upgrading question...opinions needed

[defenseman]

i have a little less than $300 to spend.

options:

1) new video card; 9800np or pro...$250'ish
2) 1gb of Corsair XMS TWINX3200...$250'sih
3) two Hitachi 80GB SATA hdd's - Model HDS722580VLSA80 in RAID 0

my specs are below. i want one of those upgrades that gives me the best performance boost.

my opinions:

1) my 4400 is pretty darn fast, and HL2 and Doom3 arnt out yet
2) i really wonder if 1gb will really be used?!
3) id have to reformat

 

[MrScuzz]

The memory upgrade will give you the most noticable performance boost, but I wouldnt waste my money on a 9800pro. I think the 95 or 9700pro will be plenty.

 

[souja9]

I would recommend the memory upgrade, unless you are short on disk space...

Although you may end up with a similar card to the 9800np, you can only save money by waiting til you want to play a game that needs it.

As for memory, you can save a bit by getting some Buffalo sticks at newegg for $75 each. Read up in this article before you plunk down your hard earned cash on the premium memory:

http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=ddr400myths&page=1

 

[Carnival Forces]

one vote for the 9800Pro...and i may be wrong, but the 9800Pro has better technology advancements then the 9700 (or 9500 softmodded to 9700 status) card, (Smartshader 2.1 for example).

so if you want something that will last with you for a while, i'd say 9800Pro; if you want something to experience a rush now, i'd say memory; and if you're going to buy new HDD, i would say one of the Maxtor DiamondPlus 9's would be a better bet (RAID 0 isn't always the friendliest to games...)

 

[burningrave101]

RAID0 gives a good performance increase in load and seek times for the OS, Games, Applications and so forth. Usually up to around 30%. I wouldn't bother with that upgrade though for this instance.

I would definately go for the RAM as the upgrade. Mushkin lvl 1 or Corsair XMS would be my two choices. I see your looking at 1GB even though you already have 512MB but im guessing thats because you realized the new PC3200 sticks from corsair use CH-5 chips and the ones your using obviously use BH-5 because they are currently running 2-2-2-5 in your sig. Going from 512MB -> 1GB gives a sometimes drastic performance increase. Definately a worthwile upgrade.