Upgrading HD and Memory

[Andy411]

Alright, I've had my computer for a few years. All I've done to it is upgrade to 64-bit windows 7 and add a secondary hard drive. I feel like it is time to upgrade the RAM and primary hard disk.

Memory
According to the specs for my computer, the max RAM it can support is 4GB. It came with 2x 1GB sticks and 2x512MB. If i was taking it to the max, that would mean replacing the 512 with additional 1GB. That being said, memorystock's website says that my computer can handle a max of 8GB. I'm not sure if I want to spend that money now, but it would make me consider buying 2GB sticks. By the way, my motherboard (thanks Everest!) is an Intel D975XBG (Gateway OEM).

Hard Drive
I currently have a 500GB Seagate Barracuda (7200 RPM) as my primary, and the 1TB version as my secondary hard drive. I'm considering keeping the secondary drive, and replacing the 500GB one with a smaller 80 or 160GB SSD. Any advice on choosing one would be great.


Final questions: My secondary seagate hd has a 32MB cache and 3 gb/s SATA interface. Would it benefit me much to upgrade it to something like the WD Caviar Green or Black? I honestly don't know that much about how much the transfer rates or cache sizes would affect me in gaming and such.

Thanks guys...I wouldn't consider myself completely computer illiterate, but I clearly need some help.

 

[Triple6]

Wrong = Keep the 2x1GB sticks and add a pair of 2GB sticks, so you'll have 6GB's of RAM, Windows 7 64bit should run better with 6GB's versus 3GB, which was fine for a 32 bit operating system.
Seems 4GbB is actually the max, not 6GB.


The Intel SSD's are considered to be some of the better drives out, be sure to update the firmware when you get a drive as most manufacturer's are releasing updated firmware that should improve performance.

Don't bother replacing the secondary drive, it should be fast enough for a secondary drive. The WD Green's use less power but are a bit slower, the Blacks are fast but depending on the Seagate you have it may not be much or any faster.

Be sure to update the Intel Chipset software: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=816&DwnldID=18494&lang=eng
And the Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=2101&DwnldID=18859&lang=eng
As those go with the firmware and can help improve SSD performance as well.

 

[Andy411]

So despite the fact that the manufacturer claims the maximum memory is 4GB, it shouldn't be a problem upping it to 6? Just want to make sure I don't mess up my computer when doing all of this.

 

[Triple6]

No, sorry, I thought I read 8GB's.

If Gateway says 4GB is max then 4GB should be the max. Let me check that again and I'll edit the post accordingly.

Here's a SSD review: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/6gb-s-ssd-hdd,2603.html

 

[Triple6]

Ok, so Gateway says max 4GB. This site and another one I saw earlier say 8GB's and the Intel 975 chipset should support 8GB's using 4 slots but it seems Gateway has limited their version to 4GB - sounds about right for Gateway.

So you could go to 4GB's or stay with 3GB's, don't know what kind of gain you'll get by adding 1GB, especially at the cost of buying 2x1GB sticks.

 

[Andy411]

I hate gateway...
If the motherboard and chipset both support 8GB's, what could Gateway have done to limit it to 4? I understand that if I dropped the $120ish on 2 x 2GB and it didn't work I'd be SOL, but is there a chance that it would work? Being able to pull 6GB of RAM out of this computer would be great.

 

[Triple6]

Any board made for Gateway, HP, or whoever can be made or modified as the OEM builder chooses, via hardware changes or BIOS changes.

Most sites specific to the FX8040 show 4GB, I would not try going higher.

See here: http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=FX8040