Your opinions please: buy more RAM, or time for a new PC?

Gaz1701 · 09 Apr 2015

Hi guys, I'm in a bit of a quandry and I'm not sure what to do next. I've had my desktop PC since 2007, and over the years I've increased by RAM from 2GB to 4GB, and got a new [for its time] graphics card (the one I'm using in my specs now) - and I got Windows 7 [64-bit] when it came out. But now my computer is still going quite sluggish at times, and I was wondering if getting extra RAM would help matters; I know you'll probably say "yes!" to this, but - not knowing much about the CPU - I don't know if my aging CPU [being only duel-core which was OK back in the day] can also affect a computer's performance. I do enjoy playing games, but I'm not sure if my motherboard and CPU [and I doubt my HDD has enough space for any more games] would be able to cope with any more. I guess getting extra RAM would be a good bet, but would it be best to start again and buy a new computer, or can I manage for now? I'm on a tight budget, so I don't know if buying a new PC outweighs the pros of buying more RAM for the sake of keeping the old girl going. Any suggestions would be of great help to me.

whs · 09 Apr 2015

RAM is the last thing I would upgrade. 4GB is plenty. You can get a faster CPU for the AM2 socket - e.g. a 5800+ but the best investment would be a SSD for the OS. This morning they sold a 128GB SSD for $49 at Newegg. But they are all sold out. Newegg has sales like that more often. so be on the lookout.

Gaz1701 · 09 Apr 2015

a 128GB SSD would be no-where near enough room to fit all my stuff [games mainly] on! I've got a 400GB HDD and I've only got 84 GB space left! Would my motherboard be able to handle a faster CPU? I wouldn't want to try and put a new CPU on myself, I'd need professional help to do that, but don't know what to do about it.

carwiz · 09 Apr 2015

That would have been a great deal! Newegg has this type of sale often for a limited number of items. And, you do have to watch and read the ad carefully. They will often empty their "returns" shelf with these sales. The item may be new or open box (return). So read, read, read.

Gaz1701 · 09 Apr 2015

Sorry, please see my above post (you must've posted it as I was asking the question/commenting on how that wouldn't be enough room for all my stuff).

whs · 09 Apr 2015

The SSD is only for the OS. You still keep the HDD for all the other stuff.

Gaz1701 · 09 Apr 2015

Hmm, I've been wondering about that recently actually... how does that work with the two working together? I mean like when it comes to something like Steam, which has the games in the Program Files folder? I thought everything had to be installed on the same drive as the OS for them to work...?

whs · 09 Apr 2015

Nah, you can move program folders to the HDD. I leave it to a Steam expert to tell you thge details on how it's done.

Layback Bear · 09 Apr 2015

Millions of people use a SSD and a Hard drive in combination. It does work well.
Steam has more to do with internet speed if I'm thinking correctly.

Because the price of SSD's have went down drastically I know of no good reason not to have one or more SSD's.

Gaz1701 · 09 Apr 2015

That's sounding like a good idea the more I think about it, thanks a lot! I guess I'll need to reinstall[?] Windows to be able to get it to work? Do I uninstall Windows on my HDD first, or do I install another copy of Windows on my SSD - and then uninstall it from my HDD? I'm a little confused still (sorry!)