Should I upgrade RAM or CPU.

[Deleted member 219079]

CPU:
I have Intel Core 2 Duo I found an Intel Core 2 Quad for 50 euros.

OR RAM:
My motherboard is old Fujitsu Siemens. I have 2 1 GB RAM sticks inserted it and it has a maximum of 2 RAM sticks. I found 2 x 2Gb 1333 Mhz (PC3 10600) for only 13 euros, I don't know so much about computers inside so I don't know is that like lap top RAM or something.



Of coure I would like to think that upgrading such computer parts would be waste of money, is my graphics card, NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS 512MB (it has silent cooler, don't know why I got only fan cooled ones from google ) the weakest part of computer?

I would like to have decent computer for gaming, currently it has serious problem with running Amnesia smoothly in 1360x768 with lowest graphic options.

Also, I'm not good with keeping computers alive while replacing CPU, I can replace RAM and Graphics Card, so upgrading RAM would be nicer. Someone wise could tell what would be the difference from my current set to the set he would suggest (in gameplay performance).

The offers I mentioned will close in one day so I would appreciate fast responds.

 

[Magtheridon96]

Upgrade the RAM.
2GB is insufficient :/

I have 4GB @ 1067Mhz, and it suits me well, but I'm planning on buying a new computer with 8GB @ 2000Mhz because I have experienced "Out of Memory" issues before.

edit
The CPU is /just/ good enough to run most games decently.
4.4 billion operations per second is not bad. My computer has 2 cores @ 3.06Ghz and it's totally fine. (That's 6.12 billion operations per second)

 

[Nuclear]

It'd probably be the best to save money and replace the whole system, that's what I did, and I'm happy. Of course you can scavenge some parts from the old system, like DVD tray.

 

[Deleted member 219079]

Upgrade the RAM.
2GB is insufficient :/

I have 4GB @ 1067Mhz, and it suits me well, but I'm planning on buying a new computer with 8GB @ 2000Mhz because I have experienced "Out of Memory" issues before.

edit
The CPU is /just/ good enough to run most games decently.
4.4 billion operations per second is not bad. My computer has 2 cores @ 3.06Ghz and it's totally fine. (That's 6.12 billion operations per second)

Thanks for your advice! I will go with it since I sometimes have that "out of memory" issue.

It'd probably be the best to save money and replace the whole system, that's what I did, and I'm happy. Of course you can scavenge some parts from the old system, like DVD tray.

I have some other things to save money at atm, I will see that opinion after few years. I agree with that DVD tray thing, I will remember that when doing the full replace.

 

[Magtheridon96]

And if you're fine with it, you can do what Nuclear mentioned.
It's not a bad idea actually. :3

 

[Dr Super Good]

Be aware of the differences between DDR2 and DDR3.

1.333 GHz memory sounds like DDR3. Intel core 2 only supported DDR2 as far as I am aware. Intel moved to the I3, 5 and 7 ranges for DDR3 support.

 

[Deleted member 219079]

Be aware of the differences between DDR2 and DDR3.

1.333 GHz memory sounds like DDR3. Intel core 2 only supported DDR2 as far as I am aware. Intel moved to the I3, 5 and 7 ranges for DDR3 support.

Here is a picture of them:

Picture

If it is DDR3 I have to search for new ones. Thanks for your knowledge, you might have saved me 18 euros.

Edit: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_Intel_Core_2_Duo_support_DDR3 My motherboard is FUJITSU SIEMENS G31T-M2 I don't know does it support DDR3

 

[Magtheridon96]

@DSG, I have an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and I have 2 DDR3 2GB Memory sticks.
He should be fine.
Plus, isn't it all dependent on the Motherboard?

 

[Dr Super Good]

You do get 2 GB DDR2 sticks. The problem is the frequency.

DDR2 usually was below 1 GHz.

 

[Magtheridon96]

Oh sorry, I meant to mention DDR3. I don't know why I failed to mention that :3

 

[Deleted member 219079]

I found 2 A-DATA 800MHz DDR2 for 12 euros :O I want to make sure it works, since the crucial.com told me my motherboard only supports DDR2.

 

[Magtheridon96]

800Mhz is not so bad for DDR2.

 

[Deleted member 219079]

Okay I have new problem. According to this video, on part 1:10, it says that 32-bit system can only handle 3.25 gb of memory, and I have 32 bit Vista as my OS.

Is there a way to upgrade my Vista to 64-bit?

