Graphics card Vs Ram

[Cichlidash]

Currently still looking towards upgrading my graphics card but got to thinking as to what would be the best solution for my money.

I have a 6420 @3.2 around 950 gig of hard drive total and 2 gig of ram.

I am thinking of getting a 260 or a 4870 but was wondering if going for a 4850 and getting another 4 gig of ram might be a better option.

I tend to use my computer for gaming and video encoding, dont currently have a monitor that will play games in a very high resolution but I do like to try and get as much power for my money as posible.

I have a crossfire board so adding a second card at some future date is pretty much on the cards too.

[kalniel]

Go for the 4870 (or 260). You won't notice a difference with 6gb over 2gb RAM.

[s_kinton]

Depending on the resolution, then 4Gb of RAM would definitely be recommended if you're using a high end graphics card. Whats your monitors native res?

Get the 4870 and another 2Gb RAM, to make 4Gb total - no need for anymore.

[Webby]

What OS are you running?

If it is Vista 64 then the extra ram may be useful if its XP or Vista 32 you are going to be limited to ~3.25GB of memory anyway (install 4GB but the os will only address the 3.25GB).

If I had to pick I would say you would get more bang for your buck putting the extra money towards a graphics card than memory.

If you have Vista 64 then having 4GB of ram really helps everything run smooth and is a better investment as you can address it all. In this case I would probably get the extra ram and get a 4850 (but not the palit one with the gold fan)

[Rookie1986]

Like said you wont notice much of a difference with the extra RAM - but getting something like the 896MB BFG Tech GTX 260 OC GPU will make a dramatic improvement to your gaming.... well depending on what Card you have at present,

What's your budget btw as we might be able to help you get a little bit more "bang" in both areas

/Rookie

[Cichlidash]

My budget looks to be around £180 at the moment but I am moving home between the 14th-19th so things may change slightly depending if I come across any hidden costs that I have not though about appearing. Its also one of the reasons I am sort of hanging around so much on actually ordering a card. Of course is a real bargain apears then I will of course order a card.

I am not so over concerned on what my monitor can actually suport as we have a fair few where I am living at the moment so it depends on which one I hook up at the time and I can also imagine changing monitors in the future as well so its hard to say what I will actually end up with.

The OS I am on at the moment is 32 Vista but again I could away's end up going for 64 bit if their would be enough of an improvement to bothering with the 64 bit system.

[DanceswithUnix]

Really depends on what your current graphics card is.

For video encoding you probably want more cores in your CPU, so there is more of a case for a CPU upgrade than there is for a memory upgrade. Mind you, Intel's next gen CPU is not that far off and that should set a new bar in terms of top performance and hopefully push down the price of all the old kit it replaces so that gives a case for waiting and see what happens.

I guess the question is: What actually feels slow right now, or do you just have "the itch" to upgrade something?

[Pob255]

Really depends on what your current graphics card is.

I guess the question is: What actually feels slow right now, or do you just have "the itch" to upgrade something?

QFT

A lot depends on what you have currently, graphics card and monitor (what size & resolution is it?)

eg if you currently have an old 8800gtx and a 17" monitor then there's no point in a better graphics card as you'll not have any major change as games will not really be pushing that card at that res

[Cichlidash]

Oh sorry its a 7800GT 256 meg

[DanceswithUnix]

Oh sorry its a 7800GT 256 meg

That is on par with an 8600GT (or the modern re-badge the 9500GT).

Graphics upgrade it is then.