Ram or Memory?

[GoldenStrike]

I'm going to upgrade my pc for better performance and im not sure if i should get more ram or disk space.

Heres my computer...

857 MHz, 384 MB of Ram
Im using Gefore FX 5500


I dont want any comments saying "HAH! you computers crap!" because we all know it is ^^

[lukefleming1]

if possible i would get a new computer, i could help you find one for like $300 new that would be better than yours, but if u really just want to upgrade, get more ram

[greeneye]

it actually depends on what programs you are trying to run. cheapest option is indeed to upgrade your RAM. buying a new harddrive would only give you more space to work on and a larger swapfile option but it wouldnt improve its performance.

[cpinney]

yeah its at the point that the best option for you is just to get a new system entirely.

[MissLe2]

of course the best thing is to get new system
but maybe the best you can do is more memory
memory is better than HD for performance

[GoldenStrike]

I don't think I'm interested in getting a new computer. Does anyone know the price of ram? I know how much hard drives cost though.

Thanks for the reply's!

[Lempi]

Depends really. What ram does your system take? As it's fairly old, im assuming its SD-Ram, which is no long made and as such can be hard to find and rather expensive.

But yeah, in the not-so-distant future you should upgrade your computer entirely.

EDIT: Talking of being expensive, some places online are charging $29 for 128mb, which is less than half of what you have now.
So for the price to upgrade your ram, you could probably buy a fairly decent second hand PC.

[rek]

Dump it, then burn.

Seriously, i would just get a new PC. Upgrading your current system will get you no where.

[pr0klobster]

upgrade. 857 mhz processor with 384 megs of RAM isn't all that great anymore. Properly configured, you might get by with a barebones install of XP, but if you buy another one you can put Linux on your old one and run SRO via Wine.

Not to mention there are many decent Linux games. Look into Battle for Wesnoth, Spring (a Total Annihilation clone) and LinCity.

Plus you will have an OS much less susceptible to viruses and likely learn a lot about a different (FREE) operating system. (sudo FTW)

[Disconn3cted]

it actually depends on what programs you are trying to run. cheapest option is indeed to upgrade your RAM. buying a new harddrive would only give you more space to work on and a larger swapfile option but it wouldnt improve its performance.

That is false, I bought a new hard drive and it was a bigger improvement than a whole GB of RAM. Whether a new hard drive would speed up your computer or not depends on how bad the original was though.

OnT: your computer is a piece of shit, buy a new one

[BlackFox898]

for the price you would pay to get new RAM you could get someone elses 5 year old rig that runs twice as better, i sold my old rig for $65 which had a 1gb or ram and a 1.8GHz core, and 2 drives one was 40gb and other was 200gb. srsly upgrade.

[greeneye]

it actually depends on what programs you are trying to run. cheapest option is indeed to upgrade your RAM. buying a new harddrive would only give you more space to work on and a larger swapfile option but it wouldnt improve its performance.

That is false, I bought a new hard drive and it was a bigger improvement than a whole GB of RAM. Whether a new hard drive would speed up your computer or not depends on how bad the original was though.

OnT: your computer is a piece of shit, buy a new one

i guess it did in your case, but check out his specs and the RAM he has. what i meant it wouldn't improve performance is that he has enough free space on his hard drive for his swap files. and he asked if he needs "more disk space", so i assumed that the 6 gig he has free, he feels is not enough. anyways, he did not post how many rpms his orig drive is, so i am assuming he was asking on basis of free space and not disk speed. thanks.

and actually he also asked not to call his pc a piece of crap...=P still i agree, best option is to completely replace everything.

[GoldenStrike]

Wow! thanks alot for all the help. i think you guys have convinced me to get a new computer

Edit: I just heard about windows 7 beta and that it might run better/faster/take up less space and stuff. do you think if i put on windows seven it might work? >.<

[OlHybrid]

BTW, I'd turn Indexing off... too much of a performance hog for the benefits it brings.
Windows 7 beta is just that, a beta, I wouldn't bother (besides, correct me if I'm wrong but there is a time limit on it, so a definite no-no for daily usage).
Assuming it's genuine, keep your XP license for your new comp (stay away from OEM brand junk and go for a custom box from your local shop, much better component quality usually), and slap something like Xubuntu on your old rig.