2GB or 4GB ? (DDR2)

[shamus8888]

Hi!

I am currently using WinXP Home SP2 as my OS (might plan to upgrade to Vista). I am wondering if 2GB of DDR2 ram ( 2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 ) is enough? I seem to see that a lot of people are having 4GBs minimum in their setups. AFAIK 32bit OS only "reads" up to 3GB of RAM - ish?

Short version : Will I see improvements if I upgrade to 4GBs instead?

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: shamus8888
Short version : Will I see improvements if I upgrade to 4GBs instead?

Yes, but only if you're regularly using all of your system RAM. Here's why: 32-bit OS's can only use ~3GB, but if you have an application that can benefit from having 2GB all to itself, then that leaves no RAM for Windows/Linux, and also no RAM for any other apps you might want to leave open. You do waste some RAM, using 4GB with a 32-bit OS, but at current prices, it's less than $20 worth.

 

[n7]

2x2 GB = win.

More than enough for XP, & great for Vista when you upgrade.

Also allows for 4x2 GB :evil:, whereas with 2x1 GB you're stuck either with going 4x1 GB, 2x1 GB + 2x2 GB, or selling the 2x1 GB & doing something else.

 

[Zenoth]

Yes, 4GB definitely, and indeed like n7 says, two sticks of 2GB each is awesome, that's what I'm using. Just one year ago we'd still see those "4GB is too much" topics, but things have changed fast lately, I see many games, especially with some mods using up to 2.5+GB of RAM, so having 3.2GB in XP 32-Bit or 4GB in 64-Bit XP/Vista is certainly welcome, especially in Vista, but as I said, in XP too since a year or so mostly.

 

[nerp]

4GB in 2x2GB sticks on Vista 64 is sooo sexy for me these days.

 

[AshPhoenix]

Link

DRAM juggler Corsair has just released a document in which it detail internal testing regarding the difference in PC performance when 4 or 2GB of RAM is installed. Named "Gaming Performance Analysis ? 4GB vs 2GB," the PDF file includes a small description of the differences memory usage with 32 and 64bit operating systems and, most importantly a test that looks into gaming and multi-tasking performance plus load times when 2 and 4GB of RAM is used in a high-end system.

Corsair conducted the test using Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit with a system consisting of an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650, an Asus ROG P965 motherboard (an odd/old choice to say the least), a 320MB GeForce 8800 GTS/ 512MB 8800 GT and 2/4GB of Corsair XMS2 memory. In short, the 4GB system came out on top in practically every test with the biggest difference being seen with task switching and game loading times. As for the conclusion, Corsair states that "4GB of memory is now an essential upgrade for gamers." Not limiting this to gamers, 4GB of RAM is certainly a plus which is becoming more and more relevant and, whether you buy Corsair's memory or not, it almost a must these days. All we need is the money for it.

 

[weber1557]

I have a set of Corsair 2x2 in my 32 bit Vista and it reads 3.56 gigs. Not sure why most people only get just over 3 gigs...they must have more drives and boards installed.

Anyway, I turned off the page file just to see if I needed it with 4 (3.56) gigs installed and it hasn't crashed yet. For the little extra $ it's worth getting 4.

One puzzling thing though...my memory monitor never exceeds 22% memory usage. It stays around 20% all the time, no matter what I'm running. Are these memory monitors useless or am I missing something?