RAM or GFX upgrade?

[AnEvilForce]

Hi, I have the following setup:

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz
4 GB RAM
AMD Radeon HD 6800
And stuff that doesn't matter in this case.

My question is, considering my Processor is still quite current, wether I should upgrade my GFX card or increase my RAM first. In the latter case, how much would be preferred?

[hapylol]

what are you trying to play and what is your budget?

RAM is like $45 so I doubt that would put a dent anywhere. It also won't make that big of an impact though.

[AnEvilForce]

I think the game that makes my comp suffer most is probably BF3, other than that I play Mass Effect 3 and WoW. I've no clue about prices nowadays, RL kept me out of the loop for ages, so when I get home, I rather shoot pixels. I think the max I'd pay for a gfx card would probably be 700€.

[Deleted]

I'd buy a new graphics card then
Do you already have an SSD ?

[rinleezwins]

For 700€ you could get a nice cpu+gpu setup, no point of spending so much on gpu as the cpu would become a bottleneck for sure.

[Deleted]

For 700€ you could get a nice cpu+gpu setup, no point of spending so much on gpu as the cpu would become a bottleneck for sure.

There's no need to update his cpu at all though..

[hapylol]

There is no Video card out currently for 700EUR. I guess the 690 which comes out tomorrow, but that is SUPER overkill.

Anyway, BF3 is pretty demanding. If you play that a lot I would get either

http://www.amazon.de/Sapphire-Radeon...7&sr=8-1-spell

Or
http://www.amazon.de/Radeon-DC2T-3GD...5976792&sr=1-3

If you only play BF3 a little you could get by with a 7850 or 7870 for ~ 230EUR

[Sykotic13]

The answer is a little complicated, but here goes:

If you are already running a 64-bit Windows OS, then adding 4 GB of RAM will make a much bigger difference. 64-bit Windows generally run best on 8 GB of RAM.
If you are willing to upgrade to a 64-bit Windows OS, then adding 4 GB of RAM is the best option.
If you are running a 32-bit Windows OS and do not want to upgrade then upgrading the video card is the best option since a 32-bit Windows OS will not use more than 4 GB of RAM

Generally speaking RAM is always cheaper than a new video card. WoW has a 64-bit client for Windows now and combined with DX11 it does increase performance.

[AnEvilForce]

I'd buy a new graphics card then
Do you already have an SSD ?

I don't, I considered getting one, but figured a new gfx card would be more prudent. I might be clueless though.

Any suggestion on gfx cards btw? I don't need one with flashing lights and bells and whistles, a generic grey powerhouse would do

As a side question; I run W7 64bit, how much RAM would be optimal? (assuming 4GB isn't)

edit: I type so slow -.-

[hapylol]

Read my post OP

SSD is perfect. You can pickup a Crucial m4 128GB for ~130EUR which would give you noticeable improvement.

[Deleted]

With the budget you listed you can easily pick up a Crucial M4 ,4gb of rams and a new graphics card and still have money to spare

I'd recommend the 7970 as well if you want to spend that much money, otherwise the 7870 is also something you can consider.

It also depends on what resolution you are gaming? I assume 1080P, if so, than the 7870 is already quite the powerhouse.

[AnEvilForce]

Read my post OP

SSD is perfect. You can pickup a Crucial m4 128GB for ~130EUR which would give you noticeable improvement.

Ah sweet, well seeing the gfx cards aren't ridiculously overpriced, I could upgrade ALL the things!

---------- Post added 2012-05-02 at 04:53 PM ----------

With the budget you listed you can easily pick up a Crucial M4 4gb of rams and a new graphics card and still have money to spare

Yeah, indeed

Well, thanks for the input everyone, it's been very helpful!

[DeltrusDisc]

Be aware that BF3 is more friendly to NVidia (at least last I heard, I don't play BF3) but yeah, you either have a 6850 or 6870 and either way - they're both rather weak for something as beastly as BF3 and thus I would definitely suggest you upgrade your GPU. 4 GB more RAM would probably make things just a little better, depending on how you compute, and finally an SSD as people suggested will only benefit you and make you feel special. :3 (I know from experience.)