   Please help me upgrade
  Hi,I am in the process of upgrading my PC, my current PC is:P4 1.6GHz, 512MB SDRAM, FX5600XT 128MBThe problem is that I am incapable of choosing how to upgrade, so far I have two options.The first option is to upgrade the CPU to P4 2.4GHz and RAM to 512MB DDR and this upgrade will cost me $174.The second option is risky, that is to upgrade my CPU to a Celeron-D 2.6GHz and RAM to 512MB DDR, and sell my FX5600 and buy a new Geforce 6600 graphics card (128MB or 256MB), and that will cost me about $180I spent some time trying to guess will the difference between P4 2.4GHz and Celeron-D 2.6GHz really is that significant? because the price of the first is double the price of the latter, and if there is a huge difference will the graphics card upgrade 'cover' the hole for graphical applications like 3D Max and Video Editing?The gamer in me tells me to get a Geforce 6600 no matter what. While the reasonable part of me tells me that the processor is more important.From a game developer point of view, what do you think is better?(p.s: You should know that I have limited money, so I can't shoot higher, and since I am in Iraq, I couldn't find anyone who could help me make the decision. And sorry about my English.)   
  Doubt there is much gain between a 2.4 and 2.6ghz cpu.But the gfx card would definetly pay off.If you have the money, go for a 6800, they cost only a little more but als have more power.Can you mix sdram with ddr?   ;  Get the P4. You will get better performance. Celeron is horrible!!! I have a 2.5GHz celeron and it is slower than a 2GHz P4.[DEPRESSED]   ;Quote:Original post by DigiDudeGet the P4. You will get better performance. Celeron is horrible!!! I have a 2.5GHz celeron and it is slower than a 2GHz P4.[DEPRESSED]Oh I did not see that one. Yes p4 IS a LOT better.IIRC the celeron also has a reduced cache (correct?)   ;Quote:Original post by Frank HenryDoubt there is much gain between a 2.4 and 2.6ghz cpu.But the gfx card would definetly pay off.If you have the money, go for a 6800, they cost only a little more but als have more power.Can you mix sdram with ddr?I don't think there is a motherboard that can accept both ddr and sdram at the same time, there is a big difference.A 6800 for you costs a little more than a 6600, while in iraq it costs 3 times more than a 6600, a 6600 is $100, while a 6800 is $350!However, if I decided to upgrade my graphics card, I would look for a Geforce 6600 GT, I heard its faster.;  Apar from gaming, what can't your current CPU do? Something half as good would run MSOffice and Visual Studio which is all most people here do apart from play games... get the good GPU.   ;Quote:Original post by Frank HenryQuote:Original post by DigiDudeGet the P4. You will get better performance. Celeron is horrible!!! I have a 2.5GHz celeron and it is slower than a 2GHz P4.[DEPRESSED]Oh I did not see that one. Yes p4 IS a LOT better.IIRC the celeron also has a reduced cache (correct?)The P4 2.4GHz that I'm considering to upgrade to has 1MB cache, while Celeron-D has only 256KB cache (I think).The price is very different:P4 2.4GHz $128Celeron-D 2.6GHz $65;  Well, I would get the true P4 and stay clear of the Celron. If it was like a 3Ghz+ Celron maybe but I think you will be happier with the real thing. Then sell your Geforce and get the 6600GT. Then just keep the 256(is it SDRAM now?) for a while until you can afford it. It will be one of the easier things to aquire down the line, and you wont have to compromise on anything. You will still enjoy a nice all around boost until then. When you can put in faster RAM you will get a little jump then too.The graphics card is great and all, but if its waiting on the processor all day then it wont be living up to its full.   ;Quote:Original post by Goober KingWell, I would get the true P4 and stay clear of the Celron. If it was like a 3Ghz+ Celron maybe but I think you will be happier with the real thing. Then sell your Geforce and get the 6600GT. Then just keep the 256(is it SDRAM now?) for a while until you can afford it. It will be one of the easier things to aquire down the line, and you wont have to compromise on anything. You will still enjoy a nice all around boost until then. When you can put in faster RAM you will get a little jump then too.The graphics card is great and all, but if its waiting on the processor all day then it wont be living up to its full.Don't'cha think only haveing 256 ram will be the virtual handbreak?If anything I'd say up da ram first!   ;Quote:Original post by Frank HenryQuote:Original post by Goober KingWell, I would get the true P4 and stay clear of the Celron. If it was like a 3Ghz+ Celron maybe but I think you will be happier with the real thing. Then sell your Geforce and get the 6600GT. Then just keep the 256(is it SDRAM now?) for a while until you can afford it. It will be one of the easier things to aquire down the line, and you wont have to compromise on anything. You will still enjoy a nice all around boost until then. When you can put in faster RAM you will get a little jump then too.The graphics card is great and all, but if its waiting on the processor all day then it wont be living up to its full.Don't'cha think only haveing 256 ram will be the virtual handbreak?If anything I'd say up da ram first!For a lot of things 256 is more than enough really. You have enough or you don't. If he his having memory shortages now then yes, its a huge problem. If not then then only real benifit will be the move from SDRAM to DDR, not the size. More RAM dispite popular opinion dosn't speed your computer up. It keeps it from choking up. If he wants to run more aplications at once or open some up often, then RAM would be nice. If he wants to run things faster and smoother then RAM isn't going to do it. It can wait. The point is to in the end have his generation of system maxed out. Not end up with a CPU and Graphics card that only cuts half the mustard.