my money is in your hands. (well kinda)

[triktrak]

Hi people. Just recieved my first paycheck today, £270 ($508). Now as i am on my comp. quite a bit i thought i'd buy it something new, but not quite sure what. This is were you come in. At the moment these are my specs.

Windows Mircrosoft XP Professional
Medion (MircoStar) Intel Pentium 4 2.66ghz
Samsung (2x256mb) 512mb RAM
Realtek AC97 Audio Card
XFX Geforce Nivdia 6800GT 256mb RAM (overclocked)
SyncMaster 710V Monitor (1280x1024)
450watt PSU
Haven't really got any cooling just 1 internal fan with heatsink + 1 on the graphics card and PSU.
What about a new motherboard? i don't really know much about them, do they effect the computers performence much?

Thanks for any advice or help.

[jkrohn]

Do you have only 2 DIMMS? Of all the things to upgrade, I think the RAM would be the first I would do. You graphics card is good, your processor is more than sufficient.

Replacing the Mobo, without replacing the processor with something faster (an expensive proposition) would do you little good.

Jkrohn

[fourthbean]

I second the suggestion for ram, my gaming has improved alot since I upgraded to a gig of ram from 512. That is assuming you game with that 6800gt.

[triktrak]

yeh i do game quite a bit nice can you recommend me some good RAM at 1gig? limit would be up to £170, maybe less or more. Does good RAM make a big difference between rubbishy RAM?i heard Corsair is a pretty good make?

[fourthbean]

I try and stay away from cheapo ram from companies I dont trust because they have a much higher tendency towards being unstable and causing your computer to crash. I would go with a brand like geil,corsair,kingston,mushkin and I am sure there are some others I have missed.

How many slots do you have left in your motherboard for ram?

[Emc2]

You'd want 2x512 PC3200 sticks if the motherboard has dual-channel support. Not a bad gaming machine I'd say...very similar to mine

[implexant]

I'd go with 2x512 instead of 2x256.

And open a savings account... don't spend all your money

-Chris

[triktrak]

I just have two slots for RAM, being filled up at the moment by the 2x256mb sticks. How about The Kingston HyperX 1GB (2x512MB) DDR PC3500 (KHX3500AK2/1G) CAS2.5 Dual Channel Kit (MY-013-KS). for £185 (ex.vat). Would they boost my pc's performance quite a bit? Why is this RAM so cheap - Crucial 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2 PC5300 667MHz Ballistix Dual Channel Kit (MY-035-CR) ? its only £180 and its PC5300 and 667MHz.

[implexant]

I just have two slots for RAM, being filled up at the moment by the 2x256mb sticks. How about The Kingston HyperX 1GB (2x512MB) DDR PC3500 (KHX3500AK2/1G) CAS2.5 Dual Channel Kit (MY-013-KS). for £185 (ex.vat). Would they boost my pc's performance quite a bit? Why is this RAM so cheap - Crucial 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2 PC5300 667MHz Ballistix Dual Channel Kit (MY-035-CR) ? its only £180 and its PC5300 and 667MHz.

Having 1GB as compared to 512MB would be noticable if you run alot of stuff, do video rendering/encoding, or other memory intensive stuff. I'd recommend getting just normal, CAS3 DDR 3200 2x512. I don't think you'll see that big of a difference between PC3200 and PC3500 and CAS2.5 and CAS3.

The Corsair Value Select PC3200 512MB chips are excellent, and cost ~ $140 for 2x512.

-Chris