Is it worth upgrading PC? Limit on my ram?

[hrhkingcol]

Hi

First time posting, so be gentle...

I bought an Acer Aspire T135 a couple of years back and have put a bit more ram in it and a better graphics card since, but I'm now using an external drive a lot as my internal drive (a paltry 80gb) is chock a block. I bought a new internal 2nd drive at abou 40quid for 320gb but it won't mount so I'm planning on returning it.

It's got me thinking though; can I actually upgrade it much more and is it going to be worth it?

I ask because I only have 2 ram slots. One has a 1gb card in, the other has a 512mb in. When I look for a single stick of say 2 or 3 gb ram of the type of ram I have, I can only seem to find it max of 1gb per stick. So I have a couple of queries...

- My ram type is DDR 400MHz/PC3200. Is the biggest I can get this 1gb? Is that a restriction?

- The PC is: Acer Aspire T135 AMD Sempron 64bit 3100+. It now has a 128mb graphics card but it's still not running how I'd like it. Will I be able to improve this a lot more or should I do what I want to do and just get a decent-spec laptop?

Any thoughts much appreciated...

hrhkingcol

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Your system will only support a maximum of 2GB RAM (ie, you'd be able to swap your 512MB module for a 1GB module).

Will I be able to improve this a lot more or should I do what I want to do and just get a decent-spec laptop?

Hard to say whether or not you can improve it to an extent that is suitable for your needs because you have not defined precisely what your needs are.

To be honest, another 512MB of RAM is not going to translate into a dramatic performance boost - if any noticeable boost at all, and I believe you only have a PCI slot to upgrade your video card (which is not adequate for a substantial upgrade).

You might as well purchase/build a new PC if you are looking to gain performance, at this point.

 

[Alster37]

If you decide to get a new pc then i would recommend one of novatech's bare bones packages. I got a amd duo core 5200 package for £230 coupled with a cd drive and hard drive. then add a decent card like a 9600gt for about £80 or get a cheaper £55 8600gt which can run any title available today on low graphics. It depends on what you are using it for.

 

[hrhkingcol]

Hi guys thanks for your replies. Have taken it, and other advice, on board, and have decided it's not particularly worth it to spend money just to bring the system up to 'decent' standard, when it won't be able to be upgraded much more, so it's laptop time. Just need to work out how to get some pennies in for my old system...

C