Help needed with PC upgrade(s)

[Mudfish]

So pretty recently I decided to step from 3-4boxing, to 5boxing with RaF. My system always ran 4 pretty nicely (could of been better) but now after trying to run 5, its pretty frustrating as far as performance goes. I'm going to have to upgrade my PC before I can go any further so take a look at my current specs and lets see what could be changed.

OS: Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 32-bit
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ (2.31 GHz)
RAM: 2GB
Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT

My best guess (and from what I have read) is that my memory needs to go from 2GB to 4GB to be able to run 5 clients. I'm on a semi-tight budget because I'm going to have to start funding 4 new accounts from the bottom up. However, what is the best solution for me while staying under $100 (preferably under $60 :p)?

Right now I keep my main's settings pretty much maxed while my 4 slaves completely at the lower end of the spectrum. Without sacrificing too much graphics quality, I would like to get this settled out until I dish out the cash to open a new set of accounts.

Thanks in advance :)

[ChaoticMonk]

I would definetly say get another 2gigs of ram. Check newegg, they always have good prices on Ram eg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146526 2gig for 30$ :D

[bugilt]

You won't see all 4Gb unless you are running a 64 bit os.

[Mudfish]

You won't see all 4Gb unless you are running a 64 bit os.I wont see all 4GB unless im running 64 bit? Or will part of the 2GB upgrade not have any effect at all?

[elsegundo]

You won't see all 4Gb unless you are running a 64 bit os.I wont see all 4GB unless im running 64 bit? Or will part of the 2GB upgrade not have any effect at all?your system will only be able to utilize about 3 gigs of your 4. thats the limitation with a 32bit operating system.

[ChaoticMonk]

Closer to 3.7gigs of the total 4gigs which is almost all 4 gigs.

[Mudfish]

Closer to 3.7gigs of the total 4gigs which is almost all 4 gigs.Ok, so then the question now is: Should I upgrade my RAM now to 4GB and deal with the minor defect to it with my OS until i can upgrade, or wait to do it all at once?

It seems like even though not all the RAM will work efficiently, it will still be an upgrade with it and even more of one when I upgrade my OS. Just how well will I be able to run with 3-3.7GB of RAM?

[wowphreak]

Just to nitpick here

Your system can see the entire 4 gigs of memory but you wont have access to all of it because its being used there is no flaw nothing is broke this occurs no matter what os yeh use no matter how much memory yeh install.

[suineg]

I would suggest getting a second 8600 GT and bumping up to 4GB and then installing Windows XP 64 Bit.

You have to remember that not only do you only get 3.7GB with a 32 Bit OS, but also that it includes your video RAM.

[elsegundo]

I would suggest getting a second 8600 GT and bumping up to 4GB and then installing Windows XP 64 Bit.

You have to remember that not only do you only get 3.7GB with a 32 Bit OS, but also that it includes your video RAM.wait, so this means your OS can only juggle 3.7gigs no matter where the RAM is? i can understand easily if its onboard video ram you're talking about, but if you add a 512MB RAM videocard, your OS will still add that to the list of RAM its juggling? juggling might not be the right word. but you know what i mean! hehe. =]

[ChaoticMonk]

I dont believe thats true (unless he ment onboard memory). Personally, I would upgrade to 4gigs and look to upgrading to 64bit OS with more ram in the future.

[Jelatin]

I have a 8800gt with 1gb ram, my system see's 3.25gb ram, but i have 4gb. So, the video memory has no effect on what is seen by the os.