prophetik music Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 i'm currently running this mobo, this cpu, and a gig of ram (ddr2 400 w/ heatspreader, i believe, i'll have the real name in a bit) in my shuttle-case homebuilt desktop that i've got. geoforce 7600gs (256mb ram built in), external 24-bit soundcard, lite-on dvd-rw, rosewill 450-watt power supply, two fans. good temp control - i don't EVER get above 39 degrees celsius for internal temp, 55 degrees celsius gpu...don't know what the cpu temp is. generally runs an internal case temp of around 30, and gpu around 48) i want my computer to run faster. here's the catch. i need to know what kind of processor would run faster in my computer than the cpu i've already got. i know that celeron cpus tend to run slower than other processers, but it's a 3.46 ghz processor...so, what would be 'faster'? the mobo will handle up to a quad-core, but i want a processor that's relatively cheap (under 100$ preferably, 150$ max). i run two internal drives (80, 160) and one external (250), 490 gigs total, with around 90% of that full, spread out over four drives total (160=90+70). would it be more cost-effective to upgrade ram or cpu? i know the bus on the cpu i've got is really slow, as well, which is probably half the problem, but it has serious problems with higher-end audio and video work - aka muzaking and some nicer games. i'm even having trouble running The Witcher on the absolute lowest video settings a bit. more ram doesn't cost much, comparatively speaking, but i don't want a bandaid - i want to fix the problem with it being so dang slow. help? edit - just to brag, it cost 490$ total to build this computer, INCLUDING shipping for the parts =) the dvd drive, monitor, video card, and speakers (logitech 2.1 system, pretty nice altogether) were gifts, which helped, but still... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Effef Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 Celerons are complete shit no matter how fast they run. I learned this the hard way. Even the newer Pentium base chips (read: declawed core 2) at 1.8 ghz are much faster. So yeah, a cpu upgrade would net the most benefit here. How much are you looking to spend? Oh and not to brag, but I just ordered a Athlon X2 4000+, 2 gigs of Corsair DDR2 800, Corsair 450w power supply, Gigabyte 690G mobo, 160gig Western Digital HD, and a Centurion 534 case for $462.33 including shipping. =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted November 17, 2007 Author Share Posted November 17, 2007 hawt =) it's more just i don't want to spend a lot doing the upgrade. since ram's so dang cheap i might just get that anyways, but i heard that core 2's are under a hundred for the lower models...would one of those work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Necrotic Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 hawt =)it's more just i don't want to spend a lot doing the upgrade. since ram's so dang cheap i might just get that anyways, but i heard that core 2's are under a hundred for the lower models...would one of those work? Yeah, the Core 2 Duo is actually pretty cost-effective for the kind of power you get out of it. You're not exactly hurting for RAM with 1gig of DDR 400. Unless you do something RAM intensive (Photoshop, 3D rendering, playing high-end PC games) you may not need to upgrade, but that's entirely your decision. Note that you will probably NOT notice an improvement until you get rid of what's primarily bottlenecking your computer in the first place, in other words, your processor (Celerons are pieces of shit no matter how hard you try to compensate) and quite possibly your motherboard. Your computer is only as strong as its weakest component. The problem with Celerons isn't clock speed. You can have the fastest Celeron in the world, clock-speed wise, and it will be slower than some of the slowest processors, clock-speed wise, of another series of processors. In fact that's true already. Technology is a complicated thing. A few years ago, Intel had to stop marketting their processors based on clock speed due to a court order because it was extremely misleading. It has to do with the way the processor is built, the way the pipelines are designed, how big and how fast the cache is (this is the Celeron's downfall), and some other factors as well. What you ALWAYS have to do before you buy a processor is don't look at clock speeds, go on to Google and look at bench marks of the processor you're buying. Usually you can find benchmarks which show a specific processor you're looking for, it's major competitor (probably an AMD chip) and about 5-10 other processors a few generations before it to compare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Effef Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 hawt =)it's more just i don't want to spend a lot doing the upgrade. since ram's so dang cheap i might just get that anyways, but i heard that core 2's are under a hundred for the lower models...would one of those work? Most likely this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115014 would be your best bet. The e4300 is a little cheaper, but newegg is out of stock right now. This will be such an improvement you wont even know what hit you. They also overclock like beasts, though with your RAM and limiting motherboard you won't be doing much of that looks like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 i don't want to worry about overclocking just becuase i'm worried about cooling and the like - i don't have the cash to replace everything when it melts down. the mobo ain't as bad as you all think it is. for the cost (part of a barebones, it was like thirty dollars all told) it's a bitch of a board, and i've never had problems with it. it's no asus maximus or something, but it's solid. i think i'm going to get the ram anyways. newegg seems to have deals constantly where the cost of two 1-gig sticks is around 50 bucks...or, i could buy another stick off my buddy for like ten dollars used. but the processer is what i'm thinking about replacing heavily. i can sell my celeron to someone else for not too much money. another question: how much does overall hard drive space affect speed? particularly that the drive with windows on it is mostly full...that's where the virt-mem is too. will that affect it, as well? thanks for all the research you guys are doing for me =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Effef Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 i don't want to worry about overclocking just becuase i'm worried about cooling and the like - i don't have the cash to replace everything when it melts down.the mobo ain't as bad as you all think it is. for the cost (part of a barebones, it was like thirty dollars all told) it's a bitch of a board, and i've never had problems with it. it's no asus maximus or something, but it's solid. intel mobos always are solid and well built, but never overclock well another question: how much does overall hard drive space affect speed? particularly that the drive with windows on it is mostly full...that's where the virt-mem is too. will that affect it, as well?thanks for all the research you guys are doing for me =) thats another common misconception, that how much is on the HD affects speed a great deal. It can if you don't defrag regularly, but other than that it really doesn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted November 19, 2007 Author Share Posted November 19, 2007 last question regarding ram. i've got one stick of ddr2 533 ram (pc2 4200) with heat spreader. if i want to buy another stick of ram, does it have to be the same thing exactly? or, can i just get another stick of ddr2 533 4200 ram, probably with heat spreader, but by another manufacturer? and, for that matter, what happens if they aren't the same when i plug them in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Effef Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 last question regarding ram.i've got one stick of ddr2 533 ram (pc2 4200) with heat spreader. if i want to buy another stick of ram, does it have to be the same thing exactly? or, can i just get another stick of ddr2 533 4200 ram, probably with heat spreader, but by another manufacturer? as long as its PC24200 it will work, it does not matter what manufacturer or anything. and, for that matter, what happens if they aren't the same when i plug them in? you'll have to clarify what you mean here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted November 20, 2007 Author Share Posted November 20, 2007 like, if they're two different types of ram, you plug them in, and boot up. what happens? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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