should i upgrade ram or video card first?

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suicide007

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I just built my computer, and i have noticed an extreme problem. The memory clock on my FX 5500, which is supposed to be 400 mhz, is running at 66. Its awful. I have 1/2 gig of ram, intel P4 3.3ghz with HT, a 500W psu.

I ran 3D mark 05, and I think i got the lowest score ever... 279. Not kidding. I am ashamed. I cant even run Halo at all low settings.


The question is this: which should i upgrade first? should i get the 2 1-gig sticks of GSkill ddr2, or should i get a 512MB 7900x series video card? I know those cards are expensive, but i decided to go for a nice one so i wont have to upgrade for a few years.

But, another factor is this: I wont be running any high-end games until around Christmas, when i can afford them and will have time to play them. Until then, ill have to stick to emulators and half-life 1.

So, in other words, put yourselves in my shoes, and which would you get. Please tell me your opinion. Thanx!!:cool:
 
Defiantly the ram for now.


The 7900 GTX or any 7900 series card would be a total waste.


Since your not running high end games the FX should be fine:)


you could always pick uo a 6600GT alongside the ram:)
 
Have you thought about overclocking your card to stock settings? Maybe then you could at least handle Halo.

Get the RAM now, card later.
 
Yeah, get one or two gigs - dont add to that 512 though, take it out and get brand new sticks or it can cause more problems.
 
yea, thats what i thought. I currently have 2x256 sticks of 184 pin ddr from my old dell. Since my mobo has 2 slots for 184 pin ddr and 2 slots for 240 pin ddr2, im gonna get all new sticks anyways, so i figured id go with 2x1gig sticks of ddr2.

O, and i didnt overclock my video card at all when i first got it, but when i saw the way it ran halo, i felt compelled to give it a try. I got riva tuner, and it says that its running at around 405. But, i have an overclocktool for my cpu, and it reads the agp clock at 66. Its def a got something wrong with the card. But i was stupid and threw away the box, so theres no way of returning it.
 
Alright, possibly this can answer your question. Directly from Wikipedia.org:

# AGP 4x, using a 32-bit channel operating at 66 MHz quad pumped to an effective 266 MHz resulting in a maximum data rate of 1066 MB/s (1 GB/s); 1.5 V signaling;
# AGP 8x, using a 32-bit channel operating at 66 MHz, strobing eight times per clock, delivering an effective 533 MHz resulting in a maximum data rate of 2133 MB/s (2 GB/s); 0.8 V signaling.

So, your AGP bus is running at 66MHz times 8 (=533MHz), and that's where it's seing that from. When overclocking your processor, you have to option to overclock the other buses as well, or something along those lines, to balance out your system. The actually clock speed of your video card is 405MHz.

That's still weird that you can't play Halo even. My friends old system with a FX5200, Athlon XP 2700+, and 512MB RAM, plays it just fine.
 
ok, well, theres still something wrong with my video card. A 279 on 3Dmark 05 proves it. Anybody know what the problem could be?
 
I have like 84.somethin.somethin. im pretty sure its up to date. Let me check...yep.I seriously think its a screwed up card. And it makes me want to get the video card first.
 
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