More RAM or Video card?

[D*Ranged]

I've got 512 MB DDR 400 and GeForce FX 5200 128 MB.

What will be better in this case?
More RAM? Video Card?

P.S. It was my birthday on 18 Jan. I tried to get into the site but I couldn't for some reason...

[ 01-20-2004, 01:59 PM: Message edited by: D*Ranged ]

[Bozos of Bones]

Happy Birthday!
I'd take a graphics, costs more.

[Larry_OHF]

How much RAM do you currently have? That card won't do ya much good unless you have enough RAM for what you aim to use it for, will it?

[Larry_OHF]

Allow me to offer some info on that card.

FX 5200 With the NV34, NVIDIA introduces DirectX 9 features into the low-budget market segment and replaces the GeForce4 MX (DirectX 7) line of chips. As far as DirectX features are concerned, the FX 5200 offers everything its bigger brothers offer. However, NVIDIA has reduced the number of pixel pipelines to four. The memory interface also differs from that of the other FX cards, as the 5200 is still equipped with GeForce4 Ti memory technology. The vertex shader performance has been limited as well. The 45 million transistor chip is produced on a 0.15µ process. Considering the chip's limited performance and its comparatively low clock speeds, the DirectX 9 support is more of a paper feature than a real bonus. In practice, the chip is simply too slow for DirectX 9 calculations at resolutions of 1024x768 and above. Thanks to the memory interface it has inherited from the GeForce4 Ti, as well as its average anisotropic (trilinear) filtering performance, the chip nonetheless offers very solid performance for an entry-level chip. Beware the cheaper non-Ultra versions, though - some are only equipped with slower, 64-bit memory chips. Versions: GeForceFX 5200 64-/ 128-MB 128-bit DDR (250/ 400); official price: $99. GeForceFX 5200 Ultra 128-MB 128-bit DDR (325/ 650); official price: $149.

FX 5600 The chip with the internal designation NV 31 is produced on a 0.13µ process and was designed to replace the very successful GeForce4 Ti4200 series. After its introduction earlier this year, NVIDIA was able to further refine the Ultra version of this chip. Thanks to the new flip-chip packaging, NVIDIA was able to raise the clock speed by 50 MHz so that it now runs at 400 MHz. Plans are to sell all previously produced "old" Ultra chips as normal "non-Ultras." It remains to be seen whether all companies will follow this directive. Maybe we will see some "old" Ultras appear on a new Ultra card - who knows? At any rate, prospective buyers should check the card's specs to make sure. If the chip is only clocked at 350 MHz, it still belongs to the old batch. Technologically, this DirectX 9 chip supports the same features as its big brother, including Color Compression, fast (adaptive) anisotropic filtering and multi sampling FSAA. The FX 5600 has fewer pixel pipelines than the 5900. Besides, it doesn't share the 128-bit DDR-II interface of the NV30 (FX 5800) or the 256-bit DDR memory architecture of the NV35 (FX 5900) - it "only" uses conventional 128-Bit DDR(-I) memory. Versions: GeForceFX 5600 128-MB 128-bit DDR (325/ 550); official price: $179. GeForceFX 5600 Ultra 128-/ 256-MB 128-bit DDR - (400/ 700); official price: $199.

FX 5900 Upon its introduction, NVIDIA's 0.13µ FX 5800 was criticized for its heat problems, insufficient memory bandwidth, and loud cooling solution. Now, only a few months later, NVIDIA is updating/ replacing its flagship model with the FX 5900 (NV 35). The new chip addresses the weaknesses of its predecessor - it comes with a new, much quieter reference cooling solution, uses conventional DDR memory to reduce heat, and is built around a 256-Bit memory architecture to increase memory bandwidth. Aside from a few minor tweaks (improved Color Compression and floating point performance; Ultra Shadow), the 3D features were practically left unchanged. The FX 5900 is nominally 50 MHz slower than the FX 5800, though. At the same time, its memory bandwidth has improved from 16.7 GB/s to a very impressive 27.2 GB/s, easily offsetting the clock speed disadvantage. The number of transistors has also risen from ~125 million to ~130 million. Currently, the FX 5900 Ultra can safely be called the fastest card on the market. Since the Ultra is only available in a (rather oversized) 256-MB version, its official retail price is very high, coming in at $499. A cheaper 128-MB version would make more sense, in our opinion. The non-Ultra version is clocked slightly lower (probably 400/850). At this point, there are no details available about the Value version of the FX 5900. Versions: GeForceFX 5900 Value 128-MB 256-bit (?) DDR (?/?); official price: $279. GeForceFX 5900 128-MB 256-bit DDR (400/ 850); official price: $399. GeForceFX 5900 Ultra 256-MB 256-bit DDR (450/ 850); official price: $499.

Source; Tomshardware.com