Want to upgrade my pc but I forget everything about computers lol

[maverick7]

I built my pc a couple years back and only put in 2gb of ddr2 ram at the time. Now with the release of starcraft i notice that my load times are super slow and it was suggested that more ram would help. Also during play i run at 95-98% usage.

anyways current specs (from cpuz and gpu-z)

windows xp 32 bit. I suppose i could get windows 7 64bit but i like that utorrent runs without problems for me currently. I heard that my friend who has windows 7 has numerous problems with it working. along with other programs
2x 500gb wd hard drives
q6600 @3.0ghz
asus maximus formula x38 mobo
nvidia 9800 gx2

** 2048mb ddr ram

frequency- 400mhz
fsb dram 5:6 (fml i just remembered these were supposed to be even.. i dont even know how to do that)
4
4
4
12

2T



Anyways with my current motherboard and setup what is the best ram i could get? and if i were to get 4gb how much would my pc use? (due to xp 32bit)


thank a bunch and any additional advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[tecmo34]

As for a RAM upgrade, I would go with G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI-B

With a 32-bit system, you will only be able to use 3.5GB to 3.25GB of the RAM. You will not be able to use the full amount of the RAM.

 

[maverick7]

cant my board handle ddr3? I was under the impression it could. if so i definitely want to upgrade to dd3.

 

[tecmo34]

If this is your motherboard than it doesn't support DDR3 memory.

ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard

 

[maverick7]

sigh..... thats annoying.

would it be worth it to upgrade the mobo? and get some ddr3 memory?

 

[tecmo34]

Really, there is little difference in DDR3 and DDR2 in a gaming build, so you'll see minimum to little benefit.

You would see a bigger increase if you upgrade your platform to either an AMD Phenom II X4 955 or Intel Core i5-750 with an appropriate motherboard for either CPU. However, you are looking at a $300 or so price tag to do so.

 

[maverick7]

and im sure if i did that i would want to upgrade everything :\


if i just went with the ram u suggested do you reckon it would help in game performance and load times?

 

[tecmo34]

Going with 4GB of RAM will help with load times at little, as well as upping your overclock to 3.2GHz.

 

[maverick7]

will 3.2 = a proper fsb to ram ratio? or

 

[maverick7]

Best answer selected by maverick7.

 

[tecmo34]

will 3.2 = a proper fsb to ram ratio? or

Yes, you should still be in a proper fsb to ram ratio.

 

[maverick7]

since i havent dealth with ocing in a while... what will my fsb have to be?

also im not sure if i can push it to 3.2 as my cpu is already running at about 35-40c idle

 

[maverick7]

uppppppp

 

[tecmo34]

35 - 40c at idle isn't out of the ball park. Going up 200MHz to 3.2GHz should not increase temps too much, if at all.

I would just recommend running Prime95 overnight to make sure you don't get any errors and the overclock is stable. If you have issues, just keep your overclock to 3.0GHz.