CPU or RAM?

I'm going to do some minor PC upgrade. I'm pretty content of my GPU - 9800GT overclocked a bit, but my CPU and RAM are both pretty inferior - E2160 1.8GHz overclocked to 2.4GHz and Kingston 667MHz 2x1GB DDR2.

Which one would you recommend me to upgrade in the first order? CPU or RAM?

If the cache size of your E2160 isn't a problem, you should upgrade your memory.

definitely your CPU first. You don't really need more than 2 GB and extra RAM speed will not help that much.

For games I would consider upgrading your graphics card though. I saw a GTX 285 (1 GB) by BFG for $280 on Bestbuy.com and probably you can find similar / better deals on Newegg.com as well.

GTX 285 would require also a change in power supply to at least a 600W, no? And the cheapest 285 in Poland costs 1200 PLN. That's twice as much as an E8400

I'll wait for one or two more responses from someone who doesn't recommend a 1GB GPU. And says that more than 2GB (in Windows 7) won't help.

Pick up some more (faster if your mobo supports it) RAM. E2160 is a good CPU, and if you wanted, you could OC it pretty far beyond 2.4GHz.

You'd be stupid to replace the E2160. End of story.

Yeah, about that - my cousin (a dude that lives like a king thanks to his knowledge - my role model xd) has a E2140 which he overclocked to 2.67, meaning I would be easily able to overclock my CPU to 2.87.

The question is - how? When I tried overclocking to 2.45GHz, I had problems starting the computer. Maybe I was just unlucky and I'll have to try again. But are is there some kind of software that might help me?

Also, I'm not almost certain that I will be upgrading RAM - question is, which model? Kingston, Corsair, Kingston HyperX or something else? This is also a question about laptop RAM, because I will be changing my laptop's memory cause it sucks now, barely 512 RAM.


Oh, oh, and last question - if I have 4 RAM slots, should I sell my old 2x1GB sticks and buy a 2x2GB or get another 2x1GB set?

Thanks for the advice, even if it's a bit blunt ;p

the E8400 is far better than your current CPU, even OC'd @ 2.4 it's still pretty out dated by current standards. Get the E8400 and OC it to 3.4 without too much trouble.... If you can swing it $$$ wise I'd suggest doubling your RAM too (for Win 7 or Vista at least).

E8400 is a superb chip; faster, great architecture, more instructions, expanded cache, high overclock potential. But replacing his E2160 for $170 USD isn't nearly as cost-practical as buying more and superior memory for $50 USD.

$170? I wish. It costs over $220 in Poland. And E8600 costs almost $350.

That's what I was asking about - which one will give me a better price:cash ratio, a new CPU or a new set of RAM.

Oh, like I asked before - what should I do with that RAM? I have 2x1GB, should I buy two more 1GB sticks, a 2GB stick (and use 3 sticks) or buy two 2x2GB and sell the old ones?

I'm not the most experienced overclocker, nor do I know the details on the rest of your system, so I can't answer the "how", sadly. But I do know that you can push that CPU beyond even 2.87GHz. I know many people pushing 3.6GHz on air with E2160s, and higher is definitely possible with better cooling.

It's an absolutely fantastic cost/power CPU.

OCZ, Corsair, and G.Skill are the brands I'd personally recommend for their high quality and performance.


I'd ditch the current sticks and pick up new ones, just to be make absolutely sure all the timings match up.


Also:
I agree with this.

Picking up new RAM will be very much more cost effective than getting a new CPU.

Thanks for the help guys. As soon as I get allowance for this month (and next month) I should have enough money to get the new sticks.

1.8GHz is a bit slow by today's standards, but with the cpu clocked at 2.4gig, you won't actually get a whole lot better performance getting a faster Core 2. Even going to a quad core won't change that much since very few things actually utalize all 4 cores.
And, even though the RAM is only 667Mhz, a change to faster RAM also won't make that much difference and you already have 2 gigs.
So, you could go either way - cpu or RAM - at this point. The only upgrade that would make a serious improvement would involve a new motherboard, cpu, and RAM, such as an i7 or Phenom II.

One thing that may overclockers overlook is the basic fact each individual CPU is different. Not every single sample of a particular model of cpu can be overclocked the same. Just because one person somewhere successfully OCs their cpu to a particular limit, does not mean that your particular cpu can go that far. It has to do with the various physical properties of the chip.