RAM and SSD upgrades

So, my girlfriend is rocking this motherboard http://www.asrock.com/mb/NVIDIA/N68-GE3%20UCC/ paired with an Intel Core i5, I think? She’s looking to grab a new SSD and some more RAM. Right now she’s stuck with 2 gigs of DDR3 at like 1333MHz, but she really wants to bump that up to 8 gigs. Should she just buy the exact same sticks she already has and try to add 6 more gigs, or would it be smarter to just ditch the old stuff and get a fresh 8GB kit? Also, about the SSD—she's thinking 120GB, but since her board doesn't even support SATA 3, a cheaper one would actually be better. Budget can't go over $300, though. Honestly, if we can find something even cheaper, that's a huge win. Thanks in advance!

The memory currently in the rig is Kingmax, and the max bandwidth says PC3-10700H (667MHz)

For the 4x2GB setup (8GB total):

Transcend DDR3 2GB 1333MHz, JM1333KLN-2GBK x3
Samsung 870 EVO, 120GB, 7mm, 2.5"

Total: $319 center

Or maybe just 2+4GB for 6GB—which I guess is plenty—making sure one goes in the white slot and one in the blue.

Samsung 870 EVO, 120GB, 7mm, 2.5"
Adata DDR3 4GB 1333MHz, AD3U1333B2G9-R

Total: $250 center

rustymarlin20 said:My girlfriend is running this motherboard http://www.asrock.com/mb/NVIDIA/N68-GE3%20UCC/ paired with an Intel Core i5 I think. She wants to grab a new SSD and some RAM. Right now she’s sitting on 2 gigs of DDR3 at 1333MHz, but she wants to bump it up to 8 gigs. Should she just buy more of the exact same sticks she already has to hit that 8gb mark, or is it better to just get a fresh 8gb kit? Also, regarding the SSD, she’s looking for a 120GB one, but since her board doesn't support SATA 3, a cheaper model would be ideal. Budget can't go over $300. If we can find something even cheaper, even better. Thanks in advance.

Cheap isn't happening:
1 x Samsung 870 EVO/W430, 120GB, 7mm, 2.5"
3 x Transcend DDR3 2GB 1333MHz, JM1333KLN-2GBK

Total: $336 Best Buy
Let me know exactly what RAM she has, specifically the latencies. You could even drop a link so we can take a look.

What’s the point of putting together the exact same build if you can just buy it cheaper at another store? 🤔

crimsonstag84 said:Why bother buying the exact same setup somewhere else if it just ends up costing more? 🤔

I didn't even realize you'd posted yet—we were only about three minutes apart.

And what exactly is the point of having 8 GB of RAM? When you pair it with that processor, I don't see where those extra 8 GB would even be used; honestly, 4 GB should be plenty enough 🙂

Adam Moore3 said:I mean, what's the actual point of having 8 GB of RAM? With a processor like that, I just don't see where all that extra memory is gonna go. Honestly, 4 GB would probably cut it just fine.🙂

She mentioned she’s planning on upgrading to a beefier CPU down the road once she's got the cash.

rustymarlin20 said:she’s basically saying she'll grab a new CPU once she actually has the cash

She's gonna need a new motherboard too, though.

Honestly, I think she’d be smarter just adding another 2 GB right now, then holding onto the rest to save up for a new processor. Adding 4 GB later on is easy enough, and upgrading the CPU will actually make a massive difference. That extra 4 GB she's looking at installing now would basically go to waste, making it a pretty bad investment at this stage. What is she even using the PC for?

Adam Moore3 said:Honestly, I think it’d be way smarter if she just tossed in another 2 GB right now, then saves the rest of her cash for a new CPU later. Adding 4 GB is easy enough, but a better processor is going to make a massive difference. That extra 4 GB she's looking at adding now? It'll just sit there doing nothing—total waste of money. What's she even using this rig for anyway?

She's a Computer Science major at Berkeley and claims she needs the RAM for "compiling." (Man, I have zero clue what that even means, lol). And she wants an SSD so she can install Windows 64 because her old drives are stuffed, and she's too lazy to delete a mountain of data she'll probably never look at again.

What my colleague meant was... 🙂 Compiling is basically just the process of turning written code into an actual working program. If she’s running heavy-duty software, the CPU is definitely going to be a bottleneck regardless, but upgrading to an SSD would probably give her the biggest boost, even if the CPU still plays a huge role. Right now, that's the weakest link in her build.