Ram or better VC?

Ok Limited Resources problem + sudden urge to put some more ooomph into my system.

Amd xp 2400+
Ati radeon 9600 pro 128mb (gecube) (running at GPU428//MEM447)
512mb (sd ram)

I've got just enough resources to either get a 1gb ddr ram upgrade or a completely new vc -> My system can't support the new pci express but it has both the sd and ddr ram slots. I was thinking either to upgrade one. Which would be the better thing to upgrade?

(partially to boost my 3dmark05 scores as well as improve overall gw + other game performance.)

I would think that the standard pc133 sdram would be a botleneck with your processor. So I would pull the 512mb non-ddr chip out and put the 1gb ddr chip in. By doing so you should see a decent jump in preformance. You should also be able to campare your pc to others that have a better video card, ddr memory, and the same processor using futuremark's orb tool.

I'd agree...your system will be much faster with DDR over SDRAM, but check with the motherboards manufacturer's website to ensure your system can handle a 1GB stick of DDR RAM - (2x512MB will probably be the better way to go)

that sounds like an ECS motherboard (elite group?)

make sure what maximum SPEED ram it will support as well as total and max per slot.

check their site for approved ram

Yup. Unfortunately an ecs motherboard

Thanks, guys. i"d go check out the webby for more info on the motherboard, but do a ram upgrade.