[cookrd1]

I bought an AMD Semperon 1800+ (Compaq SR1520NX). It has 512M RAM with 128M shared for video. Which upgrade is best bang for buck - increase RAM to 1024M or add a video card? I do not play games. However, I do have a lot of apps (Dreamweaver, browser, Excel, Word) open at once while listening to broadcast radio streams. I get a little frustrated sometimes when switching apps - a lot of HD chatter before the new screen finally appears (sometimes). This is what I would like to remedy. If you recommend adding a video card, what do you recommend and how much memory should it have?
Thanks, Bob

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Looks like the Compaq SR1520NX actually has a Sempron 3100+ which runs at 1800mhz and is a very good processor., I don't think there is an AMD Sempron 1800+. Anyway, sorry about that I wanted to clear that up. Your best bet for added performance per dollar with what you do, is probably going for the extra RAM, especially since your not a real graphics intensive user. It will load your larger programs fast and switch through tasks more quickly, while a more powerful graphics card wont really have any effects on tasks of that type. Plus the price difference for a worth while graphics card and 512mb of ram can be fairly significant, $50-$100 dollars. Hope this has helped.

[bmc2k7]

Looks like the Compaq SR1520NX actually has a Sempron 3100+ which runs at 1800mhz and is a very good processor., I don't think there is an AMD Sempron 1800+. Anyway, sorry about that I wanted to clear that up. Your best bet for added performance per dollar with what you do, is probably going for the extra RAM, especially since your not a real graphics intensive user. It will load your larger programs fast and switch through tasks more quickly, while a more powerful graphics card wont really have any effects on tasks of that type. Plus the price difference for a worth while graphics card and 512mb of ram can be fairly significant, $50-$100 dollars. Hope this has helped.

[cheathawk1]

Your video card should be just fine, what it sounds like to me is that yyou have a lot of rescource hungry apps open all at once and your computer is having a hard time dealing with it. You Sempron 1800+ might be the prblem, not the RAM. If you already have 512 then that should be enough. You might want to consider upgrading your CPU to a faster one. (of course you will have to make sure that your current MB can handle a faster CPU, and if it cant, you will have to upgrade that as well). I dont mean to make it sound like you have spend a bunch of money, but my honest opinion is that it's your CPU thats slowing you down, not the RAM or vido card.

--Chris