quote:

I have 512 MB of PC2700 RAM, and I am planning to upgrade to PC3200.

huh?

Edit- anyway, get 1 (or 2) gigs of PC3200 low latency or something like that. So you can use it in an upgraded system.

Pesticle · Feb 5, 2006, 02:57 AM

Long story short: This RAM came with a Vaio machine I had, sony told me it was PC2700

It isn't.

BWX · Feb 5, 2006, 05:22 AM

Ram is always a good purchase.. buy lots of of it, amd get the fastest/best quality you can afford.. It seems memory lasts through many upgrades too..

Nov 6, 2005, 10:38 PM	#1
Pesticle DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 155 Rep Power: 0	Upgrading Advice: Processor or RAM (Low-end) I don't have much money at the moment, but I'd like to get the biggest bang for my buck. I've got a little over 200$ I could spend right now, and I'm torn between upgrading from a Athlon XP 2400+ to a Athlon XP 3200+, but I wanted to upgrade from 512 MB RAM to 1 gig. I have 512 MB of PC2700 RAM, and I am planning to upgrade to PC3200. Now I'm thinking of buying a 1 gig stick of 3200, but I want to know what would give me the better performance boost, having 1.5 gig of PC2700 (PC3200 clocked down), or just trashing the older 512 and just putting in PC3200. Thanks ahead of time. Questions are: 1. What would benefit me more, the Processor, or RAM? 2. See above about PC2700 vs. PC3200. BTW. I'm talking about performance as far as gaming goes, I've got a 9800 Pro and adequate cooling + power in my case.

Nov 7, 2005, 01:45 AM	#4
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	The processor upgrade will speed you up more than a ram upgrade from 512M to 1G if (as Necrosis implies...) your motherboard will support the XP3200+ and the FSB changes from 333 to 400. You should net about a 20-30% increase in gaming performance for your $200.00, if the existing mainboard, new CPU, and existing memory all play nice together - frankly, I don't think it is a very effective upgrade though. Much more effective, especially if money is tight for you, is to wait and save about 400.00 to obtain a near doubling of performance with a new mainboard, processor, and ram bought all at once. As an example... ASRock Dual 939 board (AGP and PCIe slots for video) - 69.00 Crucial 1gig PC 3200 kit (dual channel DDR setup) 165.00 AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego core (retail, w/fan) 233.00 Total 467.00 You could sell your old MB, Processor, and Ram for a hundred plus bucks and bring the price of this upgrade below 400.00 (cash out...). Your existing system should play games for a while yet too... $200.00 is high for just a 20% or so performance jump... __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it. Last edited by swimtech; Nov 7, 2005 at 01:59 AM.

Dec 22, 2005, 05:56 AM	#19
waterloo Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 337 Rep Power: 0	I might not know what I talking about... Umm Dunno Athlon XP 3200 CLock Speed is something or another but whatever you buy something MIGHT lag up the other. For example buy memory, cpu might make it work slower, buy CPU , and memory might slow it down... Then Hd could slow down WHOLE pc, or the GPU Could SLOW Down WHole PC... Umm if you're not into hardcore gaming buy a newer CPU. But in your case you are talking gaming so I say CPU and Memory!!! BUT make sure MOBO can handle and it anit gonna lower whatever and whatever 1 GB PC3200 Cost 140 @ bestekpc + Tax. OCZ 512 MB X 2 150 @ bestekpc + Tax www.bestekpc.ca = link! GOOD LUCK PS... I went to Bestekpc and this is the upgrade kit thing I bought Upgrade Kit 1 Motherboard: ECS Mainboard - Buy CPU: AMD 64bit Sempron 3000+ - Buy Memory: 256MB DDR400 Major - Didn't Buy Case: BESTEK Case w/PSU - DIdn't buy this This would cost me 239.00 + Tax but cuz of case and memory gone i spend like 199-200 bux... :P. ECS mainboard don't suck either... So another choice would be buying a cheap upgrade kit.... It anit lot of money only when you want 2 buy expesnive mobos for ocing and stuff. Average users won't take full benifits of a expensive board (sometimes?) anyway i think... What you looking for 939, or what?? AThlon XP and Optrons have differnet pins... Athlon XP got like Socket A or something, Opteron are 939... __________________ Motherboard: DFI Lan Party UT nF4 Ultra-D Modded to SLI Bios: 07/06/05 (File name - 704-2bt) CPU Cooler: Aritc Freezer 64 CPU: AMD 64 3800 Memory: OCZ 2GB Graphics Processor: ASUS EN6200GE Hard Drives: 2 X 160 IDE Western Digital, 320 SATA, 16GB SCSI Power Supply: Enermax Noisetaker 480 Watt Case:Antec CS600 Tower Case Sound Card: M-Audio Revolution 7.1/SB LIVE/SB X-FI Optical Drive: 2 X LG GSA-4167B Last edited by waterloo; Dec 22, 2005 at 06:07 AM.

