Comp Upgrade - Memory and other Questions...

[Mythiran]

I'm soon to be purchasing a new board, new processor, and new memory (the GFX card I've already got

So I have a few considerations to think about that I don't know the answer to:

1) Would it be wise to hang on to my current RAM and stick that in my new board, or would htat just end up slowing things down? IE: Is it possible to have an extra GB of ram that has a slower clock speed? And if so, would it be bad to do that?

2) Is there anything I should be considering when buying a new board other than clock speed, case compatibility, CPU socket, ports and components like sound, Network etc...?

3) Is there any point in buying a new Hardrive other than for space? My current one is about 18 months old and I've no idea what it's cache and rotation specifications are.

Thanks for the help

-Rich

 

[fishmahn]

1) If the ram is slower than the ram you'll be buying for the new setup, then you'll be slowing down all your ram to that speed. i.e., if your ram is currently PC2100, and you're buying PC3200 for the new machine, don't put the 2100 in there - all your ram will be forced to run at 2100 speeds.

2) Other than everything? Nope, can't think of anything else...[grin] (sorry, but I don't quite understand what you're asking here...) IMO, you should consider what you will use it for first, then pick a platform (AMD Sempron, AMD Athlon64, Intel P4, Intel Celeron) and whether you need PCI-Express graphics or AGP will work, based on usage, then the rest.

3) Depends on usage, and the rotation speed of the existing drive. There's not much performance difference in todays' 7200rpm drives and those of 2 yrs ago.

 

[Crashman]

I'll build and test a system for you for $100, including shipping (which could be as much as $40).

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Mythiran]

Thanks fish,

I don't really know what I meant by my 2nd question either to be honest

Your answers to 1 and 3 are very helpful though.

Cheers

-Rich