Best bang for buck PC upgrade.

I recently instaled an ssd onto my pc which has lead to a significant increase in performance usually the limiting factor is the hdd run your windows experience index and that will tell you what is your slowest component 

I'm sure the HDD will be the lowest score, but I'm not sure I want to go to SSD right now tbh.

I shall check it now though.... .....................

Indeed. 5.9 for HDD, 6.6 for CPU and memory and 7.2 for both gfx options.

I do wonder though if more memory would help. My main use is Photoshop (CS4) and I get a lot of slow downs with large multi-layered images.

i may be wrong, but i was told 4GB of memory is the maximum that can be accessed by a 32bit operating system, are you running w7 32bit or 64bit?

SSD would be the best upgrade without a doubt, it just sped my i7 laptop up by around 4 to 5 times. The HDD went from 5.9 on a 7200 rpm hdd to 7.8 on the windows experience using an SSD so is now the same as my Ram.

Start up times reduced & programmes installing, running, react a lot faster.

64 bit. And yes, 32 bit doesn't support more than 4 GB (less really as 4GB is the maximum addressable memory).

I guess. But right now startup and install times don't bother me really. What I want is photoshop to run more smoothly, which I'm guessing is memory and/or cpu...

But I would like SSD at some point.

How about a 120gb SSD about £80 for programmes they do run smoother, faster & a normal 7200 or raptor HDD for storage?

I don't think a faster CPU would increase the response of photoshop to be honest.  It's not a CPU-intensive app.  It's a memory intensive app.  When it comes to photo-editing, there  really is no such thing as too much memory.  The reason an SSD might improve things is because Windows caches to 'virtual memory space' on the hard-drive when real physical memory fills up, so in that respect a SSD would help because access to the 'hard drive' would be quicker.  But I still think you'd be better off with just simply more memory.

My first thought was an SSD for the OS, certainly. Easiest as well...

Having just put an SSD into my Win7 64 bit system I would have to second it as an excellent upgrade.

In all honesty your budget would easily stretch to a Crucial M4 SSD (64 or 128Gb) and another 4 GB of RAM, so go for it.  Much better 'bang for your buck' than a new motherboard and CPU.

Easiest?

4GB memory...Switch off, open case with the opening handle, plug in the ram, close case, switch on.

SSD. Transfer the bloody C drive to it somehow!

(It's probably simple I guess, but it *feels* as though it may be a little long winded )

Sorry, let me rephrase. I always presume that everybody who wants to have a fast PC has the most RAM their OS can support first before doing anything more radical. 4gig is a nice number for starters, my devs have 16 I think on win7 64 bit machines...

But presuming your processor is reasonably recent dual or quad core, the more obvious replacement would be the speed of the SSD for OS only. Obviously separating your OS plus apps and data might take some time, but better than motherboard or CpU at a guess.

"Best bang for buck PC upgrade"?

A 2nd-hand Mac? 

Bad boy!  No spending-money for you this week 

Mobo,Memory then your cpu.

The hard drive for most things it doesn't really matter although a lot of hardline gamers use an sdd for their os and just put everything else on an ordinary hard drive.

asus p8p67 pro is a nice mobo.... in fact look here :http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Sandybridge-i5-2500K-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B004FA8NX2/ref=dp_cp_ob_computers_title_0

and look near the bottom of the page to the part that says 'Frequently bought together' ... they're good parts and well worth the outlay.... a fast computer using them (similar to my own)