Will this upgrade make much difference?

Ok, my computer has served me well but is really starting to shows it age.

I am looking at replacing the CPU, Mobo and Ram but am a bit out of touch with things lately.

I have been reading a few posts and people seem to be suggesting the Intel E5200 is a great budget buy. The question is, if I buy this along with 2Gb of ram and a new mobo, would it make much difference. If not then what would you suggest. I dont really want to spend more than £200 on these items.

I dont do anything much more demanding than playing World of Warcraft and watching movies, which my current computer does, but stutters a lot and doesn't like it when you try and do more than 1 thing at a time.

Many thanks.

The biggest difference will come from the ram upgrade, in terms of multitasking the difference from 1 to 2gb is massive. I assume the system you're upgrading is the one in your sig?

Yes, my current computer is the one in my sig.

Thanks for the reply, do you think I would see much improvement if I just go with 2Gb of ram in my existing setup? Do they still even make compatable ram for this motherboard? :)

If it is a recent thing (the stuttering that is) then you may want to defrag your hard drives can make a huge difference, use a decent program though not windows defrag.

i use O&O Defrag you can get a free trial from their website http://www.oo-software.com/home/en/products/oodefrag/

I'm sure the are free alternatives out there as well if you look.

Oh and you can get DDR memory still but it costs ~2x the price of DDR2 ~£40 for 2GB of DDR-400

Or alternatively you might be able to pick up some cheaper DDR memory from the for sale section on this forum. Sure I've seen people selling it, might be worth posting a request in the wanted section.

Webby, when did you ditch the giraffe? (Yes, this is totally off topic I know, sorry) That was an awesome avatar!

Lol everyone loves my Giraffe :)

Its because of a thread in general discussion (http://forums.hexus.net/general-disc...-tomahawk.html)you may notice that about 10-15 people are all sporting the same Avatar think I may change back to Giraffe shortly though, I miss it too and keep missing my own posts...

I defrag regularly using disk keeper and it helps but I think its just the system is getting old.

I guess if I can get some cheap ram its worth a try, but seems a waste to spend too much on something I wont be able to reuse.

Yeah, I guess your only other option is new board, CPU and RAM which will set you back a minimum of £120.

Well 2gb is generally the happy ram number for windows xp, but it's a matter of cost, picking up some 2nd hand is an option. just another 2x512 should be fine.

Next step is a cheap motherboard, e5200 and 2x1gb ddr2
Personally I'd get a low cost cpu cooler to go with it, but I really don't like thoes intel stock coolers.

EDIT: Yeah the Giraffe is back :bowdown:

Quote:

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think I may change back to Giraffe shortly though, I miss it too and keep missing my own posts...

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:bowdown:

Fresco...
first get 1 gig of ram, and as its an NForce 4 mobo, get it in a pair.... presuming that you already HAVE a pair of sticks. (ok....you do.. just saw yuor System spec)

DONT get one stick of 1 gig...that mobo wants it in PAIRS...

And then see how you get on..the diference from 1 gig to 2 gig is very good :)

Thanks for all your help guys. I think I am going to try the extra ram in my existing system first and see how it goes.

Just for my own reassurance, could anyone please confirm that the following ram is compatable with my motherboard. I'm a little out of touch with things these days. :)

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/98690

I think I am going to buy 2 new sticks of ram rather than another 2 x 512Mb to go with my existing. I seem to recall the DFI mobo being quite fussy about memory timings and would not want to bet on it being happy with 2 different types of ram installed.

My personal preference is to use 2GB min with XP and 4GB on vista. This is slightly overkill but you will have the full experience this way.

If you bought 1GB i could see you adding another pretty soon. I would add it now. Scan have some awesome deals , especially in " Today only "

McT