One Essential Upgrade?

[Ian]

If you could choose a single thing to upgrade in your PC, what would it be?

The reason I ask, is that for the first time I'm not actually looking to upgrade my PC! (I have always had one or two older components, which by the time I have replaced, something else has become outdated).

I always used to have a low end graphics card, but one that would let me scrape through playing the latest games. I've got an ATI 9800 so I should still have a lot of life in it yet (I hope!).

If I can get another year without upgrading anything I'll be quite pleased, as I seem to be able to run everything I need at a good speed, even though I dont have the absolute fastest PC possible.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Depends really, don't it? I mean, if your motherboard is limited, thereby usually reducing the CPU performance, then it's usually pointless upgrading anything else. Maybe.

But, assuming you're content with Motherboard/CPU combination, then I'd say, in my order of preference:

RAM
CPU Cooler
Video Card
Hard Disk(s)
Monitor
Optical drives
Sound Card (if no on board sound)
Loudspeaker System
Mouse
Keyboard
Printer
Scanner

Recently I finally finished what I thought was an ideal system, it's what I'd been working towards for quite a while. Of course, it's out of date now, hehe.

But, I don't intend to upgrade this for a while, next step will be an AMD 64 Bit system, but not for a while yet. Or whatever is the latest when I do come to upgrade.

The system I'm using now is:

Gigabyte GA700N Pro 2 Motherboard
XP3200 CPU
2 x 512Mb Crucial PC3200 Memory, dual channel mode
Thermalright SLK800 cooler with Pabst 80mm midflo fan
2 x 35Gb Raptor drives in RAID 0 on onboard SATA RAID controller
2 x WD 80Gb 8Mb cache IDE drives for storage
ATI 9800 Pro vid card with Arctic VGA Cooler
Onboard 5.1 AC97 sound & LAN
Samsung DVD ROM Drive
Liteon CDRW 40 x
Sony floppy drive
Lian Li PC61 case with side window & Purple internal lighting (switchable from front panel)
Orginal 4 x 80mm fans replaced with 2 x Vantec stealth to front, cooling Raptors &
2 x Pabst midflo on roof & rear exhausting
Hercules 5.1 Loudspeaker system
Iiyama Pro 514 22" Monitor
Logitech Elite Keyboard
Logitech MX700 Mouse
Logitech cordless gamepad
Logitech Joystick
Various printers & Cannon Scanner on network

Only weak points are the Hercules speaker system, I'm not quite happy with it, and the fact the Monitor is beige, I wish it was black to match the rest of the stuff.

And I have a DVDRW in another system, so don't need one here.

But, I'm really quite happy with this system, handles all games and is the fastest system I've ever had.

 

[Ian]

Phwoar, that is one beast of a system! I really like the RAID Raptors, do they make a big difference?

I was a little vague in the question, but I meant for anyone's particular system. Do you find that upgrading RAM can greatly improve performance?

I have a P4 3Ghz, 512 Ram, ATI 9800 and a 200GB SATA + 80GB IDE. Its not super fast, but it can run anything I throw at it. I would like to get 1GB of ram now that you mention it though

 

[Reefsmoka]

Aslong as you have a decent processor (1.4Ghz and Above) and a decent amount of ram (512 at least, c'mon its 2004) i think the only thing you would need to upgrade is your graphics card.

But computers are so cheap nowadays that you could build an ultimate gaming monster for as little as £600 inc monitor.

Its only badly made graphics engines that make your PC look bad. You can play Call Of Duty with all the lovelys turned on and a high resolution on a Celeron 1.3ghz, 512mb (pc133) and a Geforce 4Ti card, and the game looks absolutly stunning! But then theres games like Halo and Chrome which seem to make any PC incapable of playing it!

Overall i think its upto you how you upgrade, your own personal prefrance. Some people buy a S-ATA drive to get that extra second in loading, some go all out and buy 2 gig of the highest quality ram they can afford!

