Maxing out RAM - Value for money?

[covisio]

Hi,
I currently run a Dual 2.3 GHz PowerPC G5 tower, OS X 10.5.8 with 4.5 GB RAM.
I'm told that a new machine is out of the question at the moment.
I mostly run Adobe CS 3 Apps (all of them), with a little SketchUp Pro and iWork '09.
I can get an additional 4 x 1 GB modules for around £125 (approx $200).
What real-world benefits am I likely to see by maxing out the RAM to 8 GB?
The only other change I could make AFAIK is to install a faster hard drive - again, how much difference will this make?
Thanks

 

[Transporteur]

To be honest with you I would not put 200$ into that machine.

I had one of these PMs with 8GB myself and in most cases it wasn't the RAM that limited the speed of the computer.

My advise: Sell that thing and get a new Mac Mini. Unless you really need 8GB Ram for your apps, its faster in almost every case.

 

[covisio]

Okay, thanks. I kind of suspected as much.
The biggest boost I got with this machine was when I changed the stock graphics card for a Radeon 9800 Pro Special Edition 256, which made a noticeable difference on quite few things, especially SketchUp and certain Finder effects.
I might try and source a Radeon X800 XT Mac Edition which AFAIK is the fastest graphics card available for this generation of Mac.
I had a look at the Mac Mini to see how it compares and I can see your point however to get it specced as I'd want it would cost over £600 which is still a fair chunk of money.