Hi all.

I'm currently running an AMD XP2000+, 512Mb Kingmax PC2100 DDR Ram, Leadtek GeForce 4 MX440.

I'm looking at upgrading my RAM to Corsair TwinX 512Mb x 2 XMS 3700 466MHz Matched Pair.

As yet I'm not quite sure if there is a compatable motherboard out there as my current board supports up to DDR 400.

Any boffins out there please let me know what the do is.

Cheers

Icarus

if your system is based on pc2100 ddr (266fsb) buying pc3700 memory wont make it any faster because your mobo will have to be running at the rated 466fsb, and currently only the latest p4 and amd64 boards will do that, and even then its considered overclocking as none of the current systems run above ddr400 at stock.
so in other words you'd be wasting your money. As said above, wait til the end of the year, when a lot of the new toys will be coming out, the more matured A64 chipsets, newer P4 chipsets etc, whatever brand you decide to go with.

look around and you could get a 9800nonpro for that price. faster than a 5900xt

I think thats a wrong thread there Chainsaw... But the essence of the written language is communication, so in my opinion as long as its understandable and your point gets across, its all good.

I'd go for a barton core, mabye 2500+ and a 9600 xt if you dont have insane amounts of cash.

HA. the mikado, right? well, mikado with some modifications. one of gilbert and sullivans finest, tho to quote tom lehrer " one can always count on gilbert and sullivan for a rousing finale, full of words and music and signifying nothing"

whats the oxford comma biz? closest i could find was the "brand new, ddr2, PCIe" bit, tho that just seems like an ill-placed one. enlightenment?

You really need to consider just getting a new PC.

Whenever you do upgrades you run in to the problem of some part of your current setup limiting the possible upgrade. Another problem is that you tend to spend more money in the long run. (full explanation of why would take about five long paras)

In your case I'd suggest
1) video card
2) more memory (before worrying about it being faster memory)
3) a faster processor

Just in that short list we already encounter a problem with the memory - can you just add more memory or do you need to completely replace it... can you mix speeds, do you have enough slots, will your Mobo support more and/or faster memory...

If you can afford it, save and buy new tech.

If you have to have an upgrade now and have limited funds - the video card is first on the list.



The Oxford comma is so called because it is part of the house style of Oxford University Press - in the US it is often called the Harvard comma.

Any game that needs better than a GF4 MX440 will almost certainly also benefit from more than 512Mb of RAM... which should be cheaper than a new processor...

It's about bang for buck.

Best would be a new PC

Next would be a video card upgrade
Next would be extra memory
Next would be processor
Next would be faster memory

By the time you get to a new processor you'll have spent enough to make it better value buying a new PC with some room to move rather than running your existing system up against its absolute limits.

Most water cooling solutions are more expensive than just buying a faster rated processor in the first place - the only time they are really useful is when you are running a very high spec processor and can't just buy more speed.

i dont really get your logic about upgrading chainsaw, at the moment it may be an idea to get new everything but its not like that all the time
i see it a more viable option to maybe buy a 9800xt than to buy an entirely new system with an a64 or something. You say something may limit the upgrade, i say you upgrade when its necessary.. like at the moment i feel my nforce2 and 2500+ with a gig of ram will be perfectly sufficient for several months, but my gf4 will soon be obsolete, you're telling me i should spend $2k or so on a new machine? id rather spend the money on a new card.

Bananafish: It is only an Oxford comma when you have both the comma and the and.

this, this, this, and this
as opposed to
this, this, this and this


Sephiroth: I'm not saying YOU shouldn't upgrade - I'm looking at a situation where a person can do some moderate upgrades, which will result in an adequate system, or for not terribly much more buy an entirely new machine which will be better again.

If you purchased with the intention of upgrading, you may have some room to move... but in general some mysterious conspiracy of capability limits seems to make that difficult.

What starts out looking like a simple replacement of one item in search of greater speed often ends up requiring other items to be replaced as well.

You buy a new video card, or memory, or processor then find you have to upgrade the motherboard to get the best from it... and when you do that you are forced to update the other items because you can't find a motherboard that supports your old tech.

In this case it is usually just more convenient to buy new.

(This isn't an iron rule, but it has been an accurate generalisation for a very long time)

In the past the only thing you kept was harddrives... maybe a floppy... now you don't even keep them with SATA and Bootable CDs.

EDIT: I've reread an earlier post and realise we're talking at slightly crossed purposes...

My list of three wasn't intended as "You have to do these three things" it was intended as "your best upgrades would be in this order"

last edited by chainsaw at 19:38:11 20/Apr/04

i GET it!!!! and that being said, i now think that it is stupid.

and i wish i had kept my floppy drive - to install 3rd party raid drivers like the one onboard my A7N8XD when installing windows, one must have a floppy drive - wont let you load them any other way. well i suppose i could slipstream them, but that would require effort.

chainsaw you have a point, i guess it comes down to doing the research when you initially buy the main components. i agree there are several products out there that are marketed to be the 'latest and greatest' etc blah blah but turn out to be useless in a few months. as for minor upgrades, something as simple as a video card upgrade can be a massive jump in performance, sometimes more so than upgrading everything else. for example going from my gf2mx 400 to the gf4 ti4400 was plenty performance boost. i slowly get new bits as i feel that i need them. i personally dont like buying a entire new system, because you have the trouble of getting rid of your old entire system, whereas if you just buy bits to upgrade, you can usually put the older bits in someone elses computer to give them a bit of a boost if they cant afford new stuff

http://greenmachine.msfnhosting.com/READING/addraid.htm

bling! this will save me fucking around next time!

