How much memory?

[tpc]

Hi all, new to your little corner of the internet. Trying to get up to speed on some stuff. I've built my own and its been running fine since I built it. Now I am looking to do a bit of upgrading.

I am running the following configuration:

Windows 7 Professional 64bit
Intel E7200 LGA775 processor
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L rev 2.0 Motherboard
EVGA GeForce 7900 GTX 512 MB Video Card
AData Gaming Series DDR2-800MHz Ram 5-5-5-12 (2 x 2GB)

So my first question, for my first post is pretty simple. I have 4GB total in ram. I am thinking about adding another 4GB since I can pick these up after rebate for about $70. Is it worth it? Will I see any gains?

I pretty much just use the pc for some gaming, warhammer online mainly, and internet surfing, etc. I am just wondering if this is a good investment or if my money would be better spent on a newer video card? As of right now, I don't overclock the system, but I have been reading up on it and I think I might since it seems this processor is fairly good about doing it.

My last upgrade was to go from some basic 667 mhz memory to the Adata stuff.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[omnisome]

4GB is enough already for you, get a new processor. This system is already quite dated (7900GTX, E7200)

 

[tpc]

What would you recommend for video card and/or processor for someone on a budget?

 

[omnisome]

Well, what's your budget and could you provide some information about your power supply?

 

[tpc]

Well I don't want to spend more than $100 on a video card. The power supply is a cooler master, 700W series of some sort if I recall correctly. I spent some time researching CPU's and I will probably stick with what I have for now and overclock it some. I couldn't find much in the LGA775 style so that means a new motherboard.

I'm not ready for new MB/CPU/VidCard/Ram all in one shot. I mean its running fine as it is, and I understand its outdated but that just means that all the stuff I wanted when I built it I might be able to afford now lol. Hence why I was asking about the ram to start. I just put the adata stuff in 2 days ago. I didn't expect it to be on sale, and the sale is ending so I thought if I might gain some more performance out of it, maybe I'll buy another 4GB worth.

 

[geofelt]

There are some minimal advantages to 8gb of ram. Here is a study from Corsair:
http://blog.corsair.com/?p=65

I think the most visible upgrade would be to a SSD. You can get a 40gb ssd that will hold the OS and some apps that will make a world of difference you your sustem.
Keep your large hard drive for overflow, storage, and backups.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167030

As an alternative, a second monitor is one of the most useful upgrades that you can make.
Get a used one if you have to.

 

[tpc]

I never thought of a SSD. Access times are faster or something? ITs kinda what I was thinking with going with more memory..

 

[geofelt]

I never thought of a SSD. Access times are faster or something? ITs kinda what I was thinking with going with more memory..

90% of what the OS does is short reads and writes.; a task that the SSD is very good at. Access times are essentially nil, and data transfer times exceed the fastest hard drives.
The only negative is that they cost about $2 per gb.

 

[tpc]

Best answer selected by tpc.