What should I upgrade?

[Asai]

Y'all are gonna get tired of me making these threads....

Thanks to all these hours at work lately I've been getting extra play money (though its not an amazing amount). I've got about 110 bucks to play around with and feel like my PC needs a little boost, I just don't know where. Probably my RAM as I only have 2 gigs (4 sticks of low speed 512). But I wanted to post this and get some insight as to what everyone else might think. For all I know 2gigs should be plenty for win7 64 bit ultimate and w/e else I'm running on top of it.

Anyway here's my specs:

Mobo: (youtube guy says it all)

Spoiler: show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noZ6vd9itlE

CPU: AMD Athlon II x2 250 64bit (3GHz AM3)
RAM1: 512MB DDR2 (PC2-5300) @333 MHz (DDR2 667)
RAM2: 512MB DDR2 (PC2-5300) @333 MHz (DDR2 667)
RAM3: 512MB DDR2 (PC2-4300) @266 MHz (DDR2 533)
RAM4: 512MB DDR2 (PC2-4300) @266 MHz (DDR2 533)
GPU: ATI Radeon 1Gig HD 5750
PSU: 600W Modular (only 1 6-pin but I think you can get adapters?)

Again, RAM would probably be the best idea but I don't really know. I also have questions about crossfire as the only compatible card for a 5750 is another 5750 and I dunno if my PSU has enough juice for that or not. Also I'm unsure of updating to a quad, I think they're still pretty pricey for a half decent speed on one?

Opinions?

[Asai]

Been looking at this RAM for 98 bucks: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820104098

2x 2gig Kingston, looks like pretty good quality but I dunno if I could just get 4 gigs on a single stick (board has 4 slots and supports up to 16 gigs so it'd be saving me a step down the road) buuuuuuuuuut I'm not entirely up to snuff on how compatable ram is with other ram. I know certain types have to be the same when set in the same channel and stuff like that, but that's the extent of my knowledge. No idea how to tell on my own.

[sruon]

Putting 2 to 4 random sticks of DDR2 together should work regardless of the brand long as it's compatible with your motherboard.

However using different memory speed will make the motherboard default to the lowest speed.

Taking for example your newegg link it says : "DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)", just make sure others you buy are the same and you're good. It's always best to buy the same exact RAM but it is /supposed/ to work regardless.

[Tormentormike]

4GB would be a good thing to get to, above that unless you're doing some memory intensive programs, you won't notice the difference. 4-6GB is the sweet spot for price/performance.

SSD are another good thing to invest in as they would increase OS/features/select programs speed exponentially. Those are right in your price range depending on size, but a 40GB Intel one on Newegg is $115. That would fit your OS and maybe a game on there depending on size, but they really are amazing speed wise. Off to on in 10-15 seconds, shutdown in 5-7 seconds. Windows features have a near instant response time.

[Gethsemane]

CPU Upgrade: I suggest upgrading to the quad-core Athlon II x4 635 for $100.00 or the $640 for $120.00, your motherboard will even support Phenoms if you wanted.

Memory Upgrade: As for memory your board can handle DDR2 1200MHz (you need to overclock to get it to this however, otherwise it will run at 1066MHz) and if you don't want to mess with overclocking you can just get 1066MHz DDR2 memory. 4GB memory, 2 2GB sticks would do you fine. $125.00 for 2 x 2GB 1200 MHz or $100.00 for 2 x 2GB 1066Mhz.

GPU Upgrade: You might be fine with the GPU. Wait until the game releases to find out. Your PSU has only 1 6-pin like mine, you would need to buy another PSU if yours isn't modular to get another 6-pin for Crossfire. You could get a 5770 but in order to get a 5830 I believe you'll need a new PSU.

HDD: I got a 1TB WD Caviar Black 7200rpm 32MB cache for $100.00, SSDs are okay. Still priced too high for me. I compare them to buying a second GPU for Xfire/SLI for only 30-50% performance upgrade for the price of another GPU that should be double the speed not only a 50% upgrade

Oh didn't see the money you had, upgrade to Athlon II quad core, spend extra for the 640 or just get the 635. I think that's the biggest bang for your low budget