I have a Dell pentium 4 HT-- 2.6Ghz with currently 512mb ram. with 64mb video card.
I want to upgrade my computer speed to play games such as age of empires 3 and quake wars and counter strike source.
I only have enough money to buy either 1gb of memory ram or a 256mb video card, not both.
I'm aware that video cards only make your games look better but memory ram makes the computer and games run smoother. In my opinion i care more about playing the games smooth rather than looking nice.
But i need to know you all opinions too.
which should i buy 1gb ram or 256mb video card?
This is just temporary until i save more money.
2007-12-06 02:26:20 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Add-ons
The problem is- most of those games require at least a video card with 128 MB of GRAM- along with 1 GB of system RAM. The video card doesn't just make the game look nice, it also helps it run, period. The video card has to draw everything on the screen in front of you- you choose how well those drawings look.
The system RAM allows the video card RAM to free up, and it also allows parts of whatever was drawn before to be stored in memory- so it doesn't have to be drawn again.
Basically- both are important in gaming. You're probably gonna have to upgrade both, but if I had to pick one, go with system RAM.
2007-12-06 02:32:13 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Personally I would buy the upgraded video card first. Most game rendering is offloaded to the video card for processing on the GPU and the video memory. The CPU and system memory are used but a lot of work will be on the video card.
Without knowing your budget, upgrading to a decent mid-level graphic card starts around $90 or so. To add another 512MB memory you are looking at $20 or so (generic...but I'd go with something that has a brand name so really more like $50). Check online sites like PriceWatch for price comparison and certainly some of the popular sites like NewEgg, TigerDirect, 3GPlaza, and others for deals on the parts.
2007-12-06 02:50:19 · answer #2 · answered by Jim Maryland 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The most important is memory. However, will your computer accept and use 1gb of RAM? Do yourself a favor and run a check on this first before you start spending money. Without sufficient memory, video hangs, and you simply won't be able to play those big games. Use the free memory checkup from Crucial to figure this one out.
http://www.crucial.com/ballistix/
2007-12-06 02:38:59 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
VIDEO CARD is god when it comes to games.If you have a fast enough video card your ram doesnt really matter.Video cards have there own ram.Yours has 64 Mbs which is very little especialy for newer games. You prolly couldnt even start it.You need AT LEAST 256 MBs of ram on your card to play most games at decent speeds.Video card is everything to gaming
2007-12-06 02:32:51 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
at cutting-edge state this is probably your RAM. Get a minimum of a GIG in case you are able to. oftentimes speaking it may desire to be the two or... on your case your RAM is somewhat low. below it could be for many homestead windows operations so as that's a great place to start. SIMS could nonetheless run poorly even after that however if your video card is likewise undesirable. the added RAM ought to make your laptop as an entire run lots greater desirable.
2016-10-19 09:44:57 · answer #5 · answered by henshaw 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
your video card will LAG with those games and u hav enough ram for those games so i would recommend a new video card
2007-12-06 02:33:07 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