Trikado

Hi, I just joined Tech Support and would like to say hello to all members before I pose my query for support advice.

My current Dell computer is almost 5 yrs old and I am planning for an upgrade. I use the computer to run MS Office, web surfing, mid level gaming and some light video encoding. I have a tight budget and a friend suggested the following upgrade components:

Gigabyte 945GCMX-S2 M/B; Core2 Duo E6320 chip; 1 GB Ram; 256MB GF 8600GT. OS will be Vista Home Premium.

After checking out component prices, I found that my budget allows me to improve further on the above components by doing 1 of the following:

a) Change the M/B to Gigabyte 965P-S3 or
b) Top up the Ram to 2 GB or
c) Change the chip to E6420

But if I downgrade the graphic card to GF8500GT then my budget allows me to improve further on the above components by changing 2 of the 3 items mentioned above.

Pl advise the best option. Also advise whether the 1 GB ram would become unusable if in future I upgrade to 2 GB. (I am assuming the 1GB ram comes in 2x512MB. Is my assumption correct?).

Many thanks in advance