Should I upgrade my CPU or my RAM?

[Fonon]

Same as above

I have a 1.8 Ghz Dual Core Processor, and 512 mb RAM. I was planning on adding a gig to my RAM, but I'm having doubts, and thinking of upgrading my processor to a 3.0 Dual Core processor. Any opinions?

[SOULRiDER]

Can you add less memory? Say another 512 and change the processor to a slowe one?

[monsieurdozier]

I would monitor my system and do what I normally do. Then upgrade which ever one performs the worst.

Monsieur Dozier

[GFree678]

Dude, I have a SINGLE core CPU with 2GB RAM. I consider this fairly powerful and have absolutely no desire to upgrade the CPU for a long time, but your system is being hampered by lowish level of RAM.

Upgrade the RAM.

[starcraft.man]

Same as above

I have a 1.8 Ghz Dual Core Processor, and 512 mb RAM. I was planning on adding a gig to my RAM, but I'm having doubts, and thinking of upgrading my processor to a 3.0 Dual Core processor. Any opinions?

Just a thought but do you know how/have you install(ed) a CPU? It's a bit more involved than just slotting in a RAM module. If your perfectly comfortable installing a CPU and RAM then in a perfect world I'd upgrade your RAM first.

With RAM it is important to keep it paired (most modern boards support this called "dual channel", even my ancient one). Thus if you have 2 or 4 slots you want to pair the modules and make sure their the same speed and make ideally. If you want 1 GB then and have two slots, buy two 512 modules (assuming you have 2 256 ones). 1 GB should be enough, if you need a lot like running Virtual Machines or other intensive things then go for 2.

As for the CPU, I'd probably just get a new machine to replace that. Make sure the CPU is supported/works with the board.

Best of luck.

Oh and your CPU ain't that bad, I'm still running on my old P4 (no HT) at 2.4 Ghz.

[LookTJ]

upgrade your RAM. CPU is fine.

[popch]

Add some RAM

[RageOfOrder]

As everyone else says. RAM.

512 ram just doesn't cut it anymore. 1GB minimum. I have 2GB in my laptop, dual core processor. My gentoo desktop has an athlon 64 1,8GHz single core and 1GB ram. What will I upgrade? RAM.

With ubuntu you don't compile a lot of packages, but all your graphical **** uses ram. Upgrade that first.

[AusIV4]

I upgraded from a 1.6 Ghz Celeron M to a 2 Ghz Core 2 Duo about a week after I added 1 GB of ram to my system (previously 512). I noticed a huge boost when I added the RAM, and a small boost when I upgraded the CPU.

A while later, my stick of RAM crapped out so I RMA'd it to newegg. During the week I didn't have it, I severely missed it. In my system, RAM was definitely the bottleneck. No matter how much you boost your CPU, just having 512 MB RAM will hold you back.

That said, a Core 2 Duo is great for virtualization if you intend to do that. With my 1.5 GB Ram and 2 Ghz processor, I can run Windows in a virtual machine at speeds comparable to my mother's system that's just a few years old.

In short, my advice is to upgrade RAM first, and if you still feel you need a boost, look at a new CPU. (RAM's cheaper anyway)

[langster]

How much do you want to spend?

$584.00 will buy you a 4400+ dual core AMD with 2 Gig RAM. i just did

on the cheap, 512 MB of RAM is cheap nowadays.

If i am limited with either RAM or CPU, i believe you need more RAM first.

When i monitor RAM usage, Bit torrent and other Apps can eat a good chunk of 512 MB. 1 Gig left me plenty of room. I have not yet been able to saturate.

Ubuntu 7.04