Hi Folks,
I currently have a Dell Dimension 9200 (aka XPS 400) with 4GB RAM and 2x250GB WD drives in RAID 0 config running Win XP (32-bit) on a Core2Duo 2.4GHz cpu (64-bit).
I'm trying to find out which of the following actions will give me the most improvement in performance as I can't afford a new PC at the mo.
1. Replace my sys discs with a couple of 60GB solid state drives still using RAID0. (I would then use the 2x 250s as data discs)
2. Upgrade to Win 7 to make use of the 64 bit cpu capability.
3. Add more RAM (Obviously would need to go to Win 7 first)
4. Upgrade cpu from dual core to quad core 2.4GHz.
Any comments welcome, especially from anyone who has already done it. (I would prefer a testimonial rather than a theory if possible!)
Regards.

5. None of the above.

SSDs would improve performance but they may not be cost effective.

Upgrading to W7 on old hardware will not offer any performance.

4Gb is a fair amount. More may offer a little improvement, but probably not significant for what you are looking for. And as noted, will have to upgrade to 64-bit.

The CPU upgrade will help, but you must ensure the motherboard supports it.

So I would opt for 5. None of the above and instead would suggest you look at upgrading the graphics card instead. The downside here is you may need to upgrade the PSU too.