Dec 23, 2005, 05:03 PM	#21
waterloo Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 337 Rep Power: 0	Umm... HIgh END GFX... MEANS PCI-EXPRESS... MEANING NEW MOBO... Which cost like 170 Bux... Meaning new CPU... __________________ Motherboard: DFI Lan Party UT nF4 Ultra-D Modded to SLI Bios: 07/06/05 (File name - 704-2bt) CPU Cooler: Aritc Freezer 64 CPU: AMD 64 3800 Memory: OCZ 2GB Graphics Processor: ASUS EN6200GE Hard Drives: 2 X 160 IDE Western Digital, 320 SATA, 16GB SCSI Power Supply: Enermax Noisetaker 480 Watt Case:Antec CS600 Tower Case Sound Card: M-Audio Revolution 7.1/SB LIVE/SB X-FI Optical Drive: 2 X LG GSA-4167B

Feb 5, 2006, 05:22 AM	#27
BWX unplugged Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: USNY Posts: 19,669 Rep Power: 110 System Specs	Ram is always a good purchase.. buy lots of of it, amd get the fastest/best quality you can afford.. It seems memory lasts through many upgrades too.. __________________

Nov 6, 2005, 10:42 PM	#2
Necrosis HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,838 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	The first counter question would be what motherboard do you have?

Nov 6, 2005, 11:20 PM	#3
Calinerti DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Elysium Posts: 330 Rep Power: 0	I would say a processor would stand you in better stead than the ram. I'm in close to the same position (512mb ram and a 2500) and I am thinking to upgrade the cpu first, and the ram later, when I can afford good stuff.

Nov 7, 2005, 03:39 AM	Thread Starter #5
Pesticle DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 155 Rep Power: 0	I'm looking to max out this system as far as I can at the moment. When I build a new one, it's going to cost a lot of money, I'd just like to have this one as a spare or for a friend. etc. I found an Athlon XP 3200+ for 120$, I was just saying 200 was around my max. I'll probably have enough to upgrade the processor and RAM.

Nov 19, 2005, 03:35 AM	Thread Starter #7
Pesticle DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 155 Rep Power: 0	I had another question. I currently have 512 of PC2700 RAM, and I was thinking of buying a 1 gig stick of PC3200. Now what would benefit me more, having 1.5 gigs of ram, with the 1 gig stick clocked down, or simply removing the 512 of slower ram and going with just the one gig stick of PC3200?

Nov 19, 2005, 08:20 PM	Thread Starter #9
Pesticle DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 155 Rep Power: 0	Oh, I have an ASUS A7V-600x It supports PC3200 for sure.

Nov 20, 2005, 01:31 AM	Thread Starter #11
Pesticle DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 155 Rep Power: 0	Looks like I'll be going for th ASrock and 3700+ 64. Unfortunately I'll have to wait on the RAM for a little while though.

Dec 14, 2005, 09:58 PM	Thread Starter #14
Pesticle DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 155 Rep Power: 0	I've got another sort of Dilemma. I'm hearing good things about Opterons, and I see that a Opteron 148 is just two dollars more than the 64 3700+ I'm considering buying. I'm looking to have the most performance in the long run, after I upgrade my RAM and Graphics card. Dual-core is tempting, and seeing people pairing these up with seriously high end machines is making it worse. I want the performance for gaming also, and need an opinion from some of you guys on what I should do, these things are going fast. Thanks in advance.

Dec 15, 2005, 12:19 AM	#15
Drakon DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Floatin'... Posts: 4,957 Rep Power: 0	The 14x Opterons are very good oc'ers from what I've read. Btw, what is your budget?

Dec 15, 2005, 03:01 AM	Thread Starter #16
Pesticle DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 155 Rep Power: 0	Well, the 3700 was about a maximum. But I see the 148 as only like 2$ more than the 3700+, and seeing that it's a dual core and whatnot. Would it be worth upgrading to the 148 to play on stock speeds for awhile? Because I don't have the extra side cash (or at least I think I don't.) for a third party fan or heatsink?

Dec 15, 2005, 04:41 AM	#17
Drakon DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Floatin'... Posts: 4,957 Rep Power: 0	The opteron 148 isn't a dual core. The dual core opty's start from 165.

Dec 15, 2005, 12:22 PM	Thread Starter #18
Pesticle DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 155 Rep Power: 0	Oh yeah? Well, that still doesn't change much I suppose, Should I go for the Opteron or stick with the 3700+?

Dec 22, 2005, 10:39 PM	Thread Starter #20
Pesticle DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 155 Rep Power: 0	I'm talking long term. I'm going to be pairing this up with a highend GFX card and 2 gig dual channel RAM, somewhere down the line.

Dec 28, 2005, 06:28 PM	Thread Starter #22
Pesticle DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 155 Rep Power: 0	Uh....no? The reason I bought this is because it has an AGP slot and a PCI-E slot. and it supports all the latest AMD processors D:

Feb 2, 2006, 05:27 AM	Thread Starter #23
Pesticle DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 155 Rep Power: 0	Little update: I got the board and processor up and running, what should I go for my next upgrade? I got 512 PC2100 RAM running in Dual Channel right now, but I have this big temptation to upgrade to a better video card first, would RAM be more wise?

Feb 4, 2006, 11:58 PM	Thread Starter #24
Pesticle DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 155 Rep Power: 0	and my current GPU is a radeon 9800 pro

Feb 5, 2006, 02:57 AM	Thread Starter #26
Pesticle DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 155 Rep Power: 0	Long story short: This RAM came with a Vaio machine I had, sony told me it was PC2700 It isn't.