Hardware questions, Processor? or RAM?

[Thrillhouse900]

I built a computer awhile back, i put 2GB of ddr667 RAM in it, a GeForce 7600 video card, but like, an AMD 1.8 single core processor, so i figure its probably good for an upgrade.
Im going to be doing a fare ammount of video rendering in the future for an upcoming project, and i want to boost my render times.
For a processor i was thinging about getting an AMD Duel core with 1mb cache and somthing like 2.4Ghz for about $300, but theres also an AMD duel with 2mb cache and 2.6Ghz for about $500 bucks.
Im also thinking about another 2 GBs of RAM, my question is, would it be better to have a GREAT processor and 2 GB of ram, or a Good processor and 4gb of RAM.
Or should i splurge and get both, is it worth it? haha
Is the diffence of .2 Ghz and 1mb cache worth 200 bucks?

Thanks!

[Sip]

From what I've seen basically ram makes a little bit of difference, but the CPU and its cache make a HUGE difference to the render times. Sadly don't have any statistical data to backup my theory, sorry I can’t be of much help.

[Thrillhouse900]

is there a way to find out how much ram a specific scene is taking?
(3dmax)

[Station]

Ram speeds it up because it doesn't use Virtual Memory (the hard drive). The more the better. Hard drives are slower, but processor is better!