Need advice regarding CPU vs. RAM upgrade

[ryan]

I am needing advice on a upgrade in which obviously, I can only afford to do
one instead of both.

Currently I have an Intel P4 2.26 533FSB, 512 cache.

I am torn between upgrading to P4 3.06 533FSB or adding 1 gig of RAM DDR333
(PC2700).

I already have 512MB, but would like to do either one. If you had a choice,
which would you do and why?

 

[William \(Bill\) Vaughn]

It seems to me that it depends on where you think the system is
bottlenecked. The 3.4GHz P4 waits at the same speed of the 2.0GHz. You might
be disk bound or video bound so stepping up the CPU speed might not help at
all. If you're running so many programs that you're swapping to disk then a
faster hard disk would help, but more RAM would help more. What kind of
programs are you running? Is the system bogged down running
spamware/adware/spyware? If so, making the system faster just makes it
easier for this crap (a technical term) to run faster.

--
____________________________________
William (Bill) Vaughn
Author, Mentor, Consultant
Microsoft MVP
www.betav.com
Please reply only to the newsgroup so that others can benefit.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
__________________________________

 

[ryan]

The system is actually new (2 mos to be exact). I will be running Word,
Email, Web & Windows Media Player at the most.

I'm just wondering if going up in processor or ram would benefit me in the
long run.

 

[Kevin]

Your motherboard will need to support that DDR RAM, which you will purchase
in pairs of 512MB each, for you to see any help there. Otherwise just buy
conventional RAM. Unless you can step up a whole gigahertz in processor
speed, it really is not helpful. I would buy more RAM now, save my money
and buy a 3.4 or 3.6 GHz processor later.

 

[William \(Bill\) Vaughn]

None of these are particularly demanding. I would be suspect of the system
if you think it's slow. Make sure to check for adware and the remora
programs that attach as you cruise the web.

--
____________________________________
William (Bill) Vaughn
Author, Mentor, Consultant
Microsoft MVP
www.betav.com
Please reply only to the newsgroup so that others can benefit.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
__________________________________

 

[Al Dykes]

I am needing advice on a upgrade in which obviously, I can only afford to do
one instead of both.

Currently I have an Intel P4 2.26 533FSB, 512 cache.

I am torn between upgrading to P4 3.06 533FSB or adding 1 gig of RAM DDR333
(PC2700).

I already have 512MB, but would like to do either one. If you had a choice,
which would you do and why?

If your application isn't hitting the pagefile with 512MB then adding
memory won't speed you up.

task manager will give you a rough idea how much memory your
applications are suning rignt now.

 

[D.Currie]

I don't think you're going to see a significant difference with any upgrade.

 

[John R Weiss]

The system is actually new (2 mos to be exact). I will be running Word,
Email, Web & Windows Media Player at the most.

I'm just wondering if going up in processor or ram would benefit me in the
long run.

For those uses, the CPU would probably help more. OTOH, neither will likely
help your web and e-mail work, since they are more dependent on your Internet
connection...

 

[LVTravel]

Ryan, if you are the same person who asked about the 512 MB RAM (I
installed (2) 256 modules DDR of ram into my Intel board. When I boot up, it
shows only 496 MB. Where did the 16MB go?) on the 6th, you should invest
in a better video card than the onboard one you have now. With this type of
system you should have at least a 4X AGP slot on the motherboard. Purchase
a decent video card with at least 128 MB RAM. This will have two effects.
1, it will free up all RAM currently installed and 2, it will give a great
video pathway with the best possible chips for speed.

 

[Guest]

Building or tuning your PC and to optimise the hardware environment is like
tuning a motor car.

If one buys a V6 engine and standard wheels and tyres, standard suspension
how fast can it go in a straight line; and then how fast can it go round
corners. Getting better wheels and tyres will improve cornering speeds,
gettings sports suspension again gives cornering improvement. Hoever it is
no faster in a straight line. By adding a V8 engine or bolting on a
turbocharger, well striaght line speeds get better again. The thing is that
one can't go fast in a straight line and forget about cornering [unless
you're on a drag strip].

The same with the PC: tune it so that you get the best at every point. More
powerful AGP cards with loads of on board memory take a load off the system
memory and CPU. Benefitting screen refresh rates and colour depths - good
for gamers, movie watchers etc.

Additional on board memory [RAM] lowers the requirement for SWAP file
access, less CPU load achieveing nothing at the user interface. Good again
for Gamers, Video etc. It benefits a user with XP and running Word + Excel
not a bit!

So tune up and 'harmonise' the PC to your needs and not the 'rev' heads of
the PC world's idea as to how a fast PC should be made up.

 

[Bob I]

At this point in time, either purchase would be a waste of money. You
are not really using either sections of the hardware to the point of
"needing" an upgrade to realize a benefit from the expenditure. You
mention "in the long run", but with out knowing future purchases of
software, no one knows. You are better off saving the money and wait
till a "need arises", then you will "know what to spend it on".