Computer Upgrade >> CPU or RAM?

[Joel Kanning]

Well, it's getting about that time to upgrade my machine.

Currently, I am running a 1.6 GHz P4 with 512 MB RAM. My motherboard (SOYO SY-P4ISR) will support up to a 2.4 GHz processor (which is what I will upgrade to).

My Question: Will I see better improvement upgrading to a 2.4 GHz processor first, or adding another 512 MB RAM first, or does it really make a difference?

Obviously I will eventually end up upgrading both - I'm just wondering what would be best to start out with.

Thanks for your input,

Joel Kanning

[da BaSsTaRd!]

definitely upgrade the CPU first...

[SSRJazz]

You've got plenty of RAM for now. ProTools and their plugins are CPU hogs. Get the faster CPU, you'll be able to do more plugins and tracks at once.

[A2D D2A]

Neither.
There are no real improvements with more than 512 ram on PT Windows and since your motherboard is using a 1.6 now you need to upgrade the motherboard as well to the 533 bus this gives the performance that makes the P4's able to achieve the AMD type performance.
So either of the upgrades you are looking at won't move you to performance that is really better.
Remember until the Northwood 533 bus, the P4's really lagged behind in performance.
Ask around on the DUC and compare the numbers people are achieving with the early P4 configurations compared to the 2.4 533's and up.
A Northwood 2.4 should get you 32 + 10 with no problem.

[SSRJazz]

Neither.
There are no real improvements with more than 512 ram on PT Windows

This used to be true....mainly because windows 95/98/ME couldn't really take full advantage of > 512 MB of ram. Windows 2k/XP is a different story. Would he notice a difference in how ProTools performs? No...probably not. That doesn't mean there aren't benefits....there are....it's just that you might not really see them in a tangible way.

[A2D D2A]

That was my point, since PT won't really benefit from the additional ram that money could be put to better use by applying it to getting the 533 bus to go with the 2.4 processor.
Now with the addition of Rewire you want to get as much horsepower for your dollar as possible.

[SSRJazz]

Agreed there. - That was my point too. =) The more CPU you can throw at your plugins/synths the better!

[A2D D2A]

[Allen Hallada]

Take out the motherboard and processor and stick in an A7V600 motherboard with an XP2500+ retail CPU with 512MB of PC3200 DDR ram. Upgrade cost is about 240.00 now. I wouldn't bother upgrading your current system.

Good luck,
Allen

[Joel Kanning]

Thanks alot for all your input guys! I really appreciate it. So, it looks like I'm getting a new MOBO + CPU then!

Now, am I going to have to re-install Windows, PTLE, etc… after I install this new hardware, or will everything be just fine how it is? My brother is a Microsoft Certified computer tech, so I'll probably have him do the upgrades to my machine (since he built it in the first place), but it would be nice not to have to re-install everything.

Thanks again for all your help. Viva la DUC!

Joel Kanning