Windows 7 - help upgrading ram or graphics card ( Help me decide )

alright so i got a graphics card for x-mas right X_X
runs really good
mw3 plays perfect
battlefield 3 chugs alot
X_X
but i had bf3 playing on ultra without chugging at all
but i only have 4g of ram , if i upgrade my ram will that help? i have an NVIDA GeForce 550 ti also battlefield 3 seems to run fine on my small monitor which is 1208 by 1024 and when i plug my tv up to it , it runs at 1900 x ( i can't remember what it is ) but its 1900x something... it usually lags on that SUPER BAD... i'm new to pc gaming would like some help thank you guys! and if upgrading my ram helps can you give me some decisions on which kinda ram to get for gaming... my type is ddr3 , i really hope i don't have to upgrade my graphics card because i just got this one for x-mas D= ! one more thing when i play battle field 3 its doesn't lag at all unless i'm on and outside map and you can see like far away then it starts chuggging D=

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I'm not a gaming guru, but everything I have read indicates that 4 GB is plenty for gaming and rarely a bottleneck.

Operating System
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Core i7 860 @ 2.80GHz 43 °C
Lynnfield 45nm Technology
RAM
4.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 659MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
ASRock H55M-LE (CPUSocket) 38 °C
Graphics
Q7-3 Series (1280x1024@60Hz)
1024MB GeForce GTX 550 Ti (nVidia) 30 °C
Hard Drives
488GB Seagate ST3500413AS (SATA) 27 °C
Optical Drives
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-222AL
Audio
NVIDIA High Definition Audio

turn down the resolution buddy or lower the settings that why it chokes on your larger monitor because its using a higher resolution then your small monitor if you plan on using the big monitor set it to the resolution your small monitor was using the 550ti is kinda a mid level card lower the resolution or AA down try different settings adding more ram wont make a big difference really small difference if you add some more but imo the more ram the better


in battlefield three pause then go to options then display and set your resloution down and the AA till you get playable framerates on your tv

Ah thanks m1gu31 i did know about decreases the resloution on my screen.. but then it makes the graphics look terrible.. i would prefer to play it on the highest resloution um what do you think i should do take this graphics card back and get a different one? if so is the 560 ti any better? but i could swear its my ram.. because one day i had my big monitor running and it play battle field 3 in ultra... no chops at all then all of a sudden it chops the whole time i play it...

the 560ti is better pretty high end will play full settings at 1080p around say 30fps but i would suggest turning down AA antianalsing first and see how it peforms with that 550ti of yours anyways if you still want a 560ti you can get it but its a big price differnce cheapest i could find was for 209$ usd http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125401
though remember it will use alot more power the 550ti only requires at least a 400watt psu will the 560 demands 500watts minium you could get a gtx 460 maybe that one is in between both of those cards and performs better then the 550ti and the 460 is priced at 149.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130749
the 460 will also need a 500wat psu though its all up to you though like i suggested in the beging i would go first by toneing down settings like antialasing and bloom or shadows first before coming to conclusions

m1gu31 many thanks! i actually did some testing and my games kept crashing this time..like they wouldn't play at all they would lock up and freeze after like 5-45sec of gameplay.. i looked inside of my desktop and found out that the video card leans down... i can't screw it in because the hole doesn't line up with my case... it would just make it crooked again.. so i took some black electric tape and taped the edge of the graphics card down to the case to hold it straight up and now it looks like its working perfect no lag... so far that is anyways and i might upgrade to the 560 ti i have to pci-e power supply connectors my power supply is 600 watt

cool man ye when a card is not plugged in correctly it will give problems