ram or hd?

[invictus]

Hey all, 2day i might go to comp store and buy an upgrade. The 2 most needed are ram or a hd. I either get another 1gig of ddr1 (pc3200) kingston hyperX ram, to go with my 1gig already, or i get a 300gb hd for my small 60gb. Which should i go? Thanks. -Leon
P.S.
If you wish to know the rest of my system it is:
CPU: AMD FX-60
GPU: ATI Radeon x1900xtx
Ram: Kingston HyperX pc3200 1gig
MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131584
HD: 60gbs
EDIT: Link to mobo fixed

[Shaun]

Well 1 gig of slow DDR1 RAM will probably be a bottleneck for your PC, but it looks like your mobo and CPU is skt939, so getting a new AM2 mobo to upgrade to DDR2 RAM could be very costly. So I would recommend anothergig or RAM, DDR1 RAM is pretty cheap now, so you will probably still have enough money left over to get at least a 200GB HD.

[Erik]

Well 1 gig of slow DDR1 RAM will probably be a bottleneck for your PC, but it looks like your mobo and CPU is skt939, so getting a new AM2 mobo to upgrade to DDR2 RAM could be very costly. So I would recommend anothergig or RAM, DDR1 RAM is pretty cheap now, so you will probably still have enough money left over to get at least a 200GB HD.

DDR2 isn't realy that much faster than DDR("1").
DDR2 does have a faster transfer rate, but it also has much slower access times and this cancells out almost all of it's speed advantage.
So I wouldn't recomment a mobo upgrade just to switch from DDR to DDR2

This is an excellent article on the subject:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/03/...k_frequencies/

Anyway, on the original question:
It realy depends on what you need.

1GB of RAM is still more than enough for most software.
There is little use for another GB if all the programs you run still fit into the first GB.

But the same goes for your harddrive:
If all your data still fits on your 60GB harddrive, why buy a bigger one?

If, however, your computer constantly has to swap between RAM and "virtual memory" you can speed things up a lot my adding more RAM.
And a new big harddisk is a cheaper and more convenient way to store data than using DVD-R's.

[Timmius]

I'd say get a bigger HD. 2GB of ram isnt that noticable when you have a proper configured rig really. Just in some games. You do have your RAM set in DDR right?

[invictus]

Ummm, im afraid i do not understand tim, could you explain that? Im waiting on dx10 to get a new machine really. -Leon

[Aristocrat]

I assume Timmius meant Dual Channel, you do have it set in dual channel right?
Oh, and I suggest you check your motherboard manual, most nforce4 motherboards have issues when all the ram slots are full, which is cases means you get worse performance with 2 gigs then you would with 1.
My suggestion would be the hard drive...more space is always good, and when you want to get more ram go the 2*1gb route (2 sticks of ram 1 gb each) as opposed to the 4*512 route.

[invictus]

I honestly cant remember if my ram is dual channel, but i can check and see the configuration on it. For dual channel you put the 2 chips in the 1 and 3 slot right? -Leon

[Aristocrat]

If the ram is able to run in dual channel then yes, slots 1 and 3.

[Timmius]

If the ram is able to run in dual channel then yes, slots 1 and 3.

Actually not always. I've seen motherboards that have 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 as Dual channel slots. But you can usually quite clearly but the difference in colours. And if not, you can always check the motherboard manual. gl anyway

[invictus]

How can i tell if my comp switches ram for virtual memory? As for ram use, i want to max games out, so i need the ram for that. The hd would just enable me to install my 100+ games so i can choose what to play. -Leon

[Erik]

How can i tell if my comp switches ram for virtual memory? As for ram use, i want to max games out, so i need the ram for that. The hd would just enable me to install my 100+ games so i can choose what to play. -Leon

There are tools that can show and record things like memory usage and how often the swap file is used.
I beleive Windows XP comes with such a tool, but I forgot it's name.
But I'm sure they aren't hard to find/download.

edit:
Start>Programs>Administative tools>Performace is such a tool, but I'm not certain it comes standard with XP or if I added it later. (sits in the same folder as .NET configuration, so it could be part of .NET framework too)

edit2:
When you say yo ulike to "max games out" I assume you like to max out their grapics setting?
That might, or might not consume more RAM.
A good videocard can usually hold all texture data, even at the highest settings.
But you realy can't know until you measured the RAM use like I showed before.

[PyrrhusIV]

Ummm, im afraid i do not understand tim, could you explain that? Im waiting on dx10 to get a new machine really. -Leon

I'm going to be blunt. YOU SPENT THOUSANDS ON YOUR COMPUTER. Why the heck would you spend that much if your waiting for DX10? I'm sorry, but with your thought pattern, or money, I cant see why someone would want to spend 3,000+ US Dollars just for the best.

Also, 100+ games? Do you actually play all of those, or do you just want to know you have 100?

It just is very, very odd, that you want to modify an already overkill machine, just to get a new computer in less than 1 year.

[invictus]

Awww pyrrrhus , i do play most of my games, when im not to lazy to install them lol. And by "new machine" i meant more along the lines of vid card. Of course you knowing me, that is the comp But what do you suggest pyrrhus? -Leon

[invictus]

Just an update guys, thanks for all the info and i decided to buy both. Another gig of kingston ram and a 200gb hd -Leon

[OTZ]

Hope the RAM works. Like Aristocrat said, some mobos don't like their 4 RAM DIMMs full.

[Lee1026]

Also, doesn't having more then one pair of sticks mean that the AMD machine would have to run in 2T as opposed to one?

[OTZ]

Also, doesn't having more then one pair of sticks mean that the AMD machine would have to run in 2T as opposed to one?

More than likely - especailly if all four sticks are not the exact same (and I mean exactly the same).

2T or 1T is a reference to commands per clock (CPC). 1T is faster than 2T - it may not be noticeable in applications/games, but you can certainly see the difference in benchmark programs.

You may have problems booting up after installing the new sticks of RAM because your BIOS may be set to 1T. Before you install the new RAM, go into your BIOS and disable 1T - just to eliminate this as a potential problem. After you get the 2GB actually working/recognised, I wouldn't worry about trying to change the the timing back to 1T.

[invictus]

Eh? Now yall are speaking stuff i dont understand, 2t? Could you also explain what you mean by no tlike? As in not work? And thanks, im sure itll work -Leon

[invictus]

Well i bought kingston hyperX ram, which should be like the 1s i have now which are also kingston hyperX. Both sets are pc3200, and dual channel. So unless the specific models are diff, which ill find out when they arrive, they should be the same. But ill do that, is this 1t thing in a specific place in bios? -Leon

[OTZ]

It'll be in your DRAM Configuration section, or advanced settings. Look for 1t/2t, or Commands Per Clock, or CPC, or Command Speed...If you know what type of mobo you have, just google the name and the words "BIOS settings" - you should be able to find screenshots of what you are looking for.