Pci-e card

Currently i've just bought the 7100GS which is running pretty well but i'll be thinking of upgrading pretty soon. These are my computer specifications:

2.2 Ghz AMD Athlon X2 4200+
M2n-E Sli Motherboard
7100GS PCI-E Card
256mb DDR2 Ram
80 GB Harddisk

So where do you guys think that i am lacking and which area should i be upgrading first? I feel the ram's pretty low so ill probably get another 256 in a few days. I also think that the graphic card should be one i should start saving for. Which PCI-e card would give me the best performance in a good budget? I just want a PCI-e card which will give me more then an average performance.

RAM would be where I would start my upgrade. Another 256 wouldn't cut it for me, I would go no less than a GB.

I have 1 256mb ram. So should i go for 3 more 256mb rams or 1 whole one GB stick ?

And do the rams work if i connect one 256mb ram with another of 128 and another of 512 ? In short, is it neccessary for the Ram's to have the same memory in all the slots ?

Not necessary but a good idea. Personally I would buy a gig stick and toss the 256 out.

and if the 256 is a cheap stick then its got an even lesser chance of being compatible with other brands.
my cousin bought this stick of ram, i think it was rosewill...it doesn't want to play nice with anyone.
same ram speeds are a good idea too

2GB Minimum it's 2006.

2GB minimum ? I thought thats the Maximum windows would support..

By the way, 2GB ddr2 at 667MHZ is around 260$ over here.

Windows "will support" up to 4GB, I believe...but you'll start to lose performance. It's not smart enough to keep track of all of that ram. Unless, of course, you're using a 64 bit version of Windows (or another 64 bit OS). The 64 bit OS's (I read) can handle up to 1TB of physical memory. ^_^ thatd be insanely useless..lol at least for any use I would have for it. But I wouldn't say a 2GB minimum..that's just ridiculous. I have 1GB and its served my purpose for the past year and a half.

So in easy english .. 4GB will not increase my performance ?

Ah well why am i thinking about 4gb anyway. I need to upgrade it to a Gb first atleast.

lol.. 4GB will not increase your performance*
notice the star -^






* in a 32 bit operating system.
windows xp pro is a 32 bit operating system. the version that would support > 4GB would be x64 or vista x64 or etc. etc. vista x86 is a 32 bit operating system.

Oh okey .. I dont plan to use vista any time soon so i think i'll get 2 1gb slots of ram so that i have the other 2 slots remaining and if i do get vista .. Maybe ill try and get 4gb then.

that .should. work. just make sure you dont mix and match brands and speeds, you dont want to spend $300 on 2 sticks and $50 on one stick and have the one bring the other 2 down because it can't keep up.

Well, first off you need to know if your motherboard can support that much ram, there are a couple programs that can tell you that information(I was looking at the web site today but I forgot what it was, a simple google search for motherboard ram capacity will get you on your way), the only other thing that you might need to upgrade is your CPU(but you can overclock that to 2.6ghz with some temperture increase and you will have a decent gaming computer)

or you could just look on the manufacturers website/newegg and it will tell you how much ram is supported :]
and why would overclocking to 2.6ghz make it a decent gaming computer..?