Improve my current pc

[iceblast_01]

I want to improve the overall performance of my pc

here are my current specs:
CPU: E5200 - not OCd yet(i want to have a non-stock cooler 1st)
MB: Gigabyte g31 es2c
Memory: single 2 GB
Vcard: hd 4830
HD: 250 gb
Monitor: 1920x1080 resolution
I only have around $110-130 to spend
I'm thinking of these options:
1 good cpu cooler, v8 or true and 1 more 2gb ram
or
2 500gb hdd raid 0 (i know my mb dont have raid, going to have raid card)
or
1 2gb ram, 1 500 gb hdd
and squeeze in a arctic freezer 7 pro

I usually render videos, edit photos and play games and surf the web ofcourse

so what are the gains I can get? and which choice is the best for my budget?

 

[curtains]

get a aftermarket cooler (i don' live in America so I donno prices), but do some reviews, I'm sure any goodish looking aftermarket cooler will be good enough to do some decent overclocking if your on a budget.

get RAM first if you need it, cause no overclocking will help you if you don't have enough RAM, if your running 32bit just get 1GB, cause your computer most likely won't recognize more than 3.2GB

You can check RAM usage in task manager (ctrl+alt+del) under performance tab (PF Usage) incase you didn't know how to check RAM usage (cause alota ppl don't)

Running Raid0 will help with boot times and loading times, but you definitely need a backup, cause if 1 drive fails you lose everything (its smart to have a backup anyway).

I'd say go with the 3rd option seeing as you get a aftermarket cooler, some ram and more HDD space (if its in your budget), mind you the 500GB hard drive won't improve much performance if or if any depending on how you set it up.

 

[iceblast_01]

yea thanks i considerered the hdds because i also need extra space, my 250 gb is running out of space, ill be shifting to 64 bit so no problem with 4gb.

thanks very much!!