[Axelion]

Hello,
This is my current PC
- Gigabyte ep43-UD3L (rev 1.2)
- Intel Core 2 Quad 9550
- 2x2=4GB PQI turbo pc 5400 DDR2 667mhz
- Gigabyte ATI Radeon 5770 1GB (Bat mobile fan)
- 750GB WD Caviar Black
- 500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12
- Cooler Master 460 watts PSU

I'm looking to upgrade my rigs so it could compete with i7 system. I'm thinking on buying RAID controller card but based from my observation in newegg, none of the cards are any good. So can anyone recommend me a good RAID controller card that works great based on your personal experience?
I'm also thinking to add another 4gb memory ram, is that worth it? How about if I add Intel SSD, is it worth it?

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Why do you feel you need a RAID card?

For i7 on that machine, you need new board, processor and memory. You can't realistically add bits to an older machine to make it perform like current machines.

i7 setups are not cheap. The i7s do perform better than the Core 2 Duos, however they cost an arm and a leg to buy.

As for up to 8Gb of memory, if you only have a 32-bit operating system, forget it. It won't see it. And nobody realistically needs 8Gb of memory anyway, with all due respect.

Regarding SSDs, SSDs wear out like there's no tomorrow. Especially where Windows XP is concerned. And they're still painfully expensive.

[Neil Jones]

Why do you feel you need a RAID card?

For i7 on that machine, you need new board, processor and memory. You can't realistically add bits to an older machine to make it perform like current machines.

i7 setups are not cheap. The i7s do perform better than the Core 2 Duos, however they cost an arm and a leg to buy.

As for up to 8Gb of memory, if you only have a 32-bit operating system, forget it. It won't see it. And nobody realistically needs 8Gb of memory anyway, with all due respect.

Regarding SSDs, SSDs wear out like there's no tomorrow. Especially where Windows XP is concerned. And they're still painfully expensive.

[Axelion]

Why do you feel you need a RAID card?

For i7 on that machine, you need new board, processor and memory. You can't realistically add bits to an older machine to make it perform like current machines.

i7 setups are not cheap. The i7s do perform better than the Core 2 Duos, however they cost an arm and a leg to buy.

As for up to 8Gb of memory, if you only have a 32-bit operating system, forget it. It won't see it. And nobody realistically needs 8Gb of memory anyway, with all due respect.

Regarding SSDs, SSDs wear out like there's no tomorrow. Especially where Windows XP is concerned. And they're still painfully expensive.

So I can use RAID 0.

I had a thought to upgrade to i7. The processor itself has dropped a lot in price. i7 930 only cost $200 while my q9550 costed me $179. But I need to buy a new cpu+ heatsink, i7 mobo, and ddr3 memory. That is why I didn't upgrade to i7.

[Neil Jones]

You don't want RAID 0. The speed increase is negligible, to a point where it's not worth it. If a drive falls over in RAID 0, the entire array falls down and you lose everything.

[Axelion]

You don't want RAID 0. The speed increase is negligible, to a point where it's not worth it. If a drive falls over in RAID 0, the entire array falls down and you lose everything.

Does that mean I cannot upgrade anything else?

[Neil Jones]

The truth of the matter is, the system you have now is not upgradable as such to perform on a par with an i7 setup. Unless you actually buy an i7 and other appropriate hardware, your machine will always be slower than an i7.

You have a nice machine as it is. That Quad-Core wasn't cheap. Can I ask why you feel you need to upgrade what I would consider a relatively decent machine?

[Axelion]

The truth of the matter is, the system you have now is not upgradable as such to perform on a par with an i7 setup. Unless you actually buy an i7 and other appropriate hardware, your machine will always be slower than an i7.

You have a nice machine as it is. That Quad-Core wasn't cheap. Can I ask why you feel you need to upgrade what I would consider a relatively decent machine?

I just want to maximize the experience of my PC. I recently decided that I would add creative x-fi titanium sound card into my machine