Does it make a difference? CPUs

[mattdabatt]

i mean do they even make a difference really? my comp runs just fine, and it seems cheaper in the long run to just buy RAM.

 

[Blasphemy]

well not necessarily... depends on what your trying to do with your computer, like trying to play certain high end games, require alot better video cards then older games... so in the end you need to update 1-2 years to keep up with the growing gaming community.

 

[mattdabatt]

1-2 years seems a bit fast. i made my old radeon 9600 last for 4 years lol.

 

[bobtheworm]

.

 

[Havegooda {A|R}]

Depends on what you've got now.

If you're a single core P4 with 512MB of RAM (on XP), you'll see HUGE gains in speed and FPS if you upgrade to a Core 2 CPU. Most games don't use more than 512MB-1GB of RAM (don't mention Crysis ), you will only need large amounts of RAM if you're working with large images/video/audio projects honestly. If you only browse the web/play games, 512MB would be fine, but with the cheap prices of DDR2, you can get 4GB of G.Skill for $60 or so.

It's your choice really, but if you don't have a need (especially for RAM), save the money and use it on something else.

~Gooda~

 

[trykael]

you will only need large amounts of RAM if you're working with large images/video/audio projects honestly. If you only browse the web/play games, 512MB would be fine

a whole lot of computer professionals would disagree with you on this one. windows XP alone uses quite a bit of resources...bump up to Vista and most professionals will suggest running your computer with a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM. dollar for dollar often the best upgrade you can purchase is more RAM assuming you're not maxed out already.

just a second though - RAM is ALWAYS good in my opinion.

 

[Die Geheimwaffe]

I do minor upgrades every two years and a complete rebuild every 4 years. The processor is usually the last thing I upgrade. That is becuase I operate under the assumption that if I change processors or motherboards I might as well build a new computer. So I choose those two thing first, putting the most thought into them, and build around them.

I'm mid cycle right now, and while people on the internet have greatly surpassed my E6550 in their purchases my friends and family are just now starting to surpass my processing power. Operating it at 3 GHz instead of 2.33 GHz puts it on par with much more expensive processors and its 4 MB cache still holds it's own.

 

[mattdabatt]

hmm alrighty thanks guys

 

[Havegooda {A|R}]

a whole lot of computer professionals would disagree with you on this one. windows XP alone uses quite a bit of resources...bump up to Vista and most professionals will suggest running your computer with a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM. dollar for dollar often the best upgrade you can purchase is more RAM assuming you're not maxed out already.

just a second though - RAM is ALWAYS good in my opinion.

We were fine with 512MB for a long time on XP, and you're right, with Vista, you need a decent amount of RAM for it to be smooth.

Oh well, differing opinions. I think 512MB is good enough for light gaming/web browsing, but RAM is cheap enough to buy more if you decide to go that route.

~Gooda~

 

[Deimos]

Yeah, also if you have a lot of processes running, then it will slow you down big time, and will kill your game performance... but with a better CPU you can do more stuff... my E8400 runs GTA IV only on 35% CPU, I can run photoshop, and a few other programs.. =D

 

[.[BORN]2kill]

a whole lot of computer professionals would disagree with you on this one. windows XP alone uses quite a bit of resources...bump up to Vista and most professionals will suggest running your computer with a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM. dollar for dollar often the best upgrade you can purchase is more RAM assuming you're not maxed out already.

just a second though - RAM is ALWAYS good in my opinion.

I agree a Gig minimum for XP. The more memory the better. 512 of meg for XP totally and utterly stinks. It is so cheap to get from http://www.crucial.com or most other outlets now.

To the OP: How much RAM do you have now? When you open "Task Manager" and go to the "Performance" tab, how much free memory do you have?

 

[Bruce*Lee]

It really depend on what you use it for, like photoshop or video editing then you need a lot of RAM to process all those heavy work from the program. RAM can effect less or a lot