What should I upg to play GTAIV and other games in general..

Ok, I've got like 100 bucks to burn and Im kinda stuck on what to change first - a new CPU, Memories or just save til I can afford an entirely new setup. I am not a compulsory upgrader, my priority is to be able to play games like GTAIV at 1280x1024 with the highest quality/viewable distance possible.


Here's my current rig:


CPU - Pentium D 945 65nm at 3.4ghz

RAM - 1gb (2 x 512mb) Ram Corsair 800mhz

MOBO - Evga 680i SLI (122-CK-NG68-AR)

GPU - Evga 9800 gtx+ 512mb ddr3

PSU - 550w Topower.

OS - Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bits.

I've been told that Pentium D is probably bottlenecking the true capabilities of my GPU, but I believe it's really not worth buying a new CPU if the RAM is falling short(1gb). I am thinking about purchasing a set of 4gb ram (2 x 2gb) 1066mhz but I wonder if that will boost the gaming performance considerably... or should I purchase a C2D processor instead? Or simply save for the new i7 system? What do you think?

TIA.

Oh i just saw you want to play GTA IV maxed.

You will need at the very minimum Phenom 2 or Q9xxxx and something beefy like a 4870. Either that or just get it on xbox and save yourself a small

Stay away from DDRII 1066 - no need for it

RAM

You definatly need more RAM. I have 6GB and playing GTAIV I have seen RAM usage over 5GB. First get the Ram( 2x2GB 800MHz) then if You have money change CPU. GTAIV also makes good use of quad CPU.

Thats a good standard latency, will do fine. Now get saving for a new chip

Worth noting by the way that GTA IV loves extra cores. The recommended is a tri core, and people upgrading from 2 cores generally see a really nice jump in FPS.

This article shows the difference between 2GB and 4GB of RAM in games. It's big.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2 [...] y-better/1

Between 1GB and 2GB it's probably an even bigger difference. For example if Windows takes 0.5GB, the jump from 1 GB to 2 GB will mean three times more memory available to the game (1.5 GB instead of 0.5GB)

The i7 and everything that must come with it (new mobo, ram) are still too far from my current budget, besides, this new technology is still too new so I'll let it mature a little bit more before I even dream with it.

Following everyone's advice I bought myself a pair of OCZ (2x2gb), they're running at 800mhz - 4-4-4-15. The overal system performance has increased incredibly. The framerate on GTA IV has improved alot but it is still slow compared to other games Im playing (Crysis, GOW, COD5 etc,.) but at least it's playable now.

Now Im heading for a good core 2 duo processor or a basic quad.

e7300/7400, e8400 or q6600? Anyone?

Ah sorry, cant wait for a new system. Cant live chasing it forever.