More RAM or new graphics card...?

[MRW]

OK, here's the question:

Do I need more RAM or a new graphics card?!

I just bought Command and Conquer: Generals, and it slows down and jerks such a lot that it made me finally realise that I need to improve my PC to do these games justice.

I want to make a big difference with the kit that I buy next...

My current set-up is:

P4 1.4 GHz
256 Mb Rambus RAM
GeFocre MX 440(?)
Windows XP Pro

I see some of my choices as:

ATi Radeon 9700 Pro (for about £280 - I know I can shop around for a better price edit:- £232.64 from Crucial including delivery and VAT)

Extra 512 Mb Rambus RAM (about £170)

I'm also guessing that if I get both of the above, then the bottleneck will then be with the processor!

What are your opinions guys?

Thanks,

Matthew

[nutcase_1uk]

First, £170 is a bit high for 512mb of Rimm. See here (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Samsung_146.html) for where I picked up 512mb recently. Make sure you get exactly the right type - there's at least 3 speeds available!

I'd say that with XP Pro, 256mb is pushing things. An extra 256 or pref 512 would help I think. Have you defragged your hardrive recently? That can speed things up - and it's free!

[dts_boy]

i have a p4 2.66 with 256mb ddr ram and a ati 64mb aiw grphics card. running win xp pro it was dog slow with word, access and adobe photoshop(but what isn't?). i was considering a re-build but then i popped in 1gb of ram - what a performance increase! it now runs great and for good measure i have an ati radeon 9700pro in anoother pc that i will put in soon:grin: anyway, i would try your graphics card first as the mx range are not all that good imho:lesson:

[Kramer]

Agreed, the GF "mx" range are pretty poor :(

Look at a graphics card upgrade first (maybe a GF4 Ti ...). If you do upgrade to a 9700 Pro, then your CPU will be the weak link.

Ditto on the momory, 256 min on XP Pro (especially for gaming), preferably 512mb.

1gb ram is overkill IMHO, unless you're into video/graphic editing etc...

:)

[MRW]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all your replies...

Nutcase, My brother has had some serious problems with overclockers.co.uk which has put me off, but thanks for the link! Yesterday I did a clean install, so everything is as new!

Kramer, I couldn't agree more with your comment about the MX range - unfortunately, the price and spec from PC World :god: at the time beat anything else I could find, including building my own PC. I always knew that I would have to upgrade after about 2 years. I now realise that 1Gb RAM will be overkill, and that the whole system will be held up by the processor anyway.

Looking at all the options, I think my decision will be to buy the 9700 pro, but maybe wait for a couple of weeks to see if the new nVidia stuff and the new ATi cards bring the price down to closer to £200 and in the meantime buy an extra 512Mb RAMBUS RAM for about £115.

Then, sometime down the line, I will have to get a better motherboard and processor!