computer upgrade question.

I have a system with a P4 2.26g CPU along with 1 gig of PC2700/DDR333 memory. Is there a CPU/MB combo that would significantly boost my speed (without totally breaking the bank), plus be able to utilize my current memory? My current Asus MB will take up to a 3.06G P4 CPU but they are rather pricey. I realize that would probably rule out Intel which is ok with me but do the Athon 64s or other CPUs utilize the PC2700/DDR333 memory or do they require something faster. If I could buy a mb/cpu combo for $300 or in the ballpark that would be faster and still use my memory, I might do it.

you know, 2.26Ghz is nice and fast. i have an athlon XP 2800+ (thoroughbred core) 2.25Ghz. and 1GB pc3200 RAM...although it's running at 333mhz dual channel cause my FSB is at 333 and the Proc doesnt want me to drop the multiplier and boost the fsb to get the ram to 400mhz.

anyhow. i have an ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe....a fantastic Socket A motherboard for $60.

i build high end computers and take it from me. you will see a MUCH greater increase from running SATA RAID (2 hard drives in parallel) than you wouuld with a faster processor and MB.

you need to get an MB with an onboard SATA RAID controller (preferably Silicone Image (SiI) or HighPoint) or buy one off the shelf and jam it into you PCI slot. then go out and buy two Western Digital 36GB raptor drives (WD360GD). (100 each online)

each drive is 10,000 RPM and can has 5.4ms seek times, as opposed to your 1 7200rpm IDE drive that has 8.9ms seek times. now multiply that new drive x 2 for the RAID and you get the following:


the controller and the 2 drives will run you about 300 together. and will give you a computer that will blow away anything that runs at 3.6GHz and on a 7200rpm drive.

also the video card will make a huge difference in performance in graphics speeds, not a different CPU.

you have plenty of RAM, and it's plenty fast. your CPU is excellent. but your video card can be boosted. and your hard drives are really what's holding back the speed because of the slow seek times and the very slow transfer rates. think about it, most of the time you spend waiting, it's for your hard drive to load all the info into your RAM.

the only time you ever need a faster CPU is if you are doing anything in the RAM that requires intense math calculations. like video editing, graphics editing, movie encoding, or giant arithmatic calculations.

take it from me, unless you do really processor intensive things, you wont see much of a difference without changing out your video or drives first.

Leon

Thanks for the reply Leon. Gosh you reminded me of something I have not thought about, the video card. I have a Radeon 9800 Pro and I am not about to spend more dollars on a better one. It is AGP and most any new MB I get will be PCIexpress, right?

i have an all in wonder 9800pro 128MB. heh.

you do have a point. most NEW P4 motherboards have the i925xe or the 915G chipsets that support SLI and PCIe, and DDR2....so you cant get any 900 series motherboards. however, that doesnt mean you need to get a brand new MB. you can get an older P4 MB as long as it has the bus speed for your processor. all you're looking for is onboard SATA RAID and there are plenty of options witht he 875P chipset that supports serial ATA raid.

look at ASUS's P4C800-E Deluxe MB...although it would put you down $167. but it's the best choice...that and the 2 drives

otherwise you'd need a new MB and upgrade to a PCI express video card (prolly about another 200-250 to get 9800pro equiv.)....and thats just to break even with a 900 series chipset.

so if you put in the $167 MB and 2 x $100 drives, u'd be $67 over. but as with any new mobo that isn't a 900 series chipset, you lock yourself out of ddr2, SLI, PCI-E and a few other goodies. but unneccasary for all intents and purposes. your PC will fly after this upgrade.

Leon