I'm currently using an NVIDIA GeForce4 TI 4600 with 128MB of RAM for my video card on a 1.7GHz Athlon and have 1 gig of DDR 2400 for my main memory.

I don't do many games but I do a lot of Photoshop stuff and more and more 3D (Lightwave, Bryce, Poser). I may also start dabbling in video editing.

I'm thinking up building a new computer from components, upgrading to a P4 3.0 GHz with 2 GB of 3200 DDR SDRAM and am wondering if I should spend the money to upgrade my video card as well to the new NVIDIA FX5900 Ultra with 256 MB.

The questions I've got are as follows:

1. Since I'm doing mainly Photoshop (I use a lot of filters and layers) and 3D (and like fast rendering) will this new card give me any noticeable improvement or will the upgrade to the P4 and more and faster main memory give me 90% of any improvement?

2. What does increasing video card memory from 128MB to 256MB actually do for you. Does it only help playing games?

I guess I'm really asking if buying a bigger faster video card is going to do anything for me.

I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks,

Brian