Cheap upgrade, what do?

[mouse24]

Yeah, i am back again! yay~ this time i have a bit of extra cash and want to buy -something-, i was told a hard drive, and i kinda agree... im just not sure if im purchasing the right one for the money... right now i have 2 ide drives in there, there max transfer rate is about ~25mb/s using HDtune one of em is a 350g, the other a 120g

here are my system specs:

Haf912
Antec 500D
athlon 2 x3 445
-random ASrock mobo-
4g DDR2 (reused from old system)
1x 320g ide HDD (reused from old system)
1x 120g ide HDD (reused from old system)
5670 512mb
1920 x 1080 23" acer monitor (got it as a gift )

im extremely strapped for cash being a student, and only have about 60-65 bucks

i was thinking of the Spinpoint F3 since i see so many people with them? what do you guys suggest?

also i keep hearing about a dedicated physx card? would that help? i dont know much about physx ... only that its a nvidia thing

Edit: also my mouse is annoying me... not that it doesnt work or anything just that its kinda old and still uses a PS/2 port... gets the job done though so i guess i wont replace it unless i can find a deal on a good mouse

 

[AstroTC]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185 there you go, IDE drive are just eww =D

5670 inst ideal for 1920 x 1080 play, next upgrade should defnitely be a graphics card but if your mouse is really bothering you get one of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826105030 . a physx card wouldnt make sense in tht rig and i dnt think they're all tht useful anyways =/

 

[mouse24]

oh god that mouse is hideous looking Lol, and so i should grab the F3? and yeah i know the 5670 kinda sucks at this res, but i dont have the money for a video card.... maybe once i get a job and stuffs ty for the help though

also the 5670 can play decently at this res, not max, but it plays wow on ultra pretty dang well, GTA + the witcher 2 on medium high, and JC2 at nearly max

 

[mouse24]

Best answer selected by mouse24.

 

[mouse24]

oh i nearly forgot, do i need a sata 2 cable? i realise they are backwards compatible but will there be any loss in performance?... i read an article that said no but that was in '06

 

[AstroTC]

sata cables are standard, didnt ur motherboard come with any? If not grab one of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119270

 

[mouse24]

dangit, thats 1 dollar over my budget i have exactly 65 bucks on a gift card... and i think i might have one, its attached to my dvd drive, is there any way i can tell if its sata 1 or 2?

also is the data cap on a sata 1 cable 200megaBYTEs per second

uhm, is a sata 1 cable the same as a sata 3.0gb/s? what im getting as is there are cables listed simply as sata and there data rate says its 300 or 150... etc

would this work, i mean would there be no decrease in performance? since i can afford this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119229

Edit: ok i have a few sata 1 cables,

 

[mouse24]

updating: already bought the HD, probably gonna check and see if it doesnt live up to these benchmarks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hZDHvnf-5U
then see if i need the sata 2 cable

also what is AHCI mode and should i use it?

Edit: it appears i have missed the edit button apologies

 

[AstroTC]

Meh yu can enable it if your motherboard has a good sata controller if not you dnt need to and yes the cables are different each one offers a higher "theoretical" throughput but a sata2 cable should be fine (the one you picked is perfect)