Cheapest yet Best Upgrade?

[DiabloDj1]

I built my computer years ago. Back when my x2 3800 cost $300 alone. It...was..a beast..

Anywho, I wanna upgrade my computer, but money is tight, so what do you think would be my best bet?

Windows 7 Pro
Asus a8n-e Mobo
AMD 3800 x2 socket 939
nVidia 7900 gs oc
2x512 mb Corsair Ram @ 2.5-3-3-7
OCZ ModXStream 500W (3 months old)
80gb HD Western Digital @ 7500rpm
200gb HD Maxtor @ 7500rpm

 

[jbakerlent]

There isn't really much to upgrade... I think your best bet may be to wait until you can spend more and start fresh.

 

[Newf]

For Games, get a 5xxx Radeon videocard.
For a faster feeling system, get a solid state hard drive.
For more processing power, you will need a new system.

 

[Sertac]

For Games, get a 5xxx Radeon videocard.
For a faster feeling system, get a solid state hard drive.
For more processing power, you will need a new system.

Dont get me wrong but i personally think that Nvidia GPU cards are much better for gaming. ATI have very fast gpu's but this is because there memory bus is low(not Memory RAM). were this is important for gaming. i have the GTX285 XFX i was going to get 4870 but the gtx285 memory bus is doubled even though the speed of the ATI isnt even doubled.

 

[DiabloDj1]

Sorry I forgot to include it, but this computer is used only for internet, photoshop, flash, dreamweaver, aim, burning dvd's, torrents, and itunes... But, I sometimes have almost all of those at the same time...
A solid state hard drive, that would be for the operating system I'm guessing? Maybe programs too? Do they read/write files faster than a normal harddrive?

Maybe I'll buy a new system for the family, but just use that for myself and hand this one down...

 

[Newf]

Yeah, SSDs are faster.
OK, no gaming means for your purposes a much faster cpu is needed.
Sorry, this means an Intel I7 system.

 

[Instance]

Yeah, SSDs are faster.
OK, no gaming means for your purposes a much faster cpu is needed.
Sorry, this means an Intel I7 system.

Are you serious? Telling him to jump all the way to an i7!

I'm not all too familiar with AMD, but I'd aim for a e8400 equivalent, perhaps grab yourself some more RAM aswell.

-Instance

 

[hugoender]

I don't understand people that suggest such exaggerated and exorbitant upgrades when he has clearly stated that he is tight on money.

I think that a memory upgrade will be the most noticeable and cost effective solution for you. I am not sure if you have the 64-bit version of Win7 or not but if you do, you should definitely bump your RAM up to 4GB. If not then I would say at least add another 1GB of RAM so that you have 2GB total. RAM is VERY cheap these days and having an operating system like Win7 will benefit tremendously from the added memory.

Solid State Drives are faster than hard drives but, without the RAM and processor power to back up those speeds, the SSD's potential will not be fully realized (not to mention they cost a pretty penny for not much disk space).

My 2 cents

 

[DiabloDj1]

Alright thanks, appreciate the help :] RAM definitely sounds like my best bet...
I just ordered a 4gb flash drive to use for ReadyBoost (Cruzer) for $10. Hopefully that shows a little improvement.. if not, I can use a 4gb flash drive for something I guess..
Any stance on heatspreaders?

 

[hugoender]

Please don't tell me you bought a flashdrive instead of actual stick of desktop RAM...

 

[masterasia]

I would upgrade nothing, and get a new computer.

I'm using a 939 AMD 3800 for a file server right now. This thing is so slow now that I have all i7s in my house.

 

[batuchka]

Hmm not too sure how tight is tight but perhaps a "warp speed" from the world of DDR to DDR3 is within grasp Other than a LGA 1366 being futureproof with i9 running on it you also have Thuban x6 on AM3 platforms so your small investment might see ya thru a while