I will only upgrade if my computer is unable to do a certain task because its too old, or theres a game i've been wanting for ages and cant play because i havent got the latest graphics card.

I'm extremely happy with my comp:

P4 2.8Ghz (533)
512 Dual Channel DDR (333)
40 Gig HDD (ATA, 7200rpm)
Ati Radeon 9800Pro (128mb)
Sound Blaster Live 5.1 Digital

And i havent really had any problems with games, and i still have cash left in my wallet!

 

[floppybootstomp]

I really like the RAID Raptors, do they make a big difference?

Yes, they do, in everyday usage terms, I can notice the difference. The ATTO benchmark test is quite good as well.

Do you find that upgrading RAM can greatly improve performance?

I certainly did. And I don't mean benchmark tests, just in everyday real use. First board I put a Gig of RAM in was an Abit KR7A-R, Crucial PC2100, I couldn't quite believe the difference it made. Hard to put into words, but 'zippier' might be a fair description.

And reef, I can play Halo, no stuttering at 1024 x 768 on that system, it looks pretty good. Anything above that though and in the intense fighting sequences, it will stutter a little. Haven't tried Halo online yet.

 

[Reefsmoka]

And reef, I can play Halo, no stuttering at 1024 x 768 on that system, it looks pretty good. Anything above that though and in the intense fighting sequences, it will stutter a little. Haven't tried Halo online yet.

But i can almost garantee it doesnt look half as good as the Xbox version , Its just a bad game conversion, very sloppy.

 

[floppybootstomp]

But i can almost garantee it doesnt look half as good as the Xbox version , Its just a bad game conversion, very sloppy.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I agree with you 100% on that. Whoever done that conversion should be strung up

 

[Techy]

increasing the RAM in any machine by any amount makes the most difference so i'd have to go with that.

 

[muckshifter]

If you could choose a single thing to upgrade in your PC, what would it be?

A new toothpick, this one is getting a little damp.

 

[Reefsmoka]

increasing the RAM in any machine by any amount makes the most difference so i'd have to go with that.

Thats if your on XP! If you increase your RAM on 98se or ME you dont really notice anything, i read in PC Format that if you upgrade to anything over 256 you will only notice the slightest of differences. So make sure you have XP before you shell out that £100 for them 2 sticks of vital 512 DDR!

 

[floppybootstomp]

Thats if your on XP! If you increase your RAM on 98se or ME you dont really notice anything, i read in PC Format that if you upgrade to anything over 256 you will only notice the slightest of differences. So make sure you have XP before you shell out that £100 for them 2 sticks of vital 512 DDR!

True dat. Win 98 will upchuck on anything over 512. Don't know about Linux though, anybody tried big RAM with a distro?

 

[muckshifter]

Linux handled 1 gig on my system no problem. Don't know if it can use more but I sure it will.

 

[ChristopherP]

Well then there was me...made the mistake of buying some of the most expensive memory on the market - OCZ PC4200 533MHz 2.9v Cas2 at 800FSb - All nicely wrapped in a gold heat spreader!

bought a "dual channel kit" - cost me £140.41 inc VAT.

If i want more RAM, then i would have to get the same speed so as both sets run equal. I can not afford £140.41 for another 512mb of memory!!

 

[Reefsmoka]

Well then there was me...made the mistake of buying some of the most expensive memory on the market - OCZ PC4200 533MHz 2.9v Cas2 at 800FSb - All nicely wrapped in a gold heat spreader!

bought a "dual channel kit" - cost me £140.41 inc VAT.

If i want more RAM, then i would have to get the same speed so as both sets run equal. I can not afford £140.41 for another 512mb of memory!!

Slap it on eBay and just get some cheaper stuff.

But i think 512mb @ 800Mhz is enough, surely.

 

[ChristopherP]

highly doubt that anything cheaper would have the exact same specifications though. RAM must always run at the spec of the worst stuff you have in there.

 

[james]

A new toothpick, this one is getting a little damp.

You Git


New BIOS
Fastest CPU
Max Ram
Stainless Steel Teethpick