RAM/Video Card Upgrade on cheap motherboard

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Guest

Guest
Hey,

Currently im running a system with:

GA-M61SME-S2L Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Duel Core Processor 4800+ 2.51GHz
2GB Ram
HD Radeon 3650

I was thinking about upgrading my RAM to 4GB(2x2GB) 800 and my video card to either a 9800GT/9800GTX/HD4850/HD4870.

Someone mentioned to me that because I have a slow processor/motherboard it wouldn't be worth upgrading to the videocards mentioned because they'd be bottlenecked. Also, would i get more speed from my PC by upgrading the RAM or by upgrading the processor?

 

terr281

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Dec 22, 2008
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1. What operating system are you currently running?

a. If it is a 32 bit OS (whether it is Win XP or Vista), then you will only see a gain of, at max, 1 GB of ram if you install 2 more GB due to the limitations of the OS.
b. If it is a 64 bit OS, then you don't have to worry about this.

2. You have a "good" processor already. It may not be the best due to its age, but it can still contend. It would take a very-high end graphics card to bottleneck your processor. (Since you will not be running in Crossfire or SLI mode.) Thus, I wouldn't think about a processor upgrade.
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And, even if the video card does bottleneck your computer, a video card upgrade at this point for your system should be seen as a "upgrade this computer now, put it in my new computer build in a year...probably in Crossfire/SLI."

Thus, I would post a similar message to this one in the graphics card section of the forum, requesting a video card recommendation for your system that can be used immediately...then Crossfired/SLI'ed in a year.
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As for video card recommendations, I would go with an ATI video card instead of Nvidia atm. ATI generally has the best performing cards right now. But, I would think about what games I play prior to the final decision. (Some games prefer Nvidia, some ATI.) Check the benchmarks here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/benchmarks,30.html
 
G

Guest

Guest
Thanks a ton for the advice mate I tried here and a few other forums and your the first person to give me such a good answer. really appreciate it. :)