There are quite a few studies around showing that the sweet spot for XP is 512Mb... each addition over that has benefits but they are not as big a boost as the step from 256 to 512.

That is for XP ALONE... When you start a game XP drops its demands considerably but it is still a resource hog. The more you can throw at it the better off you will be.

Most current games place high demands on systems and extra memory is a relatively cheap way to get a boost (in this case AFTER a video card upgrade)


Notice that more memory is second on my list, then a processor, then faster memory... I'm not suggesting that you actually buy more memory and then go out later and replace it with faster memory... what you do is figure out how much money you have and how far down the list you can get...

1)I only have enough to afford a new video card
2) I can afford a new video card and more memory
3) I can afford a new video card, more memory, and a faster CPU
4) I can afford a new video card, more/faster memory, and a faster processor...

By the time you get to 4, worrying about everything working on an old motherboard, you can almost always afford a new cheaper computer - or for not much more buy a computer that canes what you could have built by upgrading.

Single upgrades are usually worth it, multiple upgrades usually aren't value for money.

All of this has to be balanced against disposable income stream... sometimes you only have money for one upgrade now... and another in six months time, and another some time after that. (This is my situation, and it is the WORST and most expensive way to upgrade a PC - I know it, but have to put up with it for a while)

If it was good enough to start with...

i am thinking of upgrading my pentium 2 with a tnt2 m64 becos i cant run CounterStrike properly anymore :(

lol icarus, très bien, bravo on the comma ;).

http://www.overclockers.com.au/vendors/ has an excellent list of online vendors, of which these sites incite particular interest from me: http://www.ozpriceguide.com/ and http://prices.techwatch.com.au/ which both have very well thought out interfaces for price comparisons across sites. the other two price listing sites are ok, but their lack of similar item groupings make them somewhat cumbersome to navigate.

last edited by Bananafish at 10:27:57 22/Apr/04

be aware that RAM prices will go up too,

gotta love ARN for that info :)

If you mention your a regular atendee at ACTGN events to Tech Warehouse staff you will get a good deal, if you are a ACTGN VIP member you will get even better prices, so I would have to say try there (you will also save on postage if you go to the store).

You will also get good prices from Rob at Ailean if you mention ACTGN, and ACTGN may continue to get good door prizes by buying there....

2 good stores who support ACTGN.... who to choose???


last edited by Stryke at 22:30:44 22/Apr/04

www.razorprices.com


This website is amazing. It lets you do a search of all the computer retailers in Australia in order to find the best price.

It's serriously good.

its not all the comuter retailers, just the ones who could be bothered registering

BASTARDS! Went to the computer fair and brought some ram, 512mb of Corsair XMS3200 2CAS. Take it home, whack it in the computer and it only comes up as 256mb. $&^(#&(! Test it in my dads computer, 256mb. *&^(#&)#*%)#$!

Have to wait till Tuesday before I can even ring up their sorry arses.

lol, thats pretty cool

No, its not.

Are you aware how much of a pain in the arse it is to deal with fucked hardware, irrespective of where it came from?

Computer fairs are pretty good with returns (except LESTINA - stay away from them at any cost - they are theives)

Computer retailers, in my experience, are a pain in the arse... take EBM several years ago, for example "oooh we couldnt get a replacement on your voodoo2 because you poured acid on it...."

Um, I pour acid on a present that i was so happy to have? Havent you heard of capicitors and what they contain inside them.

Fuckwits

yeh, by cool, i mean a cool scam.

As in it a good example of something that is bad. It's kinda complicated :D

Constipated, Watson?

could it just be the RAM is actually screwed?

If its faulty ram then there isnt much point blaming stall owner...it's not like they have a duty to test out every single piece of hardware they sell...

WTF? So you suggest I go up to the stall, pick up the SEALED PACKAGE that it was in, and say "Excuse me, i'm just gonna rip this open and pry off the aluminium heat speader, just to make sure you guys won't fuck me over."

No thats not what i said. You should examine the package they're giving to you before you leave the stall, ensure it says ON THE LABEL not under the heatspreader. You know the nice pretty reflective sticker on the OUTSIDE of the heatspreder which details what the ram is. Oh and btw, corsair ram isnt a sealed package, it can be opened and closed and still look like new.

too subtle?

Hmm you're trying to pay me out, yet you're the one who got scammed. Go figure.

I went to the computer fair and bought 2 120GB Serial ATA Hard Drives, for $149 each.

Brought them home, put them in, setup the SATA Raid, choosing RAID 0 , striping. Basically the 2 drives treated as 1 by the OS/computer. When data is sent to the drive, the first chunk goes onto the first drive, the next chunk on the second drive, 3rd chunk on the first then 4th on the second etc, keeping a constant data stream. Certainly does give a noticable hard drive performance increase from the previous l EIDE drive I had. Then installed windblows XP. Installed a few games and have noticed that the load times have certainly improved ;)

Actually did a test, by copying a huge file (was about 250MB) from one part of the partition to another. On the new setup and the old setup. The old setup, when it was a fresh install gave me about 20 MB/s to 30 MB/s max. Currently only about 12-15Mb/s for this particular file (a lot of junk on the drive). The SATA drives in Raid 0 gave me around 60 MB/s Bloody brillient ;)

ROTFL!!

I was waiting for a post like that... well done.