[stewartfan]

Ok, so I have a Dell Dimension 8400 running Windows 7 RC (specs and stuff are in pic, also has a 160GB 7200RPM HDD) and it has a Radeon X300/X550/X1050 Series, which has 128MB VRAM, and it's powerful enough to display the Aero in Win7, and, as stated in the picture, 1GB RAM. Now, I have a few questions...

1.) How much should I upgrade the RAM to get the most performance out of the upgrade? I sometimes get a bunch of lagging when too many programs are open, and I can get the 64-bit OS if 4GB is what I should get. (I believe it can only take 4x1GB, but if somone else knows better, please tell me, currently installed: 4x256MB)

2.) I have noticed that some of the animations (Aero) and other various things can be a little choppy, so, which graphics card (around $50-$75) would give me the best "bang for my buck"?

Graphics card interface is (i think) PCI-Express x16

Would this card do the trick? It's Definitely a great price! http://accessories.u...;chassisid=8224

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[Advertisements]

With the prices of memory these days. I say get as much as you can, post-XP OSes like to store more things in the RAM, making your system run faster. I run 4GB of ram right now in my laptop on Win 7 64-bit.

Also, my laptop runs all of the animations just fine on Intel integrated graphics (I am sure weaker than your X300). My guess is that you are just seeing an immature driver (common with a beta OS). So I wouldn't worry about the graphics card right now unless you are REALLY just dying to upgrade it or have some other reason to upgrade it.

[PedroDaGR8]

With the prices of memory these days. I say get as much as you can, post-XP OSes like to store more things in the RAM, making your system run faster. I run 4GB of ram right now in my laptop on Win 7 64-bit.

Also, my laptop runs all of the animations just fine on Intel integrated graphics (I am sure weaker than your X300). My guess is that you are just seeing an immature driver (common with a beta OS). So I wouldn't worry about the graphics card right now unless you are REALLY just dying to upgrade it or have some other reason to upgrade it.

[stewartfan]

so, if i were to just get 2x1GB sticks and add them to the 2x256, and then have a total of 2.5GB, would I see a big difference in performance, compared to 1GB? Can my system take 2x2GB? That is, if i can find them for cheaper than the 1's.

[rshaffer61]

Go HERE and run the Crucial online scanner.
This will give you the exact memory configuration for your system. You do not have to buy the memory from there, but write down the information and if you need assistance in purchasing the upgrade memory GTG can assist with suggestions also.

[PedroDaGR8]

I tend to find the extra ram works like this. When there is no load on the system, it doesn't make much of a difference. When the system is under spikes in load it tends to smooth those out so your system behaves much more responsively.

[stewartfan]

Ok, thank you all with all the quick replies, and I think I will just go for 2.5GB, because its the best way to get the best performance for the money, and leave the graphics card the way it is for now, until the final copy of Win7 comes out, and if the graphics are still choppy, I will upgrade later, thanks!