16GB RAM or Video Card w/ 8GB RAM?

Labrys · Jul 4, 2016

Hello everyone, I'm a new person here and a few people have recommended me to ask help here.

So apparently I've decided to upgrade my Gaming PC..

Current specs are:

Windows 7 x64-bit OS
CPU (APU): Kaveri AMD A8-7600 Radeon R7, 10 Compute Cores 4C+6G
Video Card: None (built in CPU)
Motherboard: ASUS A58M-E
Memory: 4GBx1 DDR3 RAM (the motherboard has 2 ram slots, it just wasn't used)

The issue is that I'm concerned about overall performance, and the heat the parts will produce.
I live in the Philippines and it's ridiculously hot here, hell not even an electric fan can keep my pc cooled, maybe a bit warm but that's pretty risky.

I'm choosing from 4GBx2 DDR3 RAM with a combination of the AMD R7 250 video card for the crossfire OR the 8GBx2 DDR3 RAM.

My primary reason as to why I am upgrading because I want to record games without my FPS dropping a lot. (and to finally be able to play the new games in 60fps or more. Take for example, I play League of Legends with a constant 100FPS but when I record it drops to 40FPS)

Going back to the heat issue, I would rather actually consider this more than the performance ESPECIALLY if the difference is just close or such.

I will entertain questions if you need more information

Thanks much.

- Labrys

BadActor · Jul 4, 2016

I think adding another 4 GB"s of RAM and then running the R7 250 in Dual Graphics will give you much more game performance than simply upping the RAM to 16 GB. Those cards don't run hot, so I wouldn't think it will increase your case temps much. If it did, adding another case fan would probably offset it.

geofelt · Jul 4, 2016

I think you made an unfortunate choice with a APU.

You buy a APU for the excellent integrated graphics.
But, there are no real good upgrades, particularly for a gamer.
If you install a superior discrete graphics card, you will have thrown away the big advantage of the APU.
Then, you are left with a relatively weak cpu. Most games depend on only a few fast cores.
The possible upgrades are to more cores, but few games will use more than 2-3 cores so 6+ cores are not very helpful.
Bottom line.....
What you get with a APU is what you will live with forever.

But, to answer your question.

Ram is relatively cheap.
For heavy multitasking, you need enough ram to keep all the active code resident.
I would look to a replacement kit of 2 x 8gb.
Go to a ram web site and access their ram configurator.
Enter your motherboard and you will get a list of supported kits.

They will NOT support ram that is not all from the same kit; the ram needs to be matched.
Heat is not an issue with ram.

On the graphics, buy a single strong graphics card. You will avoid some multigpu gameplay issues.
Some games do not support dual gpu at all.

Look to the newer gen cards like FX480 or nvidia Maxwell or pascal.
They are more power efficient and do not generate much heat.
You may need to buy a new psu if you are looking at a card stronger than a GTX750ti.

Labrys · Jul 9, 2016

geofelt :

I think you made an unfortunate choice with a APU.

You buy a APU for the excellent integrated graphics.
But, there are no real good upgrades, particularly for a gamer.
If you install a superior discrete graphics card, you will have thrown away the big advantage of the APU.
Then, you are left with a relatively weak cpu. Most games depend on only a few fast cores.
The possible upgrades are to more cores, but few games will use more than 2-3 cores so 6+ cores are not very helpful.
Bottom line.....
What you get with a APU is what you will live with forever.

But, to answer your question.

Ram is relatively cheap.
For heavy multitasking, you need enough ram to keep all the active code resident.
I would look to a replacement kit of 2 x 8gb.
Go to a ram web site and access their ram configurator.
Enter your motherboard and you will get a list of supported kits.

They will NOT support ram that is not all from the same kit; the ram needs to be matched.
Heat is not an issue with ram.

On the graphics, buy a single strong graphics card. You will avoid some multigpu gameplay issues.
Some games do not support dual gpu at all.

Look to the newer gen cards like FX480 or nvidia Maxwell or pascal.
They are more power efficient and do not generate much heat.
You may need to buy a new psu if you are looking at a card stronger than a GTX750ti.

I see.

It seems that I have to consider a single graphics card that's stronger than the graphics the APU provides, adding up an additional 4GB.
Seeing the prices here actually, I might be able to afford 8GBx2 and a new GPU.. Thanks much.

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16GB RAM or Video Card w/ 8GB RAM?

Labrys

Commendable

geofelt

BadActor

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geofelt

Titan

Labrys

Commendable

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