New Cpu or extra RAM

[suller]

I currently have a Amd 64 3200 with 2 sticks of 512Mb Geil value ram DDR400 running on an MSI Neo2 platinum mb. I run windows XP Pro Sp2 and do a fair bit of photo editing with Photoshop CS2 and video editing with Sont Vegas 5 along with a few games the most notable being Half Life 2.
I am considering an upgrade to either:
replace the 2 x 512mb ram with 2 x 1Gb geil value again or corsair twinX or similar price (£150 ish)
or
replace the 3200 cpu with a x2 4600
or as a compromise
an additional 2 x 512mb ram (will drop to DDR333) and a X2 3800.
Any advice or recomendations would be very appreciated.

 

[Legless]

I found that upgrading my ram from 2x512mb to 2x1gb ddr400 dual channel made a huge difference in some games, plus things like photoshop cs2 ran smoother having the extra ram... Maybe the best option for you is to do like you say, "an additional 2 x 512mb ram (will drop to DDR333) and a X2 3800", i'm sure this will be faster than your current setup...

 

[deadeyedic30]

Like Legless says get 2x1Gb sticks of ram. What core is your cpu, it was only the early core cpu's (Newcastle i think that had the memory issue with 4 sticks of ram dropping to 333, the Winchesters ran at 400 but with the memory timings at cas2 instead of 1 Venice and San Diego run 4 stick fine as far as i know). As far as i know any dual core cpu for 939 will run 4 sticks at ddr400 speed.

 

[suller]

The CPU has a winchester core

 

[Soul Rider]

My advice would be go with 2x1gb sticks of ram to get 1t timings, then later on in a few months or so, upgrade your processor, but RAM 1st would give you a huge boost.