videocard upgrade: compaq/hp SR1901WM

[criticatlarge]

my very elderly buddy finally caved, decided to upgrade the memory on his (insert favorite derogatory adjectivial phrase) PC. would appreciate suggestions on a compatible (read: inexpensive but helpful) PCI express x16 videocard that'd supply a bit of OOMPH;
OR, since it'll have 3G rather than the stock 512MB, is a discrete card necessary and / or
cost-effective? N.B. the pc was intro'ed 04-May-2006, but a new(er) one is not financially feasible. Can afford a card in the $40-60 range, I think.
thanks!
ps who do you like for 1G memory for this beast? I hear 4G's toooo much, causes problems (?!)

[David (PassMark)]

If the only thing you change in the amount of RAM on the video card, I would expect this to have no impact on overall performance.

Your very elderly buddy doesn't sound like a gamer. That being the case, I think a video card upgrade isn't worth it. Doubly so if you are stuck in a 32bit world.

On the other hand a main RAM upgrade might make more sense. The hp SR1901WM only came with 256MB of DDR RAM (by default), but the motherboard can take up to 4GB.

After main RAM I think the next upgrade would be the hard drive.

But to be honest with a machine of this age every component is totally obsolete. Save your $40 and put it towards a newer machine. Best value for money is something maybe 3 or 4 years old off EBay. We pretty much can't give away old machines, many of which that are better than your friends.