Member Avatar for flynismo

Hey guys,

Need some advice.

I recently upgraded some components in my PC. Here is my current setup-

1) Q6600 Intel Quad Core (2.4 GHz)
2) 4 GB DDR2 PC-4200 memory
3) NVIDIA GeForce 8500GT video card
4) Stock hard drive (7200 rpm SATA 3 GB/sec)

I want more speed out of my system. Mainly, the computer is used for web design (use Dreamweaver, Photoshop, FileZilla, etc a lot), as well as watching movies and the usual...
I don't play games on the computer much (that's what god invented the PS3 for!), so that isn't a consideration for me.

With my current setup, would I see bigger gains by upgrading to a 15000 rpm hard drive, or would it be better to get a motherboard and better memory and overclock the Quad Core?
After looking around, I saw that it is fairly easy to OC the q6600 to around 3.4-3.6 GHz....so I guess basucally what I'm asking is which would make the computer run faster overall, the hard drive or the OC'd processor?

Thanks!

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Dani AI

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raised the right tradeoff: faster storage versus pushing the CPU faster. For interactive tasks such as web design and image editing, speeding up storage and reducing scratch-disk use normally gives more noticeable, everyday gains than a large CPU overclock. Adobe’s performance guidance stresses RAM, scratch-disk speed and cache settings as primary levers for Photoshop responsiveness (). Solid‑state drives deliver much lower latency and far higher small‑IO rates than any spinning platter, including 15K drives (Solid‑state drive).

Diagnose before buying. As suggested, run a real workflow that feels slow and watch CPU versus disk activity with Task Manager/Resource Monitor. If cores sit mostly idle while disk queue length or active time spikes, it’s I/O bound — upgrade storage first. If CPU stays near 100% during the slow operation, a faster CPU or safe overclock will matter more. That simple measurement pins down the right upgrade.

Suggested, low‑risk upgrade order for this class of work:

  • Put the OS/apps and Photoshop scratch disk on a fast SSD (much greater impact than a 15K platter).
  • Increase RAM so the app uses less scratch space (Adobe notes this has big effect).
  • Only then consider a motherboard/CPU upgrade or overclock if profiling shows CPU-bound heavy exports or batch jobs. Overclocking brings heat, power and stability tradeoffs; proceed with proper cooling and stress testing (Overclocking).

Quick extra tips: set Photoshop’s scratch to the fastest drive, raise cache levels appropriate for image sizes, keep mechanical drives defragmented, and let the OS handle SSD trim/optimization rather than manual defrag (). These steps often smooth day‑to‑day performance without risky hardware changes.

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Member Avatar for Freaktech

What speed FSB do you have on your current board? I am betting you Quad Core is sitting idle the majority of the time.

Also when is the last time you defragged you HDD?

Member Avatar for flynismo

Still have the stock motherboard, which has a FSB of 1066 MHz. If I overclock, I'll upgrade to a board that supports 1333MHz.

Also, I defrag regularly, usually once a week.

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