How long is 1GB RAM likely to be still be a good amount?

[Diasper]

Currently, there is a transition happening to where 2GB will become to mainstream gaming amount. However, how far are we away from that where mainstream games will benefit significantly from them?

Yes, some games now currently use over 1GB RAM such as BF2 and the MMORPGs but they can be accused of being poorly coded or due to being online. 1GB is meant to still be plenty now for games like FEAR and Half Life 2 but future games like FEAR, HL2 etc how likely are they to need more than 1GB?

Given the Unreal 3 engine is looking to become a defacto standard (and maybe the future Cryengine) what is its likely needs to be regarding RAM since it's meant to be well-coded?

 

[TheRyuu]

IMO 1gig is already on the way out. I have 2 gigs and most if not everyone here will tell you if your building a new system you should try and shoot for 2gb since even todays games need that much memory.

 

[Malladine]

There's only 1 game today that makes use of more than 1 gig afaik and that is BF2. 1gb is just fine for a new system today imo. Check it out for yourself: compare total commit charge to total physical mem in task manager->performance while putting your system to work however you normally do. If the former is higher than the latter, you need more. If not, you don't.

That's how I see it anyway.

All that said, the turn around is here. I'd expect a few more games this year to make use of more than a gig of ram.

 

[Diasper]

Malladine - that's my understanding too but I'm just wondering how long it'll hold. I suppose the requirements of future engines like Unreal Tournament 3, Crytek's new one or even one like Oblivion would be the best indicators. If I remember commentary from Oblivion it shouldn't benefit from more than 1GB.

Basically, if you were looking to upgrade to X2 and had 1GB (2x512MB) but wanted the new rig to last two years at least - what's it chances of doing so? How much can optimising your system for low CPU utilisation help as well/reduce RAM?

You see if I'm looking at upgrading to S939 but 1GB isn't enough I may as well be considering AM2 or so given I'd have to buy everything new.

 

[Malladine]

You see if I'm looking at upgrading to S939 but 1GB isn't enough I may as well be considering AM2 or so given I'd have to buy everything new.

I'm not sure I understand. Are you talking about the fact that you can't run 4x512 in dual channel?

 

[Diasper]

That running 4 x 512MB in dual channel with it's according bandwidth hit while can be fine for single core it isn't terribly beneficial for dual cores - that's the reason why

Basically - speculation on upcoming RAM requirements vs most economic price/performance decision for those with 1GB already.

 

[Cooler]

when vista comes out then you will need 3 gigs or so right now 2 is what im running with.

 

[Malladine]

Originally posted by: Diasper
That running 4 x 512MB in dual channel with it's according bandwidth hit while can be fine for single core it isn't terribly beneficial for dual cores - that's the reason why

Basically - speculation on upcoming RAM requirements vs most economic price/performance decision for those with 1GB already.

If you're looking into building a top of the line rig to last two years without being touched, just spend the extra $200-$250 for 2x1024, especially if your current 1gb is pc2700 :thumbsup:. I really dig dual channel.

when vista comes out then you will need 3 gigs or so right now 2 is what im running with.

 

[GamerExpress]

Originally posted by: Cooler
when vista comes out then you will need 3 gigs or so right now 2 is what im running with.

And where is it that you heard this little tidbit of info, link please!!!