Seeking advice: more memory or better graphics card?

[OldProf]

My Italian computer runs TS2013 at fairly high settings and Fraps readings between 12 and 25, depending on the route and location. Basic specs: Acer Aspire X3990; 4 GB memory; NVIDIA GeForce 605 graphics card with 1GB of memory.

I'd like to improve that performance and am wondering whether my best bet would be a) another 4GB of memory or b) a better video card, such as an ASUS GT620-DCSL-2GD3 with 2GB of memory (available from Amazon.it). My guess is that the memory card would do more to improve performance than the RAM, but I'd appreciate a more knowledgeable opinion or two.

Thanks!

[buzz456]

I have a GTX650Ti 2g and am running everything wide open and it never stutters. I think this sort of thing will help you way more than more memory. I have 8 gigs in here but it was still stinky with my old GT550 card. I didn't look up the one you are proposing but there is a zillion places on line to compare.

[Ericmopar]

I looked up that Acer of yours and if it has the i5 2300 and 4 to 8 gigs of RAM, I'd say new graphics card.

[BlueLight]

I run a NVidia Ge Force GT-430 and have no problem running the sim.

[arizonachris]

I would also say video card. Keep in mind, as far as adding RAM, unless you are running 64 bit, Windows will not "see" more than 4Gb.

[Marleyman]

Improve the performance of what? The game only, Fraps, the PC in general? What OS are you running?

[OldProf]

Improve the performance of what? The game only, Fraps, the PC in general? What OS are you running?

I knew that I'd leave out something important: my computer's OS is Windows 7 64bit. My main interest lies in getting the game to run more smoothly, which means a higher Fraps rate, no? In general, the PC runs just fine.

[buzz456]

It looks like a pretty good choice to me.

[snowstorm]

Your system's specs suggest it only has a 220W power supply and the PCI-E x16 slot might be quite constricted in a small form factor system (e.g. half height and/or single slot), which would limit your video card upgrade options.

The GeForce 605 reportedly consumes about 30W max, so your PSU is at least ok with video cards at that level. The GeForce GT 610 (aka GT 520) or Radeon 6450 have a similar maximum power consumption and would be a significant jump from what you have, but they're still exceedingly weak in the broader scheme of things. A Radeon 7750 is four times faster than either of those and maxes out at around 40W, which would probably be fine, and you'd likely get away with more power hungry cards - just depends how adventurous you are. The specs label on your power supply might help with estimating how much leeway your system has.

If the stuttering is to some extent HDD-related, then an SSD upgrade might be worth considering. A little test I'd recommend is to disable anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing in the TS2013's settings, and lower the resolution to 800x600. That can give an idea of what frame rate and level of smoothness is achievable with your existing CPU/HDD, regardless of the video card.

[OldProf]

... If the stuttering is to some extent HDD-related, then an SSD upgrade might be worth considering. A little test I'd recommend is to disable anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing in the TS2013's settings, and lower the resolution to 800x600. That can give an idea of what frame rate and level of smoothness is achievable with your existing CPU/HDD, regardless of the video card.

Huh?

[OldProf]

It looks like a pretty good choice to me.

"It" equals ... what?
================================================
"Snowstorm" mentioned limited space for a more advanced graphics card. Yes, this small format machine places the graphics card slot top rear, but there's another slot below it that I'm not likely to use (I think it's suitable for a sound card, but I like my neighbors and they wouldn't appreciate having a railroad running through our building). I would order the card I mentioned from Amazon.it and thus could return it easily if it didn't fit.

[buzz456]

It looks like a pretty good choice to me.

"It" equals ... what?
================================================
"Snowstorm" mentioned limited space for a more advanced graphics card. Yes, this small format machine places the graphics card slot top rear, but there's another slot below it that I'm not likely to use (I think it's suitable for a sound card, but I like my neighbors and they wouldn't appreciate having a railroad running through our building). I would order the card I mentioned from Amazon.it and thus could return it easily if it didn't fit.

It=the card you were looking at from Amazon.

[snowstorm]

... If the stuttering is to some extent HDD-related, then an SSD upgrade might be worth considering. A little test I'd recommend is to disable anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing in the TS2013's settings, and lower the resolution to 800x600. That can give an idea of what frame rate and level of smoothness is achievable with your existing CPU/HDD, regardless of the video card.

Huh?

Sorry - I somehow got your post mixed up with buzz's first reply, which mentioned stuttering, and assumed you had that issue. Still, if you wanted to get an idea of the frame rate your system would be capable of if it weren't limited by the video card, the test I described can reveal that. It's just a standard technique for attempting to measure the "CPU-limited" performance by un-bottlenecking the video card.

[RudolfJan]

More memory is useless, since TS2013 is a 32 bit application. It depends on how old your computer is, but I recommend saving some money(if you can afford it) and buy a new computer. This makes a huge difference. Don't waste money on a small improvement of an old system.

[PapaXpress]

More memory is useless, since TS2013 is a 32 bit application. ...

This is not completely accurate. If your OS is x64 and you only had 4gb of memory on it then add more memory would make a difference. Not from a 32bit application point of view, but it will give your OS more memory to work with so it does not choke.