Which should I upgrade first?

Moks · May 26th, 2001

I can't afford to buy a new PC right now.

My existing specs is:
AMD K6-2 500
motherboard is Jetway 542..something (I'm from Asia)
64MB PC100 SDRAM
16MB Voodoo Banshee
52x AOpen CDROM 952e.

To improve ePSXe's performance which should I buy first? a new board, processor, memory or video card?

Any suggestion highly appreciated..

**Raziel** · May 26th, 2001

You should first upgrade your video card(like a GeForce 2 mx or even a GTS as they're starting to be really cheap).
Then your processor (a K6-2 500 is performing quite well when a GeForce 2 helps it).
And finally a bit more ram would help.
Anyway it's only my point of view and other people will tell you to upgrade this before that and all....
Bye.

Enigma1982 · May 26th, 2001

I don't know about this...................
but I think you should upgrade your CPU and MB first.
Voodoo Banshee is still working

And you from Asia huh?? Which country???
Sawasdee ja.............

cluthu · May 26th, 2001

I'd say there's a tie between your video card and your RAM. Upgrading either one would result in greater performance not just in ePSXe but pretty much any other application you run as well. Given that I don't live in Asia I can't say for certain, but right now RAM prices are relatively cheap. If you've some cash to burn and would like to see greater performance immediately, get more memory.

Secondly I'd upgrade both my mobo and processor. Generally you can get a good deal if you buy a bundle (that is, the mobo and proc in one package), especially if you consider getting anything from AMD. As I mentioned in a thread before, for just about any non-scientific/mathematical use AMD can't be beat price:performance-wise.

**Betamax** · May 27th, 2001

Ok I checked up on the mobo. It has an AGP 2x slot not a 4X so one of the really powerful graphics card might have its performance limited by this. If you want to go for a graphics card for this machine save your cash and get one of the budget ones, such as the geforce 2 MX. I'd say the best bang for buck here would be memory, as 64 MB just doesn't cut the mustard anymore. This should also speedup the system in general... not just for games or emulation like changing the graphics card would.

Satan · May 27th, 2001

Quote:

Originally posted by Betamax
Ok I checked up on the mobo. It has an AGP 2x slot not a 4X so one of the really powerful graphics card might have its performance limited by this.

I wouldn't worry about it. There's almost no difference between AGP 2X and AGP 4X, performance-wise.

SanDRocK · May 27th, 2001

doesn't 4x have more features that 2x? fast writes etc.....?

May 27th, 2001

There's no difference because current memory bandwidth solutions can't fully support 4x, so the difference isn't that great...

Satan · May 27th, 2001

Exactly. Not to mention that fast-writes can make your system unstable. And you'll only feel a difference between AGP 2X and AGP 4X if you run out of video memory, which won't happen all that often with 32MB of graphics memory.

Moks · May 27th, 2001

Thank you guys for all the replies. I really appreciate it...

Since some suggested on memory upgrade, i checked on our local stores for 128mb SDRAM.
I noticed that PC100 RAMs are already quite hard to find; what they have now is PC133.
Would there be a problem using these type. Can I combine PC100 and 133 types, or would socket 7 motherboards accept 133mhz RAM (in the first place)?

May 27th, 2001

You can combine pc133 ram with pc100....
the cas latency time might give a problem though; you'd probably have to set that to 3....if you dont know what that is it's probably already at 3.

Ali · May 28th, 2001

Sell the previous chip of ram.Becasue sometimes two ram chips of different manufacturers don't get to like each other and don't make a good match.Well I had a PC-100 64 MB ram chip from compaq.I sold it for 20$ and added 20$ more and got another chip of Ram of 128MB......Simple..............

I would suggest go for the card.......nothin happened with the change of ram........I am tellin the truth........but there might be some difference.....

Ali
M.L.A

GEO · May 30th, 2001

that's right, more ram only cuts time for starting aplications and running a lot of them at the same time....you should upgrade the video card first cos a new processor would require a better mobo and if you don't want to spend much money.. buy a geforce 2 MX.

May 26th, 2001	#1 (permalink)
Moks Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 41	Which should I upgrade first? I can't afford to buy a new PC right now. My existing specs is: AMD K6-2 500 motherboard is Jetway 542..something (I'm from Asia) 64MB PC100 SDRAM 16MB Voodoo Banshee 52x AOpen CDROM 952e. To improve ePSXe's performance which should I buy first? a new board, processor, memory or video card? Any suggestion highly appreciated..

