Since i used my pc mostly for work and study and never was much of a gamer, i never really cared on state-of-the-art-cutting-edge graphic performance of my pc.
Lately however, the pc is used as a game pc more and more often. Because todays games appear to come with brief grahic violence, i would like to brush things up a little.

I want to improove game graphics performance of my pc. Because i do not want to spend a fortune on it, i'm a little confused on what should i do... eighter add more RAM or replace the videocard?

I'm not sure more RAM will actually be any good in this case, and i'm worried on just wastig money on something that is of no use at all. Will more RAM work, or should i just go for a 128 or 256 MB videocard?

System:

Pentium IV 1.5 Ghz
384 MB SDRAM
ASUS V7100PRO video card, Nvidia GeForce II MX 400 chipset, 64 MB SDRAM

If I had to pick one thing you should upgrade first, it would be your video card. For the latest games, I'd also suggest more RAM, and a faster processor. For Doom 3, Far Cry, or Half-Life 2 caliber games, you should probably have a minimum of 512 MB of RAM, a 128 MB video card, and a 2.0 MHZ processor. I have 1Gb of RAM, a GEForce 4 128 MB card, and a 2.5 MHZ AMD Barton. I still want to upgrade to a 256 MB video card for that extra boost in performance. I don't see you being satisfied with gameplay without spending some bucks. Also, when trying to decide what your true minimum specs should be, go by the recommended/preferred specs as specified by the game maker. Their minimum requirements will allow general gameplay, but the experience is less than satisfying.

Just my two cents!

Maddhatter62

While your RAM isn't optimal (512 MB would be better) it is adiquate. A graphics card would do wonders though.
IMHO, best bang for the buck:

CHAINTECH nVIDIA GeForce FX5500 Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=14-145-076&DEPA=0

$80.00 delivered to your door. DirectX 9 Support, good price, great all around card.

There are many others of course. And if your interested in a less than $200 card as opposed to less than $100 check out the:

nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT Video Card ($209.00 delivered)

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=14-150-080&DEPA=0

or if you like ATI:

ATI Radeon X700 PRO Video Card ($201.00 delivered)

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=14-102-414&DEPA=0

I basically agree with AcidBath...by the way, excellent selection of video cards. I might even buy the CHAINTECH nVIDIA GeForce FX5500! I guess the true test would be to upgrade your video card, leaving all other factors the same, and see how the games play.

Maddhatter62

Figured it would probably work two way allright. Videocard as well as RAM. My system is three years old alreasy and had mostly been used for work and study purpose. Word, Excel, AutoCad and construction software were its challenge. Gaming never really got ahead of anything more advanced than SimCity2000 :laugh:

Processor speed nevertheless seems to be quite sufficient, at least for the moment. HALO works like charm, just video performance could really use some upgrading. I´m going to consider a new videocard, and heck... while i´m spending money anyway, why not treat myself? I´ll just go for a fancy 256MB card right away... just found the Chaintech at €73