Edit: Found a way to activate that PAE told in the video:

PAE

Enabling PAE
Windows automatically enables PAE if DEP is enabled on a computer that supports hardware-enabled DEP, or if the computer is configured for hot-add memory devices in memory ranges beyond 4 GB. If the computer does not support hardware-enabled DEP or is not configured for hot-add memory devices in memory ranges beyond 4 GB, PAE must be explicitly enabled.
To explicitly enable PAE, use the following BCDEdit /set command to set the pae boot entry option:
bcdedit /set [{ID}] pae ForceEnable
IF DEP is enabled, PAE cannot be disabled. Use the following BCDEdit /set commands to disable both DEP and PAE:
bcdedit /set [{ID}] nx AlwaysOff
bcdedit /set [{ID}] pae ForceDisable
Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP: To enable PAE, use the /PAE switch in the boot.ini file. To disable PAE, use the /NOPAE switch. To disable DEP, use the /EXECUTE switch.

Is this safe? I'm kinda new into this kind of stuff sorry for asking this kind of questions.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Windows Vista 32bit supports 4 GB of memory minus a few OS reserved addresses (fewer than XP). The problem is this is 4 GB combined memory so is the sum of your main system memory, your graphic memory and even I/O device buffer memory.

There is no way to upgrade from a 32bit OS to a 64bit OS without reinstalling the OS. This is because 64bit OS require the kernel run in 64bit mode which requires completely different drivers and system libraries. It also breaks backwards compatibility with 16bit programs (very old games will not work) as the processor cannot switch into 16bit mode when booted into 64bit kernel mode.

Most 32bit programs will still function through the use of WoW64. I have used both the 64bit versions of Vista and 7 without any major compatibility problems.

Switching to a 64bit OS has more advantages that more system memory. 64bit programs can now use 64bit instructions and access to their accompanying longer registers which allow long long int operations to be performed in nearly half the time. 64bit instructions also allow access to more registers than in 32bit mode meaning that less memory I/O has to be performed in optimized functions.

It does have disadvantages. Instruction word size is increased decreasing the efficiency of caching program code (can cache less) which can also result in more main memory I/O conjestion. These problems are often easilly offset by the time saved with the advantages and modern processes have larger tierd caches to minimize the impact this has.

As a direct upgrade from 32bit to 64bit Vista is not possible, it is advisable to go directly for Windows 7 or even Windows 8.

Windows 7 is more optimized than Vista so the OS wastes less memory and performs certain kernel tasks better. Windows 8 is even more so than Windows 7 but is still in development (you would have to wait until it is released).

There is no efficient way to allow 32bit OS to support more than 4GB of memory. This is due to how the instruction set works and any work around will likely give you poor performance when they start being used.

 

[Deleted member 219079]

Windows Vista 32bit supports 4 GB of memory minus a few OS reserved addresses (fewer than XP). The problem is this is 4 GB combined memory so is the sum of your main system memory, your graphic memory and even I/O device buffer memory.

There is no way to upgrade from a 32bit OS to a 64bit OS without reinstalling the OS. This is because 64bit OS require the kernel run in 64bit mode which requires completely different drivers and system libraries. It also breaks backwards compatibility with 16bit programs (very old games will not work) as the processor cannot switch into 16bit mode when booted into 64bit kernel mode.

Most 32bit programs will still function through the use of WoW64. I have used both the 64bit versions of Vista and 7 without any major compatibility problems.

Switching to a 64bit OS has more advantages that more system memory. 64bit programs can now use 64bit instructions and access to their accompanying longer registers which allow long long int operations to be performed in nearly half the time. 64bit instructions also allow access to more registers than in 32bit mode meaning that less memory I/O has to be performed in optimized functions.

It does have disadvantages. Instruction word size is increased decreasing the efficiency of caching program code (can cache less) which can also result in more main memory I/O conjestion. These problems are often easilly offset by the time saved with the advantages and modern processes have larger tierd caches to minimize the impact this has.

As a direct upgrade from 32bit to 64bit Vista is not possible, it is advisable to go directly for Windows 7 or even Windows 8.

Windows 7 is more optimized than Vista so the OS wastes less memory and performs certain kernel tasks better. Windows 8 is even more so than Windows 7 but is still in development (you would have to wait until it is released).

There is no efficient way to allow 32bit OS to support more than 4GB of memory. This is due to how the instruction set works and any work around will likely give you poor performance when they start being used.

I googled a bit about that Vista and 4GB thing and read that they tried to fix 4gb issue when doing Vista. Does this relate the thing I've always wondered about the difference of XP's and Vista's memory display on Task Manager's performance tab?

It always enlightens me to read your posts. Seems like I don't need to do any stuff to be happy with 4gb.

 

[Dr Super Good]

XP mapped the OS files to a dedicated 1G address damage. This left only 3 GB of allocate able memory.

Vista changed that by making the OS files be mapped like all other files (so no reserved address ranges).

It is still limited to 4GB due to the size of addresses used in the instructions (2^32 bytes).

That limit is total memory, the sum of dedicated graphic memory, main memory (RAM) and even buffers for I/O devices although such buffers are insignificant.