CPU has ATI express 200 and 384MB RAM. To play WoW smoothly should I upgrade card or to 1GB RAM?

Question

I can play now but at times with much PvP interaction or in big cities it lags alot. I know the best answer would be to upgrade both but I HAVE to choose one. I think I actually have 512 MB RAM but only 384 is showing up in computer details. It's a EMachine T6212 with AMD antlon 64 Processor. Which would be better to impove my lag problem? I don't look to play on the highest visual settings just standard.

Answer 1

The reason 384 is showing up is because the remainder of the ram is assigned to the graphics card.
The express 200 is a very very poor graphics card, even the very cheapest dedicated cards can beat it.
You should get some more RAM though, 1gb will make a huge difference, even if you keep the express 200. When you have such a low amount of RAM, the required information has to be loaded into whats called a page file in the hard drive, which is the slowest part of the computer. A hard drive usually operates at about 25-35mb/sec, but RAM is capable of Gb per second. With low ram, the computer has to constantly reload files because ther isnt space for them in the RAM, but other files need to use it, so it has to replace them constantly. The computer still has to load the files from the hard drive into the RAM, but because the RAM is so much faster the access time is much better.
You only need an extra 512mb of RAM to make a big difference, but with almost all modern video cards using system memory, 1.5gb is better. I have a ati x1600 and it is currently using 763mb of system RAM, even though its a dedicated card with 128mb of its own RAM. That extra system RAM makes a huge difference in the maximum capability of the graphics card, In BF2 and WOW I only had single digits for my frames per second before my graphics card had system RAM available, but now it runs 50-60 easily at maximum settings.
If you were to get just a better graphics card, it would have some serious problems with sustaining a smooth rate of frames, it would fluctuate very widely.
Here is what I think would be the best possible combination for you, you need a little RAM, and a cheap graphics card and it will make a bigger difference than putting all your money into one component. Your system will be seriously bottlenecked otherwise. Here are the part I feel are best performance per dollar for the cheapest and will work in combination the best:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127299
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820141436

The total would be just shy of $80 with shipping, befire a $10 mail in rebate, but you are going to be strapped to to find a better combination, neither $80 in RAM or a graphics card would have nearly the same performance increase as the combination of the two.

Answer 2

You need BOTH upgrades. If you need to choose, I'd upgrade the RAM first. 384 MB (512 - 128 for video) is too little. Upgrade to 1 GB and you'll have a lot more breathing room for the apps. You can get a better video card for under $100 if you look carefully.

Answer 3

in accordance to the field, the unique sport (international of Warcraft, no expansions) demands in user-friendly terms 256Mb minimum. although, the main modern-day growth -- Wrath of the Lich King -- demands a minimum of 512mb. oftentimes that is greater desirable to have greater desirable than reported; minimums are oftentimes a reasonably all-time low minimum, and greater will paintings some distance greater desirable (sport runs smoother, etc.). to illustrate, Lich King *recommends* a minimum of 1Gb of RAM. you additionally can prefer to examine your video card. together as WoW is way less video-huge than many video games, video is likewise a choke factor. The "holy trinity" for gaming skill is processor, RAM, and video card.

Answer 4

Upgrade the card. Offloading your video memory to the card is MUCH better than using your system memory.