i can't decide what to buy a new video card (AGP) or to buy extra RAM?

[Signal2Noise]

It depends on what you want to improve with said app. Do you want faster on-screen performance? Then, certainly a new video card will do. Face it, the card you are using is ancient and extremely slow, even for games. But if you want say faster render output speeds then RAM is the way to go. What is the max amount of RAM your mobo can handle? Imo, you can never have enough RAM. Either way, $100 isn't going to get you much. Especially in a video card. So think about the RAM...

[Ice Czar]

Start > Run > (type) perfmon.msc >

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/889654
there is no specific recommendation for page file size. Your requirements will be based on the hardware and software that you use and the load that you put on the computer. To monitor page file usage and requirements, run System Monitor, and gather a log during typical usage conditions. Focus on the following counters.
Counter threshold.....................Suggested value
Memory\\Available Bytes............No less than 4 MB
Memory\\Pages Input/sec...........No more than 10
pagesPaging File\\% Usage......... No more than 70 percent
Paging File\\% Usage Peak ..........No more than 70 percent
Process\\Page File Bytes Peak.......Not applicable

Note Page file use should be tracked periodically. When you increase the use or the load on the system, you generally increase the demand for virtual address space and page file space.

if you seeing heavy pagefile hits its impacting your performance considerably
you can "tune" the pagefile(s) and how the aps employ them, but having more memory can substantially speed things up
if your primarilly doing complex 2D Photoshop can chew all of 2GB by itself (thats its actual limit, many aps are limited to 2GB as a process)
its only when you rendering 3D to view (not for output) that the vidcard is your main limiting factor

sometimes its helpful to graphically represent the data in realtime on the desktop when tuning
http://www.samurize.com/

performance monitors themselves can add substantal overhead, depending on thier sample rates and how they are implimented. But they are well worth mastering for direct comparision to your personal uage pattern

[eyetoeye]

thanx for ur reply :thumbsup:

[Szos]

Both AutoCAD and Photoshop will see minimal speed increases with a faster videocard (and there will be NO speed increase when it comes to rendering with a new videocard), however every program will seem to run faster with more memory. But then again your videocard is quite slow, so it is quite a toss up.

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