Going from 1GB to 2GB with an AMD64..

[FlasHBurN]

So I just recently bought an AMD64 3500+ and an Asus A8N-SLI board. I need to make the jump from 1GB to 2GB due to games like Battlefield 2 and Everquest 2.

The current ram I have is
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145523
which I am sure is probably overkill for an AMD64.

My question is, what would a good 2GB kit (2x1GB) be for running in dual channel?


Also, I don't plan on overclocking at all.

 

[ViRGE]

The A8N has 4 DIMM slots, right? Why not just get another 2x512MB kit then?

 

[FlasHBurN]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
The A8N has 4 DIMM slots, right? Why not just get another 2x512MB kit then?

Then I would not be able to run in Dual Channel mode.

 

[CreativeTom]

i am not really sure that upgrading to 2GB of memory will really make that much of an improvement for gaming>>>

 

[MobiusPizza]

no not now at least
Frequency and timing shines for games currently much more than capacity

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: FlasHBurN

Originally posted by: ViRGE
The A8N has 4 DIMM slots, right? Why not just get another 2x512MB kit then?

Then I would not be able to run in Dual Channel mode.

Since when? 2x512 and 4x512 are both dual-channel configurations. Is your 3500+ a venice core (If not you might suffer 333mhz speeds or 2T command rate)? Or your mobo has problems running 4x512 in dual channel?

 

[theMan]

and, yes you can run dual channel with 4 dimms. if you have a venice, you can run them at ddr400 2t. if you have an older chip, you have to run them at ddr333 2t. i would stick with 1gb for now.

 

[FlasHBurN]

Originally posted by: CreativeTom
i am not really sure that upgrading to 2GB of memory will really make that much of an improvement for gaming>>>

Why not? Both of the games I mentioned use over 1GB of ram.



As for Dual channel 4x512, I thought there was some sort of issues with running dual channel? And it is the Winchester core.

 

[MobiusPizza]

For Winchester core the timings would drop to 3-3-3
This hurt performance more than the benefit of 2GB

And where do you see that the game uses over 1GB??
I know that for BF2 even 512MB Ram is fine
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23973

 

[CreativeTom]

Originally posted by: FlasHBurN

Originally posted by: CreativeTom
i am not really sure that upgrading to 2GB of memory will really make that much of an improvement for gaming>>>

Why not? Both of the games I mentioned use over 1GB of ram.



As for Dual channel 4x512, I thought there was some sort of issues with running dual channel? And it is the Winchester core.

What do you mean they use over 1GB of ram???? Like AnnilihatorX said above "Frequency and timing shines for games currently much more than capacity"

 

[FlasHBurN]

Originally posted by: AnnihilatorX
For Winchester core the timings would drop to 3-3-3
This hurt performance more than the benefit of 2GB

And where do you see that the game uses over 1GB??
I know that for BF2 even 512MB Ram is fine
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23973

Where do I see it? How about in my task manager.

Also, I thought that due to the AMD64's onchip memory controller that timings don't matter like they do for a P4.

 

[MobiusPizza]

You meant free RAM left or process memory usage?

 

[imported_Kensai]

Timings still matter, and games like WoW and EQ2 will love 2GB of ram when entering zones with a few hundred players.

 

[imported_X]

I love how people continue to claim you only need 1GB, but have never even played a memory-intensive game like EQ2. I would go with the 2GB, and get the best timings you can.

 

[RollWave]

Originally posted by: theman
and, yes you can run dual channel with 4 dimms. if you have a venice, you can run them at ddr400 2t. if you have an older chip, you have to run them at ddr333 2t. i would stick with 1gb for now.

How does one do this? I that ddr400 2t in the bios or...?

 

[mamisano]

I have 2x1GB GEIL sticks in my RS480-IL board / 3000+. Works great and is affordable. In fact, I just picked up another pair for my home server to replace the 2x512MB of ram currently in the system.

Main reason I have moved to 2GB is to help me run 2 VMs for work.

 

[Kn1v3s]

I currently have an Asus A8N-SLI board with a New Castle Athlon 64 3500+.

I have 4x512 Corsair Value select. I remember seeing a thread on here testing 1t and 2t and found to have not so much of a difference in real world/games. So I decided to just go 2GB.

As for the timings I am currently looking at cpu-z and they are rated at 2.5-3-3-8. I believe that is the same as having only 2x512.

As for having dual channel mode enabled for having 4x512 setup. It still works. When my computer boots up it says Dual Channel mode.

I used to have crappy ram. SuperTalent is the brand and it sucked. 4-4-4-12 timings I think thats the setting. But anyways. Go for 2GB. I don't notice any difference. Plus you'd be able to run in dual channel mode.

I also forgot to mention that CPU-Z reports the frequency to still be 200mhz(400mhz DDR) just as it did when only having 2x512 sticks.

 

[FlasHBurN]

I have a couple of cheapo 1GB sticks at work I am going to try and benchmark with to see what, if any performance drops I get.

 

[imported_michaelpatrick33]

Patriot 2 x 1024 at 2-3-2-5 timings at PC3200 for $232 with free shipping

I personally really like this memory myself. Great timings, good price, and great capacity. You could buy these two sticks and still run at PC3200 at 1t timings and have low latency and great capacity

Edit: Assuming you didn't use the other ram sticks to fill all four channels
The advantage of these two sticks is still being able to run 1t with 2gigs of ram. (Although the benefit of 1t over 2t is debatable at best) 2-5%

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: AnnihilatorX
For Winchester core the timings would drop to 3-3-3
This hurt performance more than the benefit of 2GB

And where do you see that the game uses over 1GB??
I know that for BF2 even 512MB Ram is fine
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23973

FYI, the Inq didn't actually fully test any RAM sizes or timings besides 1GB and standard timings.

 

[cptCuervo]

For the first time my Peak Mem usage has exceeded 1GB while playing BF2... the Game itself was using about 600MB, but I definately exceeded 1GB total system usage.

So, to say a game uses over 1GB is not true... but overall system usage while the game is running... is definately true. I'm going up to 2GB soon.

 

[FlasHBurN]

Originally posted by: cptCuervo

So, to say a game uses over 1GB is not true... but overall system usage while the game is running... is definately true. I'm going up to 2GB soon.

It most definitely is true for EQ2, and sometimes WoW. BF2 will probably use over 1GB itself when playing on large 64 player maps.

 

[FlasHBurN]

Well, after trying out 2GB I have decided it will be worth it. Multitasking while playing EQ2 was perfect, and the system never had to access the page file.

Should I go ahead and grab that Patriot ram mentioned above, or wait for the Corsair XMS to drop in price?

 

[djnsmith7]

I believe this thread will answer some of your memory usage questions for BF2.


http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=31&threadid=1618155&enterthread=y

 

[ryanv12]

Originally posted by: FlasHBurN
Well, after trying out 2GB I have decided it will be worth it. Multitasking while playing EQ2 was perfect, and the system never had to access the page file.

Should I go ahead and grab that Patriot ram mentioned above, or wait for the Corsair XMS to drop in price?

I have that Patriot RAM he linked you. Performance is excellent, and I most certainly saw an increase when playing BF2 on 64 player games (that's all I play anyways).

I have a well-groomed computer so there isn't much memory usage going on in the background and my memory usage went to about 1.2GB when playing the game.

Since that's only theoretical, let me say that I noticed the difference just from observation.