noob upgrade questions

[viralDNA]

Hi this is my first build and I?m a bit new to PC hardware. I?m planning several upgrades down the line. They are:

2GB of RAM
Athlon 64 4000+
X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS
SATA

Here?s my current set up:

Athlon 64 3000+ w/ ThermalTake Venus 12 HS and Arctic Silver 5
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe
xfx 7800 GTX Factory Overclocked
Antec TruePower 2.0 550 watts
2 NEC 16x DVD drives
Corsair XMS 2 x 512 DDR SDRAM unbuffered DDR 400 Dual Channel Kit
Soundblaster Audigy Z2 Gamer Limited
Logitech Z-5500
ThermalTake Armor Chassis
Zonet 2500 USB 802.11b/g w/ Raitek drivers
WinXP Pro SP2
80 GB WD Caviar drive

All the listed upgrades I plan to do eventually and haven?t decided what order. I thinking of doing either the cpu upgrade or RAM upgrade first. I mainly do FF online and BF2, then Q4 when it comes out. Does anyone know between the two is my biggest bottle neck? I?ve heard that the cpu can limit the 7800 but I?ve also heard BF2 gets a good boost from 1 GB of RAM to 2GB. So I?m not sure which I should do first.

Also is it better to run something like 4 x 512 sticks of RAM or 2 x 1GB sticks? I?m not well versed at all when it comes to RAM. I?m starting to understand timing but as far as memory dividers and CAS etc. I?m lost. Obviously if I end up going with 4 sticks, I will buy another set of the Corsair XMS that I bought before. But I?m considering 2 x 1GB sticks of either Corsair or OCZ.

CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145575

CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145587

OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Platinum System Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820227210

As I mentioned above, I?m somewhat unversed in terms of memory so I?m unsure which would be the best. I would greatly appreciate help with what would be the best set up in terms of memory for my system as well as with suggestions in general.

Also do anyone by chance know a way to montior overall watt usage? I bought the Kill-A-Watt:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/7657/

but it reported something like 200 watts when I was playing BF2. Again, thanks in advance!

 

[forumposter32]

As far as compatibility goes, you can go to sites like corsair or ocz etc to find compatible RAM with your mobo.
But, I think the only big thing you need to know is, lower RAM timings will give you better performance (although it may only be up to 10% difference in games).

 

[viralDNA]

Would I be better upgrading my cpu first or my RAM first? Right now I'm thinking the 2 1GB sticks of Corsair XMS pro

 

[love2skate824]

go for the ram first, itll help with bf2 and many other games. just go 2x1gb now (ocz) and save the corsair. then when the need for 3gb of ram arises, just plop in the 512 sticks.

2nd, i wouldnt upgrade to a 4000, but an x2 3800 instead.

 

[viralDNA]

Love2skate, you don't my bottleneck is my cpu right now? I'll admit I looked at the dual cores but, pretty much all my PC for is gaming so I figured that probably couldn't justify a dual core. >>;; If I did I'd go with the x2 4800....then I'm looking at a FX 55 or 57 chip...