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DeathMan · May 21, 2003, 03:49 AM

I've got a dual 500 Mhz AGP tower.
640 MB Ram
16MB Rage Pro
OS X 10.2.4 (software update isn't wanting to update me, and I"m too lazy to d/l and install)

I'm pretty sure both hd's are 7200 RPM. I know the 120 is, I'm not sure about the stock 30 gig that came with the machine.

Right now I've got an empty 15 gig partition doing nothing, a 100 gig partition that mounts to my Users directory, and a 30 gig drive with system and apps on it.

I want to

1) upgrade my video card
2) get more ram
3) maybe move swap partition to empty 10 gig if I can split it up to like a 3 gig and a 12 gig, and put the vm on the 3 gig.

Which order should I do these in?
Will adding more ram make things feel faster?
Which video card should I get? I'm leaning toward the Radeon 9000.
Would moving VM to a different partition of my 120 gig drive help speed things up?

Basically I want a faster computer, but I don't want to spend $2000 to get there. maybe liek $200 or $250. Anyone got any advice, now that you've heard my life story?

Tyre MacAdmin · May 21, 2003, 04:29 AM

Originally posted by DeathMan:
I've got a dual 500 Mhz AGP tower.
640 MB Ram
16MB Rage Pro
OS X 10.2.4 (software update isn't wanting to update me, and I"m too lazy to d/l and install)

I'm pretty sure both hd's are 7200 RPM. I know the 120 is, I'm not sure about the stock 30 gig that came with the machine.

Right now I've got an empty 15 gig partition doing nothing, a 100 gig partition that mounts to my Users directory, and a 30 gig drive with system and apps on it.

I want to

1) upgrade my video card
2) get more ram
3) maybe move swap partition to empty 10 gig if I can split it up to like a 3 gig and a 12 gig, and put the vm on the 3 gig.

Which order should I do these in?
Will adding more ram make things feel faster?
Which video card should I get? I'm leaning toward the Radeon 9000.
Would moving VM to a different partition of my 120 gig drive help speed things up?

Basically I want a faster computer, but I don't want to spend $2000 to get there. maybe liek $200 or $250. Anyone got any advice, now that you've heard my life story?

I would get a new video card first... adding anymore ram will not speed *most* processes up unless use do high-res work in photoshop or the like... new video card = faster QE the most noticable change you'll probably see since you've only got a 16bm card now... second, change swap then last more ram... my opinion....

Colonel Panic · May 21, 2003, 06:54 AM

i think best order = 1, then 3 then 2.

1 will result in by far the bigges gains.

icruise · May 21, 2003, 07:33 AM

Where is the quote you used in the subject from? I'm trying to recall but it's escaping me.

Shaddim · 08:11 AM

Icruise, it's from "The Princess Bride", one of my favorite films of all time.

INIGO: I don't suppose you coulda speed things up?

MAN IN BLACK: If you're in such a hurry, you could lower a rope, or a tree branch, or find something useful to do.

INIGO: I could do that. In fact, I've got some rope up here. But I do not think that you will accept my help, since I am only waiting around to kill you.

MAN IN BLACK: That does put a damper on our relationship.

DeathMan,

I'd do 1, 2, then 3. 2 and 3 won't improve your performance very much, except in very memory intensive apps (Photoshop, FCP, etc).

typoon · May 21, 2003, 04:45 PM

You forgot Processor upgrade. You can get them cheap now from Sonnet, Under 1000 for a Dual something or other.

I would then go 1,4,2,3

bradoesch · May 21, 2003, 07:48 PM

I'd recommend more RAM. It's a cheap way to get more performance. I've got 1 GB in my iMac and there is still lots of pageouts after it's been running for a while.

icruise · May 21, 2003, 09:41 PM

Originally posted by MacNStein:
Icruise, it's from "The Princess Bride", one of my favorite films of all time.

Mine too. It finally came to me after an hour or two (one of those things that's on the tip of your brain but doesn't want to come out).

iamnid · May 21, 2003, 11:12 PM

Originally posted by typoon:
You forgot Processor upgrade. You can get them cheap now from Sonnet, Under 1000 for a Dual something or other.

I would then go 1,4,2,3

I agree... upgrade the processor. If you can't afford a dual processor upgrade go with a high Mhz single processor... unless you are using photoshop, a higher Mhz single processor will likely make things faster than lower dual processors.

DaedalusDX · May 22, 2003, 12:23 AM

Originally posted by iamnid:
I agree... upgrade the processor. If you can't afford a dual processor upgrade go with a high Mhz single processor... unless you are using photoshop, a higher Mhz single processor will likely make things faster than lower dual processors.

I also agree. You can get a 1ghz processor upgrade for $420... for $580 you can have a 1.33 ghz processor in yoru machine... dual processor upgrades cost a bit more, but they're all less than $1000. Check out Otherworldcomputing.com under Accelerators to check it out...

If on of your objectives is to play games decently, definitely upgrade the processor. For every single new Mac game, the processor is the bottleneck... and you'll see a big boost all around in every other performance area.

DeathMan · May 24, 2003, 01:45 AM

But they are so expensive. I want cheap AND effective. Isn't there a magic spell I can cast over my computer? Thanks for the otherwold link. I'll definately have to check them out.

Hmmm dual gigaherz, eh? maybe a single 133? Man, decisions, decisions.

Well, I'm definately going to get a new vidcard, and probably some more ram. We'll see how things are after that.

Thanks fellas.