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should I buy a new video card or more memory? - bradford2nd I have a 1.7 AMD Athlon with 512 of memory. I don't know the complete specs of my video card, but it isn't REALLY old. It is an nvidia and still runs older games like Unreal 2004 at the highest settings perfectly fine. I am noticing now that alot of the new games I can't bump up the graphics that much without the game lagging. So my question is, do I need more main system memory or should I get a new video card?

Best Answer: Yeah, you have plenty of memory for playing games so I would go after a new video card. Based on the age of your system (judging by processor speed) you have an AGP slot so a PCIe card is out of the question, the perfect card for you is the 128MB Geforce 6600GT currently available for $113 after rebates from Newegg, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814135186 also don't get fooled into getting the 256MB 6600, it is not nearly as fast or powerful as the 6600GT, even though the 6600GT only has 128MB of memory it is still much faster than any version of the 6600. Okay, just remember that if it is anything less than a FX5700, you will have trouble playing the latest games. Memory on a graphics card isn't everything, higher memory and clock speeds contribute to a cards performance more than how much memory it has (some 128MB cards outperform cards in the same series because they have faster memory and clock speeds). I will be checking back later as well. That being the case, you definitely need to upgrade to the 6600 series. I am still recommending that you go with the 6600GT because it uses faster memory technology and has a much faster core and memory clock. If you need proof see these benchmarks, http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/04/04/good_3d_performance_at_a_middling_price/page29.html I am so glad you pointed that out, you should go with this eVGA, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130220 because it explicitly states that it uses GDDR3 memory (the fastest you can get for video cards) and they are also very open about its specs, that would be my choice. I'm picking that one because it uses the latest memory technology and how they were upfront about the specs of the card. Oh, one more thing, the eVGA has a faster RAMDAC, so it is the one to go with. I'm glad I could help but technology is just a passion of mine. Good luck! and take it easy!! - conradj213

512 megs of ram is fine for gaming, you wont see much of a boost if you up it to a gig. Video card wise, try to find one that supports 8x pci slots (if your mobo support it) and 256 meg of ram on the videocard. More ram doesent nessacarily mean better performance, but 9 times outta 10, you will get better results with texture and bump mapping quality. - madh2orat

you seems to have sufficient memory to play games just add video card to you system - harsh bansal

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