Upgrading my Computer

[Markus]

So im looking to upgrade my computer and theres three things i want to improve right now.

Ive got an AMD Quad Core 9650 2.3 ghz which im quite happy with and I run windows 7.

My biostar n61pc-m2s motherboard.

My Geforce 9500GT graphics card

My Ram Ive only got 2 gigs right now since one died on me.

Any suggestions?

[Nose Nuggets]

mobo: what dont you like about your motherboard?

video: what games do you want to play, and how much are you willing to spend on just a graphics card?

memory: RAM is dirt cheep these days


whats your total budget?
whats your objective?
are you running 64 bit windows?

[JDay]

What's your budget? As for RAM you cannot go wrong with one of these kits. Just be sure you don't mix it with your existing RAM.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

[jarhead995]

That mobo can only use ddr2 so it's going to be expensive.

2 of these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

[JDay]

In that case I'd ditch the motherboard for one that supports DDR3.

[stilly]

So im looking to upgrade my computer and theres three things i want to improve right now.

Ive got an AMD Quad Core 9650 2.3 ghz which im quite happy with and I run windows 7.

My biostar n61pc-m2s motherboard.

My Geforce 9500GT graphics card

My Ram Ive only got 2 gigs right now since one died on me.

Any suggestions?

You said there are three things you want to improve but listed a MOBO, RAM, CPU, VIDEO CARD, and OS. If you are happy with your quadcore then you are happy with your os, mobo, ram and cpu.

Let me make a suggestion, if you want the most bang for your buck get a NEW graphics card. You are running what kind of cpu? a Phenom X4?

I have a Phenom 9750 BLACK Edition that was given to me about 2 years ago and I LOVE IT. It is a quad core. Running XP Pro.

The CPU and RAM should work together running in Async mode but that is just the cherry on the sundae. Your WEAK spot is your 9500GT. Drop a few dollars and bump yourself up to at least a 285 GTX (what I have in my system) and you will enjoy life and still be able to make the rent and buy christmas gifts.

My game system is running XP Pro with 4 GB of RAM and a 285GTX and it handles most games with no problems. Every now and then things slow down a bit (far cry 2 fire scenes sometimes) but only for a second or two. Online performance is great but I do not play much online anymore. If this is to be a master system that is always running then Depending on your HD layout I would reccomend to move to EITHER a SSD boot disk and a enterprise class HD OR just upgrade your HD to an enterprise class HD. Again, I would only do that if I have a western digital ANYTHING drive or a hard drive that is about 3-4 years or older. SSD will improve your speed on bootups and general windows execution AND you might even see your W7 rating jump up to a mid 5 just in upgrading your HD. Of course the windows 7 rating is based on your lowest score so I THINK that makes your 9500GT graphics card hold you back.

OR you can look up the most expensive or newest pieces that are out and go buy them as well. That seems to be the norm when I see people asking for advice, some users like to just think funds are unlimited and to buy the most expensive will fix the problem.. LoL.

Seriously though, upgrading your MOBO if you are having NO problems is a MAJOR PITA. Why? Because windows 7 gets MANIC sometimes. Yeah, I have had to deal with TWO MOBO replacements for windows 7 people so far and 2/2 times so far windows 7 has shot itself in the head and I had to reload EVERYTHING. It is like this, in XP you can sysprep it for upgrades and usually wake up with a new mobo with no probs, but W7 is NOT like that. W7 you put it down, and when it wakes up with a new mobo it looks around and says "OH WTF IS THIS?" and seems to have problems coping and then shoots itself in the head and you have to pretty much reformat and reinstall (because you can not yet do a repair install on W7). AND what will that get you? About 5 FPS and maybe a .2 bump up on the windows experience scale...

Do you really want that headache? Just get a new graphics card and keep your old one for a test card in case your new one fails. Also, if this is a dedicated gaming machine, get a card with a fan, if it is NOT a gaming machine, then maybe dial it down to a 260GTX or something that is not a performance card, but still a big step.

You said that you were happy with your quadcore and so forth so maybe ADDING ram will improve things a TAD, but not like a new graphics card will and unless you are gaming with this thing you will most likely NOT see much performance increase. No Excel Spreadsheet that I know of pushes your machine to the limits like Crysis or Farcry 2 or whatever other NEW games are out.

I am going to go out on a limb here. I have NEVER gauged a 9500 GT card but based on those numbers and what you have, I wanna say that you might be hitting close to 4.9 on the windows experience scale. (stupid W7 BS to tell you to spend more money on hardware). Maybe even a 5.2. but the lowest point should be your graphics card. Want a cheap fix? This might help you a bit but do a search for black adder services list and see what things you can turn off. If you hit task manager and see you got the TYPICAL W7 crap running in services and you see like 50+ things running, then you REALLY need to cut back. You can turn off about another 10-15 services on startup and increase your performance a bit as well. Like Windows TIME, like UPS, like Heh. The more I think of this the more I will Keep adding to my answer. I am stopping now cause I hate novel posts as much as the next guy when they go off on tangents...

Oh and yes I am biased against WD drives. Ford vs. Chevy and I prefer GMC...

GL and have fun.

[stilly]

In that case I'd ditch the motherboard for one that supports DDR3.

LMAO...

[Montu]

In that case I'd ditch the motherboard for one that supports DDR3.

that would mean a new cpu

OP I have a Gskill 4gb set I just took out of my old computer that I parted out.
I have to double check the spec's since its been a while
I can let it go for cheap..Pm me...

*edit
here is the item description on the receipt
1 x G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231145

Pm me an offer if interested...

[JDay]

that would mean a new cpu

No it wouldn't, you can put both AM2 and AM3 CPU's in AM3 and AM3+ sockets. AMD, unlike Intel, doesn't force you to upgrade your CPU when you upgrade your motherboard.

[Montu]

No it wouldn't, you can put both AM2 and AM3 CPU's in AM3 and AM3+ sockets. AMD, unlike Intel, doesn't force you to upgrade your CPU when you upgrade your motherboard.

Now I left AMD behind when I dumped my opteron 165 but I thought

An AM3 cpu will fit on an AM2 mobo but an AM2 cpu will not fit on an AM3 mobo due to 2 extra pins (and am2+ cpu's do not have a ddr3 controller)...maybe I am wrong though and I've been with intel not paying attention to amd for too long now.

[JDay]

Now I left AMD behind when I dumped my opteron 165 but I thought

An AM3 cpu will fit on an AM2 mobo but an AM2 cpu will not fit on an AM3 mobo due to 2 extra pins...maybe I am wrong though and I've been with intel not paying attention to amd for too long now.

Sorry I forgot about that. I was thinking of how AM3 will work in an AM3+ board. I'd replace that CPU anyway though, the Phenom II is much faster. Although if I was going that route I'd switch to Intel and throw in at least an i5-2500k in the system. Much more bang for your buck.

[Montu]

^
No worries I was getting a little confused too as like I said my last amd cpu was the opteron then I jumped ship and went with c2d/c2q and now a 2600k

I do second that the OP should get a new 2500k/2600k but that would mean a total over hual of his current system cpu/mobo/ram + video card and possibly even psu depending on what he has now. So it really depends on his budget