I run SH5 on 4Gb with no framerate issues at all, but the rest of my rig is pretty darned fast, so I'm sure that helps. But I think 4Gb of RAM is plenty (I run Flight Sim X with high rez packs with very minor hits on the same amount of RAM, and that's far more demanding).
Having said that, I think your problem IS and ISN'T the system RAM amount. In this case, your bottleneck seems to be your vid card. Integrated video like the HD3200 is going to use up your system RAM, probably a couple of gigs of it, and this, combined with what Windows already uses, doesn't leave much system RAM free while gaming in modern games. By adding a video card to an existing slot, you'll free up your system RAM for what it really needs it for.
In order to upgrade, you'll need to check the following:
- See if your motherboard has a free PCI-E slot for a video card (most do). If it does, make sure there is room for it around it in the case (many of the latest cards are pretty large in size. You can get the card dimensions when you're looking at them online).
- Make sure your PSU (power supply) is both capable of supporting the kind of additional voltage a modern card will suck up, AND make sure that your PSU has the kind of power connectors that the card will need in order to run (if your PSU doesn't have the connectors, some vid cards come with a molex connector that you can plug into a standard PSU dongle and it converts it to that type of power connector, but make sure the card you order either has it already or that you add it to the order. You can also buy these at local computer stores).
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