May 26th, 2001	#2 (permalink)
Raziel Beta Administrator Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Nantes, France Posts: 6,145	You should first upgrade your video card(like a GeForce 2 mx or even a GTS as they're starting to be really cheap). Then your processor (a K6-2 500 is performing quite well when a GeForce 2 helps it). And finally a bit more ram would help. Anyway it's only my point of view and other people will tell you to upgrade this before that and all.... Bye. __________________ System Specs: OS: Windows Vista Ultimate x64 Edition CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 @3.5GHz Video Card: MSI GeForce 8800 GTX Motherboard: ASUS Maximus Formula SE RAM: 4GB OCZ XMS2 PC6400 Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS

May 26th, 2001	#4 (permalink)
cluthu Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 513	I'd say there's a tie between your video card and your RAM. Upgrading either one would result in greater performance not just in ePSXe but pretty much any other application you run as well. Given that I don't live in Asia I can't say for certain, but right now RAM prices are relatively cheap. If you've some cash to burn and would like to see greater performance immediately, get more memory. Secondly I'd upgrade both my mobo and processor. Generally you can get a good deal if you buy a bundle (that is, the mobo and proc in one package), especially if you consider getting anything from AMD. As I mentioned in a thread before, for just about any non-scientific/mathematical use AMD can't be beat price:performance-wise. __________________ "...everything else is just theory." Last edited by cluthu; May 26th, 2001 at 19:09.

May 27th, 2001	#5 (permalink)
Betamax Resident Movie Critic Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland Posts: 9,480	Ok I checked up on the mobo. It has an AGP 2x slot not a 4X so one of the really powerful graphics card might have its performance limited by this. If you want to go for a graphics card for this machine save your cash and get one of the budget ones, such as the geforce 2 MX. I'd say the best bang for buck here would be memory, as 64 MB just doesn't cut the mustard anymore. This should also speedup the system in general... not just for games or emulation like changing the graphics card would. __________________ Superior marketing of an inferior product will always win over inferior marketing of a superior product.

May 27th, 2001	#7 (permalink)
SanDRocK StizowneD Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Edmonton, Alberta Posts: 298	doesn't 4x have more features that 2x? fast writes etc.....? __________________ Gaming Rig OS= Vista Ultimate 64Bit CPU = Pent D extreme 3.4GHz w/ HT Mobo = Dell mobo based on intel 955X chipset Ram = 2Gigs 667MHz DDR2 SDRam HDD = 320Gig Raid0 Array (2x 160Gig SATA2 (16meg cache each) 10000RPM GFX = ATI Radeon X850 XT Platinum (512Meg DDR3 model) 21" Dell Widescreen LCD Audio = SBlaster X-Fi Fatal1ty on 5.1 Digi suroundsound Faster than a Burning Bud, More Powerfull than a hit from a bong, Able to eat huge amounts of snacks, Look through the smoke.. Its a skunk...... Its a grassfire...... Its.... Its.... GanjaMAN!!! Man of WEED (TM)

May 26th, 2001	#3 (permalink)
Enigma1982 Do not Disturb Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Bangkok,Thailand Posts: 1,808	I don't know about this................... but I think you should upgrade your CPU and MB first. Voodoo Banshee is still working And you from Asia huh?? Which country??? Sawasdee ja.............

May 27th, 2001	#8 (permalink)
CDBuRnOuT Guest Posts: n/a	There's no difference because current memory bandwidth solutions can't fully support 4x, so the difference isn't that great...

May 27th, 2001	#9 (permalink)
Satan Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 106	Exactly. Not to mention that fast-writes can make your system unstable. And you'll only feel a difference between AGP 2X and AGP 4X if you run out of video memory, which won't happen all that often with 32MB of graphics memory.

May 27th, 2001	#10 (permalink)
Moks Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 41	Thank you guys for all the replies. I really appreciate it... Since some suggested on memory upgrade, i checked on our local stores for 128mb SDRAM. I noticed that PC100 RAMs are already quite hard to find; what they have now is PC133. Would there be a problem using these type. Can I combine PC100 and 133 types, or would socket 7 motherboards accept 133mhz RAM (in the first place)?

May 27th, 2001	#11 (permalink)
Samor Guest Posts: n/a	You can combine pc133 ram with pc100.... the cas latency time might give a problem though; you'd probably have to set that to 3....if you dont know what that is it's probably already at 3.

May 28th, 2001	#12 (permalink)
Ali CoLD InSiDE Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Somewhere Posts: 2,613	Sell the previous chip of ram.Becasue sometimes two ram chips of different manufacturers don't get to like each other and don't make a good match.Well I had a PC-100 64 MB ram chip from compaq.I sold it for 20$ and added 20$ more and got another chip of Ram of 128MB......Simple.............. I would suggest go for the card.......nothin happened with the change of ram........I am tellin the truth........but there might be some difference..... Ali M.L.A __________________ AMD Athlon XP 2100 @ 1.75 Ghz Gigabyte GA-7VA.XP VIA K400 1.25GB PC3200 System Ram ChainTech GeForCe4 TI 4200 128MB Creative SB Live! 5.1 2x WD Caviar 120GBs and -Rom1 Maxtor 40GB LiteON 16x DVD-Rw WindowsXP Professional-SP2 & Mandrake Linux

May 30th, 2001	#13 (permalink)
GEO Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: WWW/PT/Viseu/Viriato Posts: 313	that's right, more ram only cuts time for starting aplications and running a lot of them at the same time....you should upgrade the video card first cos a new processor would require a better mobo and if you don't want to spend much money.. buy a geforce 2 MX. __________________ [sig=110]

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