My next upgrade?

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dan_foster11

New Member
I dont know too much about computers, but I like to game. I am wondering what I should upgrade after my video card? Ive currently got an AMD 3500+ processor, dual 512mb ram. Should I upgrade to 2gigs, or should I upgrade the processor first? (Ive got dual ATI 1650pro 512mb video cards, so I dont need to replace those)
 
dan_foster11 said:
I dont know too much about computers, but I like to game. I am wondering what I should upgrade after my video card? Ive currently got an AMD 3500+ processor, dual 512mb ram. Should I upgrade to 2gigs, or should I upgrade the processor first? (Ive got dual ATI 1650pro 512mb video cards, so I dont need to replace those)
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Probably your Ram would be next, however, if your motherboard and processor are Socket 939, it wouldn't be a very good choice to dump more money into old DDR ram. So, I guess my question is "Is your motherboard and processor Socket 939?"
 
Probably not, your next step would probably be to replace the motherboard, processor and RAM... ('cause it wouldn't be worth it to get new RAM that wouldn't be compatible with a new board...) And then upgrading the board usually means upgrading the processor and RAM as well...
 
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as he's running 2 ati cards.. he would need a crossfire motherboard i gues :o

download a program called CPU-z, it should be able to tell you if its s939 or AM2,.. But my gues would be its s939.

If its socket 939.. I think your best bet would be to look on ebay or so for a 4400+ X2 or faster. You could try a local store,.. but i dont think they'll have much 939 processors around anymore.

as for the RAM.. if you only have 512Mb atm.. i would suggest upgrading that before you upgrade the CPU :)
 
Can I assume this is your gaming system?

If you do have a skt 939 mobo, then I would not suggest upgrading to anything too drastically. your motherboard is "end of life". You have 1gb of ram so it would not hurt to take that to 2gb's. You will notice an increase in performance from the 1gb you have now.
 
my older computer is running the same setup kinda,it has 2gb of ram,amd 64 3500+ skt 939,the 2gb helped with the little bits up stutters i got in some games,its worth it seeing as how your graphics seem to be fine.Though i'd suggest this being your last upgrade and to save money for a couple years down the road when you'll be getting something new,skt 939 is kinda old now.
 
I got that CPU-z program, it is indeed socket AM2. I guess the guys at the comp shop didnt rip me off after all :D. So... whats next?
 
You'll prob. notice the bigger performance increase with the cpu upgrade. Keep in mind that 1gb of ram is considered somewhat low in gaming PC's now.

I'd upgrade the ram (as it is a fairly new PC). If your still not satisfied then upgrade the cpu. If you upgrade the CPU, then you'll want to add more ram to simply balance out the system anyway.
 
I have one more question. My motherboard has 4 spots for ram, does that mean that I could simply leave my 2 512 sticks in there, and put in a 1 gig stick in one of the other slots to go to 2 gigs, or would I need to remove the 2 512 sticks and replace them with 1gig sticks?

BTW you guys have been very helpful
 
You should be able to do that yes, Although there "might" be an issue. Check your manual and it will tell you the proper configurations to use.

When you add ram like that you actual slow it down. It will lower the timings on the ram. Personally if I where to put 2gb's of ram in my PC (and I did), I'd remove the 2 x 512mb's and instal 2 x 1gb's.
 
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