RAM vs Video Card...

[Guest]

I am currently looking to buy a computer, and I know exactly what I want (Gaming-A/V), except for one thing: DRR or SDRAM.

Here are my 2 systems:

AMD 1200 266 FSB
256MB PC133 SDRAM
Asus A7V133 motherboard
Geforce 2 ULTRA 64MB

AMD 1200 266 FSB
Asus A7M266 motherboard
128MB PC2100 DDR RAM
Geforce 2 GTS PRO 64MB

Despite less RAM and a worse video card, the DDR system is still $100 bucks more.

Assuming everything else is the same, which of these systems will perform better?

I know from the article on Geforce 2 scaling analysis that a better video card is better than a faster processor, but is a better video card better than faster RAM?

 

[Guest]

Go with the top system.

 

[ejsmith2]

Ditto.

 

[Guest]

The performance gains of DDR Memory will not equal the performance gain of the Ultra card. If your main purpose is gaming, always go with the faster video card! I know you probably want the latest and greatest, as DDR sounds cool to anyone that does not have it, but the performance advantages are still small at 1.2Ghz, and the Video Card will be the limiter before the CPU in most cases.

 

[Red_Zealot]

Top system, unless you are an overclocker and can get the bottom video card to Ultra levels. But the top system would still be faster. Definately go with the top one. Better Video Card is SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER than better RAM for the system you want.

"If you teach a child to read, then he or her will be able to pass a literacy test" - George W.

 

[toonces]

you are assuming that you can get the ddr system to work well. i heard that alienware pulled their ddr line of products because they couldn't get everything set up okay. but, you may have a different experience.

<font color=red>yeah baby, my kung fu's the best...</font color=red>

 

[Guest]

The DDR would give an advantage to video editing, but the Ultra card would give a big advantage in gaming, you choose which is more important. Also you should stay away from the Asus A7M266 DDR board, I've heard about alot of problems with it. Go for the MSI K7 Master.

"Alcohol - The Cause of and solution to all of lifes problems" - Homer Simpson

 

[ledzepp98]

another vote for the top system and a side note...these days and for your purposes (especially video editing) ram quantity can be more important than ram speed. 128megs is not that much and even though ddr ram is a bit faster than pc133, as soon as the 128megs are used and the hard drive is needed, performance takes a dive. and to repeat what was said, in gaming the speed difference going to the ultra vid card will more than make up for the minimal difference in ram performance.

 

[ledzepp98]

and an afterthought...i think the biggest difference with the new ddr systems is the 266mhz fsb of the chip. going with a 266fsb mobo and chip will give you most of the performance benefit, even without the ddr ram.

 

[mwgorecki]

For gaming you generally want a better graphics card. I intend to go Asus A7M266, DDR memory, and GeForce2 GTS 64MB now. Later, maybe a year, I put the GeForce 2 GTS in my second system and do GeForce 3 in my main one. It is easier to do that than a whole board and memory upgrade.

sz