[SOLVED] More RAM or dedicated Graphics?

[justinr71]

Hi all,

Looking for a bit of advice. For one of my desktops I currently run a pretty basic set up (about 2 years old) with an AMD A4-7300 chip, 4GB memory, Win 10. I'm using the built in graphics to run 2 x 22" monitors @ 1680x1050 (extended desktop) using HDMI & DVI.

Often I will use one screen for work (light load - basic Excel, Word + web browsing) and have Netflix or DVD playing on the other screen. The machine struggles if I do too much on Excel, etc. at the same time as Netflix / DVD.

My question is what is the best upgrade - more RAM to take it to 8GB or a dedicated PCIe graphics card eg with 2GB dual screen or display port output (a CPU upgrade is planned for next year - I tend to do this with my desktops to push them all the way before replacing).

Any advice is gratefully received.

Thanks

 

[kanewolf]

That A4 CPU is pretty limiting for multitasking. It is only a dual core CPU. We need a motherboard model number to determine what CPU upgrades are possible.

 

[jaslion]

Hi all,

Looking for a bit of advice. For one of my desktops I currently run a pretty basic set up (about 2 years old) with an AMD A4-7300 chip, 4GB memory, Win 10. I'm using the built in graphics to run 2 x 22" monitors @ 1680x1050 (extended desktop) using HDMI & DVI.

Often I will use one screen for work (light load - basic Excel, Word + web browsing) and have Netflix or DVD playing on the other screen. The machine struggles if I do too much on Excel, etc. at the same time as Netflix / DVD.

My question is what is the best upgrade - more RAM to take it to 8GB or a dedicated PCIe graphics card eg with 2GB dual screen or display port output (a CPU upgrade is planned for next year - I tend to do this with my desktops to push them all the way before replacing).

Any advice is gratefully received.

Thanks

More ram will certainly help with multitasking but the a4 is a really weak cpu and struggles when doing just a couple light things at the same time so upgrading that will also help a good bit.

Can you post your full system specs please.

 

[geofelt]

4gb is really too small these days, particularly if you are multitasking.

Then, if your ram is a single 4gb stick, you are running in single channel mode.
Integrated graphics benefits greatly from dual channel mode.

Unfortunately, just adding another 4gb stick may not work.
Ram must be in a single matched kit to be supported.
A new stick will often work, but sometimes not.

Your full list of specs would be helpful.

 

[justinr71]

Hi all - thanks for the quick feedback. Spec is as follows:

Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-HD2 mobo
AMD A4-7300
4GB PC1600 RAM
125GB SSD (Windows)
1TB SATA (D drive)
2 x HP hp compaq LA2205wg monitors (1 x HDMI-DVI, 1 x DVI)

Was looking at an A10-6700 or A10-7800 as a possible upgrade.

I'm not a power user, but jittery videos annoy me ...

re: the point about RAM being single / dual channel. Thats why I was thinking dedicated graphics might be the way to go?

 

[geofelt]

Is your windows 10 32 bit or 64 bit?
You need 64 bit to access more than 4gb.

You need sufficient ram to hold the working set of all you do concurrently.
Look at the windows task manager.
Then look at the performance monitor/memory tab.
You will see the working set used by each task.
In particular, look at the hard fault page rate.
If you see 1 per second, you need more ram.

Ram single channel vs. dual channel impacts cpu processing capability as well as graphics capability.

I doubt that a dedicated graphics card can be bought for less than more ram.
You do not need the increase in performance unless you are a gamer and play fast action games.
And... if your os is 32 bit, the buffers from such a card are going to be fixed in ram anyway.

Considering that this generation is old and approaching obsolescence, consider a new cpu/motherboard/ddr4 ram.
$225 will buy you a G5600 processor, a lga1151 motherboard and 8gb of ddr4 ram.

 

[justinr71]

Is your windows 10 32 bit or 64 bit?
You need 64 bit to access more than 4gb.

You need sufficient ram to hold the working set of all you do concurrently.
Look at the windows task manager.
Then look at the performance monitor/memory tab.
You will see the working set used by each task.
In particular, look at the hard fault page rate.
If you see 1 per second, you need more ram.

Ram single channel vs. dual channel impacts cpu processing capability as well as graphics capability.

I doubt that a dedicated graphics card can be bought for less than more ram.
You do not need the increase in performance unless you are a gamer and play fast action games.
And... if your os is 32 bit, the buffers from such a card are going to be fixed in ram anyway.

Considering that this generation is old and approaching obsolescence, consider a new cpu/motherboard/ddr4 ram.
$225 will buy you a G5600 processor, a lga1151 motherboard and 8gb of ddr4 ram.

My Win 10 is 64 bit

Will look tonight at those things you suggest. Thanks