What would be smarter?

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Scheibler1

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My current rig is in my sig. I plan on keeping the mobo and upgrading the processor to a E8500 or Q6600 whenever Nehelm is released and also switch to Vista 64bit.

Should I buy another 2x1gb kit for 4x1gb or sell my 2x1gb kit and come out with $30 and buy a 2x2gb kit for $90?

Would I notice any real time performance gain from going from my old trusty 80gb IDE 7200RPM Western Digital 8mb cache drive to a 500gb, 250gb platter hd?

Is PC6400 or should I go for PC8000 even sufficient ot overclock the E8500 or Q6600?
 
I'm in the same situation as you for memory and hard drives. I'm OCD about certain things and I'd like to get more of the same mem that I have, but XMS2 is on sale for 33$ AR for 2x1gb, so I'll probably just do that.

HDs: there will be a difference, and it will be big
 
Not really: platter size/density will play a bigger role in a hard drive's performance. I would tell you to consider getting one of the new single-platter 320GB Western Digital SATA drives, but since many stores are selling the new drives with the older stock (and the one store that isn't is an eBay store that overcharges for them), it may not be worth the effort.

In terms of your other upgrades, it depends on how serious you are about overclocking. DDR2 800 (aka PC2-6400) RAM is enough for the Q6600, but you may want to rely on DDR2 1000 (PC2-8000) RAM for the E8400/E8500. (If you're planning on high overclocks, save your money and wait for the E8400 to become more available, supply-wise, and pick that up. They'll reach the same OC threshold.) You'll want to get a better CPU cooler, like the ZEROtherm Nirvana, and (possibly) a better power supply with at least 500 watts behind it.

Two sticks of RAM generate less stress on the MCH of your motherboard (compared to having all four slots filled), but stability may not even be an issue unless you plan on overclocking.
 
tiraides said:
Not really: platter size/density will play a bigger role in a hard drive's performance. I would tell you to consider getting one of the new single-platter 320GB Western Digital SATA drives, but since many stores are selling the new drives with the older stock (and the one store that isn't is an eBay store that overcharges for them), it may not be worth the effort.
Click to expand...

you can split hairs with the performance of new dual vs. single platter drives, but come on, its an old 80g ide. I've got an old 80g ide seagate (.7) alongside some .10 barracudas and the difference is night and day. (and the .10s aren't even the fastest drives around now)
 
Thats good to know. I think I may just get the WD 640gb drive and another 2gb kit of ram. I NEVER upgrade my hd, so I might as well get one of the best when I do
 
I agree with tiraides. The 640GB drive should serve you well.

thrawn86 said:
you can split hairs with the performance of new dual vs. single platter drives, but come on, its an old 80g ide. I've got an old 80g ide seagate (.7) alongside some .10 barracudas and the difference is night and day. (and the .10s aren't even the fastest drives around now)
Click to expand...

Split hairs, night and day... whatever. The difference is subjective, so the OP won't know until he tries it. Some people claim the same "night and day" difference between Raptors and 'cuda.10s... yet I don't see it.
 
Buy these instead:

$118 - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB SATA 7200 RPM 32MB Buffer Hard Drive Bulk
$43 ($10MIR) - A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
 
enginurd said:
Split hairs, night and day... whatever. The difference is subjective, so the OP won't know until he tries it. Some people claim the same "night and day" difference between Raptors and 'cuda.10s... yet I don't see it.
Click to expand...

The margin of difference between an old IDE drive and a new SATA drive is a lot bigger than the difference between a Raptor and a cuda drive. It may be subjective to some degree, but I notice a significant difference between the two.
 
aethelwulf said:
The margin of difference between an old IDE drive and a new SATA drive is a lot bigger than the difference between a Raptor and a cuda drive. It may be subjective to some degree, but I notice a significant difference between the two.
Click to expand...

Thats my point, its smaller margin, yet some still claim a night and day difference that I don't notice. ;) Everything is to some degree. Though, I agree, he should definitely notice at least a small difference.
 
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