Slight upgrade advice needed...

josh85x · 2 May 2006 at 18:56

Hi, basically my computer is quite old and running rather slowly with all the new games im throwing at it (oblivion, quake4, etc) and am looking to upgrade. I dont want to do a mjor upgrade as of yet as I wish to wait for conroe and am2 to be released then make a decision on which is best. I just need a slight performance boost to keep me going a few months longer.

Current specs
mobo: Asus A7N8X 2.0
cpu: Barton 2800+ (stock speed)
gfx: 9800pro
ram: corsair 512mb (CMX512 3200LLPRO) x2 (stock timings)

I have the ram running at 200, I would do the same with my cpu but I kinda pushed it a bit too far a while back so now the system locks up if i overclock it (i have to run it at slightly higher volt at stock speed).

I dont want to do any major purchases due to the fact ill be building a new system from scratch in 2-3 months.

Im not sure whether to just get an extra stick of 512 ram or get a barton 3200 and overclock that a bit. any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks

semi-pro waster · 2 May 2006 at 19:27

I was going to suggest selling off your existing Ram and going for 2x1gb of PC3200 but AM2 and Conroe will be DDR2 mainly so that is pointless.

Maybe go for either your Barton 3200(and that will run at the same speed as the Ram) or go for a 2500 or 2600 mobile and clock them as far as you can, you might be better off with an NF7 for that purpose.

pastymuncher · 2 May 2006 at 20:03

If you are building a new rig in a couple of months i really would'nt do anything to it and instead save the money and put it towards an even better spec for your new rig.

If you really must another 512mb of ram may see some difference or maybe even a second hand 6600gt.

josh85x · 2 May 2006 at 20:30

I dont really want the hassle of changing too much now such as changing the motherboard. take everything out to put everything back in again with little improvement. i just need a quick 30 second job like stick of extra ram.

Would I notice much of an improvement with an extra 50% ram? I probably will playing oblivion as it generally seems to use all of my memory and a good 500mb of my swap file as well, though its doesnt seem worth it for just one game.