Upgrade from 3 GB to 4 GB ram Worth it? (More info inside)

I have an older Dell Latitude D630 i use strictly for travel as a beater since i don't care much if i break it or it gets stolen. It's current Specs are

Windows 7 64 bit
3 GB DDR2
Intel Core 2 duo 2.0 ghz
120 GB 7200 RPM HD
Intel X3100 GPU (Thank god i didn't invest in the faulty nvidia chips, had THREE other laptops get that damn issue)

Anyways i use the laptop mostly for

Surfing
Movie watching
World of warcraft on the go

World of warcraft is where i am seeing the bit of struggle..with a bit in game macros i have it running 20-25 FPS outdoors and 30-38 Indoors (5 mans strictly)

Would a jump from 3 GB to 4 GB ram help my FPS any in light games like WoW? Or is the difference just not worth my time or money?

(Yes im aware the GPU sucks and this is far from a gaming machine...but it's also a TANK which is great for vacations =p).

 

Your problem isn`t the RAM, its your IGP, the extremely weak X3100.

IGPs usually love faster RAM, not more RAM. I don`t think going from 3-4GB will help you much (if any) with WoW. But then again, its dirt cheap, why not try it.

 

Yeah...Like i said i'm well aware the IGP is horrible not what i purchased the machine for to begin with. Just wondering if anyone has tried it with any similar spec'd machine. If it were even a 5-6 FPS gain all around it would be worth the 30-35$ or so for the 2GB stick of DDR2 800mhz. However money is a bit tight right now(hence all the older machines in my sig) So i'd rather not toss out the $ unless i know it's going to help. Generally outside of WoW and OLD games i don't game on laptops anyways i'm totally 100% through and through a desktop guy for gaming.

 

2nd hand Core2Duo chips can be had on eBay for not very much.

Depending on your chipset and current CPU model, a CPU upgrade may be a cheap way to boost performance a little bit.

You'll have to accept that you're never going to run NASA with it though.

 

Again...i get it's an old machine...i'm not expecting miracles let me stress the fact i am just trying to gain 4-5 FPS in WoW. As per a CPU upgrade i am not willing to go that route too much time investment/cost the ram is near nothing once i trade in the spare 1 GB stick with it. But i do thank you for the suggestion. I don't do anything that "Runs Nasa" on laptops anymore it's just insanely cost inefficient and gets outdated too fast. I do however love having a durable cheap road warrior for trips and so forth =).

 

To answer your question directly - No, more RAM is not going to increase your WoW performance. The problem is that since Cataclysm they have actually updated the engine and the requirements have increased just to play it on DX9, so that is where you're having trouble.

Your GPU is most definitely the bottleneck in tis situation, and tbh there's no cheap solution. replacing GPU's even in upgradeable laptops will still set you back quite a bit even for tech several years old.

 

The amount of ram in your system is not what it slowing your performance. The bottleneck is most likely the integrated gpu and adding more ram wont change that unfortunately. There's really nothing you can do other than putting it up on ebay taking that money plus adding more from your pocket and buying a new machine. Sadly that's your only option if you want better WoW performance.

 

If you're running Win 7 32bit most of the extra 1 GB of RAM won't even be accessible. Also, the PC800 you referred to will operate at 667MHz. This is because the Intel GMA965 in your laptop doesn't support memory frequencies higher than 667MHz.

Upgrading the CPU sometimes helps increase FPS. The highest CPU you can install in the Dell D630 is the T9500. The T9500 is relatively expensive though. The T9300 is slightly cheaper (about £60). Depending on the BIOS you might even be able to upgrade to a Pentium T4000 series CPU or a Core 2 Duo T6000 series CPU. I've used a T4200, a T4300 and a T4400 and they are cooler and faster that the T5000 and T7000 series.

T4200 > T7300
T4300 > T7500

 

Naton as i said in the OP i said i was running windows 64 bit specifically for that reason...Rishwin that's more the awnswer i was looking for thanks.