Upgrading Question Video card or Ram!?

[bengibbard13]

I am fairly computer saavy, i know how to build computers from the ground up and understand all of it pretty thoroughly, but when it comes to video games sometimes i get a little confused between two simple things.

Ill give you my specs so you can see what i am running
CPU-HexaCore AMD Phenom II X6 Black Edition 1100T, 3500 MHz
Motherboard-Asus M4A785-M
RAM- 2x Kingston 99U5315-043.A00LF 1 GB DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM
RAM- 2x Patriot Memory 6400LL Series 1 GB DDR2-800 DDR2 SDRAM
Video card-ATI Radeon HD 4670 1GB

Im thinking i might need to upgrade both, but im unsure on that, i thought a 1gb video card would do fine but maybe im wrong?

I know i want to get more ram probably 10GB ill grab 2x4 sticks and keep one of the 2 gigs on there

any help would be great



I just want to know if i need to upgrade my RAM or my video card
cause i know its not my processor since i just bought that sixcore and ran benchmarks on it.

When i run games usually my system takes up half of my ram, i know exactly how all these components work together, but am sometimes confused on which to upgrade over the other.

 

[Chipeater]

What operating system are you running, 32 bit or 64 bit?

What monitor resolution are you using? 1680 x 1050?

 

[JogaBonito1502]

Upgrading RAM won't do anything. Literally. The amount of RAM in your computer becomes irrelevant after 4GB unless you are using some really heavy applications. More RAM just means you get to do more things at once. If you were to upgrade RAM you'd want to upgrade from 4GB of 800MHz RAM to 4GB of 1066+ MHz RAM (depending on your motherboard standards). Just upgrade your video card and you'll be fine.

 

[bengibbard13]

I thought ram worked with the processor in processing more things
For example if im playing a video game and it has a level that it has to process, wouldent it need that ram to process that space?

or am i totally off here


I am running windows 7 64

Any recommendations on what i should be looking at for upgrading my video card, i know i should be looking at more than just the memory size.

and yes 1680 X 1050

 

[JogaBonito1502]

I thought ram worked with the processor in processing more things
For example if im playing a video game and it has a level that it has to process, wouldent it need that ram to process that space?

You are correct. The amount of RAM you have just means that you can store more things in your RAM. This means you can do more things simultaneously. If you want to have a faster interfacing between the processor and the RAM then you need faster RAM, not more amounts of RAM. Since you're just gaming, you don't need more amounts of RAM, you need faster RAM (1066MHz+).

 

[bengibbard13]

lol i love how i can still learn new things about what i thought i might know already

alright you pretty much answered my questions and you cleared up the whole ram thing for me

If i could just ask you one last question which would be, how could i determine what to look for in a graphics card when im choosing. Obviously ATI and Nvidia are totally different yet they both dominate the market and make equivilant cards that match each other, but they also both lean toward different games.

I my self love ATI, i was wondering if you had any information on what main things i should be looking at when purchasing a card
and as far as money goes around the 200-400 range

Thanks again for all your help Joga