How big does memory speed effect performance?

[bluemax]

In the case of crazy-RAM games like Sim City 4, I have to wonder.... Just how much does RAM effeect performance?

I mean, PC-66, 100, 133, 150, etc... it all made sense. Faster = better.

Then we moved to DDR... same idea only theoretically double the speed.

And there's some kind of dual-channel DDR, right? I remember nForce boards having it, any others?

And just how do all these memory enhancements effect a crazy game like SC4?

Which would be better? A GIG of PC-133 or 512MB of the fastest setup of DDR possible? Even so, the PC-133 is a lot cheaper right now.

Thoughts?

 

[Ilmater]

I don't claim to have seen benchmarks and don't know personally about SC4, but I'd bet having 1 GB of PC133 would help that particular game more than having DDR RAM. Switching to DDR RAM didn't get me much on ANY of my games in terms of performance. Here's my take on it:

The performance differences between PC133 and DDR266 is relatively small. So, if a program only uses 256MB of your RAM, then it will benefit more from having the DDR266 in it than the extra RAM because it's not using all of either of them up. However, if it does use 800MB of RAM, then having more will mean more performance because your hard drive will be the bottleneck when it is accessed.

 

[Whitedog]

Which would be better? A GIG of PC-133 or 512MB of the fastest setup of DDR possible?

A GIG of DDR in an NForce2 board.

 

[Whitedog]

I'll put it this way. Some people will say "I don't need a GIG of RAM!"

If you play SC4, you NEED a GIG of RAM (If you want to enjoy the game fully).

 

[bluemax]

1 gig of DDR is expensive....
Which is why PC-133 is still an option... I'm wondering how big of a performance difference one would see in a memory-hog game like SC4. 1GB PC-133 vs. 1GB PC2700 dual-channel-thingy. Or 512MB for that matter.....

 

[arcenite]

I am going DDR and will have 3x256mb PC133 chips left over... not sure if i'm going to sell them or throw them in the memory bin.

Bill

 

[Texun]

I would buy for the future, or at least as far in the future as you can go. PC133 won't work in the latest boards, ECS may be an exception now, but there are very few others if any. Depending on how picky you are about parts you probably won't be looking at ECS and an upgrade path but it will use either SDRAM or DDR.

If you buy a gig of PC133 today you will be stick with it. I bought PC2700 for my VIA 266A board. It won't use the extra bandwidth but the board will run it. When I swap boards in the future I stand a better chance of being able to use the PC2700.