Enough RAM?

[Sam25]

Hi!

I wanted to know how much RAM I need to play titles like Crysis, Crysis Warhead, GTA IV smoothly? My present system specs are:

Proccessor: E7200@2.53GHz
Mobo: Asus 5K-VM
Memory: 2GB DDR2 @800MHz (Corsair XMS2)
Graphics Card: Palit GTS 250 (1gb)
HDD: Samsung 250GB
OS: Windows XP (SP3)

Should I invest in another 2GB stick of memory or is the present 2GB stick I have bought enough? I'm upgrading my rig so please advice.

Btw, I've heard GTA IV is a poor port so the 2GB might not help but what about Crysis?

TIA

 

[potato28]

XP can't handle 4 full gigs of RAM, but buy it anyway it'll be better in the long run.

 

[katank]

RAM is dirt cheap nowadays anyhow. Really little reason to go w/ anything less than 4 gigs.

 

[NYHoustonman]

If nothing else, having a second stick of memory will enable dual-channel operation.

 

[angry hampster]

You're going to want to overclock the hell out of that proc for GTA IV.

 

[Sam25]

Okay, I'm getting the additional 2gigs of memory then.

 

[Alienwho]

I used to have that same processor OC'd to 3.2Ghz. That together with my old 9600GT would make GTA4 completely unplayable. I'm pretty sure the processor was the main culprit behind that.

When I upgraded to an AMD X3 720 triple core, I unlocked the 4th core and OC'd to 3.2Ghz and got a HD4870 and now GTA4 is smooth as butter.
You'll probably be able to play Crisis pretty well, but don't expect to run GTA4 well with that setup.

 

[Raduque]

You need a quad core for GTA4. It leans far heavier on the CPU than it does the GPU.

 

[Eric62]

I play both Crysis and GTA 4 with a Q6600, 4GB RAM (6400), and a 9600GT. I used to have the Q6600 overclocked to 3.2, now I just leave it at it's stock 2.4 and it still plays both games just fine...
Everything I've read agrees with Raduque regarding the need for a quad core for GTA 4.

 

[mizzou]

I have a ati 4850, 2 gig ram , windows XP, and a AMD x2 athlon 5000 OC'd to 3.0Ghz.

It eats my CPU for breakfast.

Seems like mY GPU can more then handle it but I'm constantly restrained by my CPU no matter the resolution or reduced textures etc.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: potato28
XP can't handle 4 full gigs of RAM, but buy it anyway it'll be better in the long run.

XP has nothing to do with it. its 32bit or 64bit that determines how much memory can be seen/used.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: Raduque
You need a quad core for GTA4. It leans far heavier on the CPU than it does the GPU.

this

 

[Vampirrella]

With Ram being so dirt cheap, why not just buy a few sticks. BTW GTAIV runs great on dual core. Not sure why some are saying its "better" on a quad. My fps is very good according to Fraps

 

[uli2000]

I played Crysis w/ a 8800gs and 1.5gb ram. Medium settings and there was only a couple of times the framerate got choppy.

 

[Cheesetogo]

Crysis and GTA IV regularly use ~1.5 GB of RAM by themselves on my computer. With OS and other background usage, I'll usually see at least 3 GB being used in total.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: Vampirrella
With Ram being so dirt cheap, why not just buy a few sticks. BTW GTAIV runs great on dual core. Not sure why some are saying its "better" on a quad. My fps is very good according to Fraps

To max everything out you basically need a quad. Sure even my system could run it on lower settings but I'm going to wait to get the game until I get a quad and a better video card so I can run it at max.

 

[mazeroth]

Originally posted by: zerocool84

Originally posted by: Vampirrella
With Ram being so dirt cheap, why not just buy a few sticks. BTW GTAIV runs great on dual core. Not sure why some are saying its "better" on a quad. My fps is very good according to Fraps

To max everything out you basically need a quad. Sure even my system could run it on lower settings but I'm going to wait to get the game until I get a quad and a better video card so I can run it at max.

+1

My E8400 @ 3.6 ghz. and GTX 260 play it decently, but nowhere near as fast as a quad does. GTA IV needs huge amounts of CPU power to run.