Help me Spend $100 on an Upgrade!!

[Katmandu]

I need help on deciding how to spend $100 on my system to speed it up. OR just save that $100 towards a new system.

Here's the specs I'm currently running below....

MSI MS-7061 KM4M-V, KM400 Chipset, AMD XP2200+ CPU, 1GB PC2700 DDR Ram, nVIDIA GeForce 6200 256MB 400Mhz, (2) 80GB 7200 Maxtor, (1) 40GB 5400 WD HDs and (1)Seagate 80GB 7200 External HD, O/S XP Pro

I'm not a gamer, but I am an extremely heavy net user. Usually have 5-10 IE browser windows open at once. Each with 2-3 tabs running. Usally have a 2-3 apps running as well.

My FreeRamPro usage rarely shows RAM usage >600MB (Of the 1GB installed). Not sure if this is accurate or not.

Should I spend a $100 on a faster Processor ?? More RAM ?? Or just save it towards a Duo-Core system down the road ?

[Phase-Six]

Since your not a gamer your 1.8 should still be fine. Id say if you plan for just internet browsing then get more ram. 2gb should do the trick. For that im sure you can find a great pair for around 80 dollars. Heres a link to the cheapest I could find on newegg Newegg.com - pqi POWER Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 333 (PC 2700) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

[Katmandu]

Originally Posted by Phase-Six

Since your not a gamer your 1.8 should still be fine. Id say if you plan for just internet browsing then get more ram. 2gb should do the trick. For that im sure you can find a great pair for around 80 dollars. Heres a link to the cheapest I could find on newegg Newegg.com - pqi POWER Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 333 (PC 2700) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Actually, this 1.8 isn't too bad for what I'm doing. The windows/apps "snap" up pretty quick still.

I've been seeing that deal on the Dual-Channel Kit. I'm a bit confused on the Dual Channel thing. Would my MB support it ????

[Phase-Six]

Originally Posted by Katmandu

Actually, this 1.8 isn't too bad for what I'm doing. The windows/apps "snap" up pretty quick still.

I've been seeing that deal on the Dual-Channel Kit. I'm a bit confused on the Dual Channel thing. Would my MB support it ????

DDr2 is supposed to be faster etc etc. But you said right now your motherboard supports PC2700 DDR Ram and the ram I gave you is just that. Im sure it will be compatible.

[Katmandu]

Originally Posted by Phase-Six

DDr2 is supposed to be faster etc etc. But you said right now your motherboard supports PC2700 DDR Ram and the ram I gave you is just that. Im sure it will be compatible.

Cool.

What exactly is DDR2 then ?? It is backwards compatible with DDR then I take it ????

[Katmandu]

Originally Posted by Phase-Six

DDr2 is supposed to be faster etc etc. But you said right now your motherboard supports PC2700 DDR Ram and the ram I gave you is just that. Im sure it will be compatible.

Cool.

What exactly is DDR2 then ?? It is backwards compatible with DDR then I take it ????

Also, is the Dual-Channel "kit" simply a matched pair of DDR2 ??

What's the advantage of DDR2 ??

[Phase-Six]

Originally Posted by Katmandu

Cool.

What exactly is DDR2 then ?? It is backwards compatible with DDR then I take it ????

DDR2 SDRAM - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia if you want a full explanation on it. No either your motherboard takes ddr or ddr2 not both at the same time.

[Katmandu]

Originally Posted by Phase-Six

DDR2 SDRAM - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia if you want a full explanation on it. No either your motherboard takes ddr or ddr2 not both at the same time.

I must have read your mind. I "just" read up on it over there.

Here's the text below...

Backwards compatibility
DDR2 DIMMs are not designed to be backwards compatible with DDR DIMMs. The notch on DDR2 DIMMs is in a different position than DDR DIMMs, and the pin density is slightly higher than DDR DIMMs. DDR2 is a 240-pin module, DDR is a 184-pin module.

Faster DDR2 DIMMs though, are compatible with slower DDR2 DIMMs. The memory would just run at the slower speed. Using slower DDR2 memory in a system capable of higher speeds results in the bus running at the speed of the slowest memory in use

[Katmandu]

Back to that Dual-Channel Ram Kit.

Would it make a real noticeable performance difference in my system ?

[Katmandu]

Originally Posted by Katmandu

Back to that Dual-Channel Ram Kit.

Would it make a real noticeable performance difference in my system ?

Dual-channel architecture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now I need to find out if my MB (MSI -7061)and chipset LM400 support Dual-Channel.