Hi, I'm new and need some help please, I have the following setup:

- AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice OC@2.5GHz
- MSI K8N Neo4 nForce4 Mobo
- Kingston ValueRAM 1GB DDR-400 (PC3200)

I have no issues with performance but since I upgraded to Vista, I felt the need to add another GB of memory, the issue is that DDR1 memory is relatively expensive nowadays (1GB=$44) so I thought it's time to upgrade, I'm a bit on budget so here goes my new possible setup:

- Intel Pentium Dual E2180 2GHz (Heard it's a great overclocker; 3GHz is fairly easy with it) - $70
- Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L P35 Mobo - $84
- Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2x1GB) - $41

The new setup will cost around $195, and I can sell the old setup for $56 because I will no longer need it, which cuts the deal down for me to $139.

Now the question is, should I just get myself one more GB of DDR1 memory for $44 or pay extra $95 and get the new setup?

Will there be a performance gain that's significant enough to justify the extra $95 I'm going to pay if I went with the full upgrade option or not?

Thanks in advance.

What about your Video Card?
I suspect your old card could be AGP which will not fit in the new mobo.

No actually it's PCI-E 6600GT

But I'm not much into gaming...

Anyone?

Get the 2180. But Intel is still the king of performance, however AMD does well in the lower end and midrange segments. I went from an AMD 3500+ socket 939 machine to a newer AMD 5200 dual core processor with 2 gb of ram. Even with a low end video card(7300LE), the difference is amazing. It's like night and day. Now if I do want to fire up a game, and say I need to check something online for a minute or so, instead of closing what I'm doing, just alt tab, and it minimizes the game, I do what I need to do, then pull it right back up. The dual cores are great for multitasking, it will be WAY faster and you will not be sorry. I just moved over about decemeber myself, and it's great.

Honestly, If you're not into gaming or anything intensive I would keep the rig and add the 1 gig of ram. You'll will obviously get better performance from the 2180 rig but do you really need it ? Only you can answer that question. In any case if budget is there, it's still an interesting upgrade.

Or if you just want dirt cheap, go with a dual core celeron for 50 bucks, decent board, cheap ddr2 800 ram for 40 bucks, overclock it as high as it will go and call it a day. Should do what you want it to do. Or another cheap way, if you've got socket 939, add the gig of ram, and pick up an old 3800 x2 off ebay or something for as cheap as possible and run that a little while.