RAM or CPU?

C

cinohpa

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 11, 2007
Messages
288
Hey, I've been experiencing some major slowing down on my machine lately. I'm currently cleaning it up to see if that helps, but can you reccomend any tests to see if I need more RAM or if my Chip is too weak.

I have 512 mb X 2 corsair xms 400 mhz

and

an AMD athlon(tm) 64 processor 3500+ 2.21 GHz

I generally experience the slow downs during super multitasking. Usually when I have 5-10 firefox tabs, a dvd/avi burning/converting, music, aim, and maybe a low system requirements game going.

Thanks!
 
You have FF open, converting stuff, some music app, and a game at the same time? Thats a good chunk of stuff lol

Converting stuff uses up a lot of the CPU so a dual core would help give you a core to browse the net while converting avis.
 
CPU... go with an Opteron 175 or better. if you can OC, go with an Opteron 165 and OC it, hehe.
 
My advice is keep your gaming and converting seperate and go with 2GB RAM. My son has the same CPU with 2GB of Corsair XMS PC3200 DDR RAM and he's able to game quite well. Of course, if you could afford it, an X2 processor and 2GB RAM would be even better... ;)
 
For what you're looking to do, the best thing would really be to get both a dual core processor and a second gig of RAM. If you could only choose one though, most definitely the dual core proc.
 
Nevermind, I read it wrong. I thought he had 512MB, not 512MB x 2. In that case I'll still stick with upgrading both being the best thing, but otherwise I guess I agree that a nice dual core CPU would help with multitasking.
 
If I were to get a new CPU wouldn't it be a pain to swap it in? How labor intensive would that be/how much would the CPU cost?
 
The labor involved in swapping the CPU includes taking off the heatsink, swapping CPUs, putting thermal grease on the new proc, and putting the heatsink back on. Will take all of 10-15 minutes.
Given that you only have half a gig of ram, I would def go with upgrading to 2x1GB though.
 
RavenD said:
Given that you only have half a gig of ram, I would def go with upgrading to 2x1GB though.
Click to expand...

No read it again, he says he has 512MB x 2 so a full GB is what he has. I misread it that way too and thought the same thing. Since he has a full GB he should be fine. Definitely go with a dual core proc
 
Dual core first and then a second gig of ram if you can do both. If you can only do one or the other get the dual core CPU.
 
Thanks guys, you saved me wasted money on RAM. I don't know though. It would be about $100 more than a RAM upgrade to change my processor. I think I'm going to wait a little to see what I want to do. It depends on how much cash I have lying around. ;)

Did someone say that I wouldn't have much more time to get a DUO processor? Why is that?
 
cinohpa said:
Did someone say that I wouldn't have much more time to get a DUO processor? Why is that?
Click to expand...

It's not that you don't have much time, it's just that socket 939 (the socket you're on) has reached "end of life," meaning that they aren't releasing new processors. As supply gets tighter, prices will rise, and your $150 dual core upgrade could wind up costing you significantly more if you wait. Heck, it looks like they don't have anything less than a 4400+ x2 available on Newegg for $153 (aside from the 165)
 
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