• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

How much RAM to get; 4GB or 8GB?

T

The Keeper

Senior member
I currently have 4x2GB RAM sticks on order and ready to be sent when the last parts for my new rig arrive.

Each 2GB stick costs me 36 EUR (~53 USD according to universal currency converter). Based on the cost of one stick, should I get two or four sticks?

I will be using 64-bit OS'es and the main parts of the new rig are a P35, E8200 and either 3870 or 8800GT whichever arrives first.

I predict heaviest applications I'll be running are games, since I'm no video editor or graphics designer. So which are your recommendations; buy only 4GB and save 72? (~$102) or buy 8GB?

I'm not so tight on budget, but I simply wonder if 8GB is worth the money?

Addendum: There are a few similar topics, but I decided to create a new one for this exact price spot. Forgive me. 🙂
 
My opinion....

4GB with handle games perfectly but...seeing as how DDR2 is so cheap right now...I'd say...

Get it while you can...Plus it can NEVER hurt to have more memory....multi-tasking heaven...

8GB for the win!!
 
Since he's said that he doesn't do RAM-intensive work like hardcore image production, 8GB is a waste of money. Just because RAM is cheap doesn't mean it makes sense to max out your board.
 
If you don't mind the cost, 8GB is the way to go. More RAM is always better - it lets you keep basically your entire game loaded in the RAM instead of in the page file, leading to less stuttering. At the same time, it lets Windows sit in the RAM as well so it doesn't take a million years to get back to a functioning desktop after closing a game [like it does for me on my 1.25GB RAM]
 
hell, when is DDR3 going to be out? because DDR2 is SO cheap right now, it would make sense for everyone to buy as much as they can. its not going to be free in another year... nope look what happened to DDR. i expect DDR2 to go up in price drastically, STOCKPILE now!!
 
Originally posted by: zig3695
hell, when is DDR3 going to be out? because DDR2 is SO cheap right now, it would make sense for everyone to buy as much as they can. its not going to be free in another year... nope look what happened to DDR. i expect DDR2 to go up in price drastically, STOCKPILE now!!
Click to expand...

DDR3 is in fact out...:thumbsup:

Anyway, I'd venture to say, that when DDR3 prices start to fall then DDR2 will start going back up. That's exactly how it happened with DDR2 and DDR.

The performance difference between them right now is negligible an therefore DDR3 at this time is a waste of money...DDR2 isn't.
 
Originally posted by: DSF
Since he's said that he doesn't do RAM-intensive work like hardcore image production, 8GB is a waste of money. Just because RAM is cheap doesn't mean it makes sense to max out your board.
Click to expand...

If you uses either WinXP 64bit or Vista 64bit then the extra ram will be used to cache files from the hard-drive so it won't go to waste even if his apps of use only consume 4GB.

WinXP doesn't do super-fetch, so no pre-loading speed-up but if he closes an app (game) and then opens it again at a later time the app will load much faster as XP keeps it in the cache provided he has the extra ram (8GB helps there) to do so.
 
64-bit Vista's superfetch seems to be a nice feature and a decent reason to get 8GB. If I get 8GB now, then I hopefully only have to upgrade my video card and processor ~3 years from now, keeping my P35 mobo and DDR2 RAM. Nehalem will be out by then, but I doubt it'll make Penryn and DDR2 obsolete overnight, except for the performance enthusiasts.
 
4 GB is adequate; 8 GB is not much more, so if you like having more than enough... 😉
 
How much memory (upgrade) should I get for my system below? Which kind and brand of memory is best? Please give me recommendations with specific model numbers. My system IQ isn't very high so speak slow... manual says I can get any of these memory - DDR266, DDR333, DDR400, DDR, SDRAM, DIMM. Will any fit? What size do I need?
 
Thanks for replies. 🙂

leepark; IMHO you may want to consider saving your money until you can buy a brand new rig. You'll be already paying price premium for older DDR RAM modules. Anyway, there are many good brands to choose from. Your motherboard manufacturer's website should have a list of recommended brands and even models. You should look around for special offers and discounts for DDR RAM modules (not DDR2). Look for two 1GB DDR-400 (PC-3200) modules, replacing your current 512MB DDR modules. RAM alone won't bring significant performance improvement I suspect, you may want to look for Athlon 64 X2 S939 3600+ and Radeon 3850 256MB.
 
Originally posted by: zig3695
hell, when is DDR3 going to be out? because DDR2 is SO cheap right now, it would make sense for everyone to buy as much as they can. its not going to be free in another year... nope look what happened to DDR. i expect DDR2 to go up in price drastically, STOCKPILE now!!
Click to expand...

I agree, get 8GB NOW FTW. Heck, get 16GB and have some ready for the next PC you build if you're doing any kind of work which would benefit from having more than one PC.

I've got 2x 8GB quad core systems now, and my only regret is that I can't physically put 32GB into each one due to the slot limitation!

I agree totally with the theory that even if your individual applications themselves use less than 1-2GB of memory, the rest of the RAM will go to good use in keeping parts of the OS, disk I/O data, and other commonly used programs (web browser, email program, whatever) in memory for blazing fast access and window/task switching times.

Since the RAM industry has kindly decided to sell us 2GB DDR2-PC2-6400 RAM sticks at essentially zero mark-up over the cost of production, we can at least be nice enough to thank them by buying all we're going to be using for the next year or two now. 🙂

I'm still holding out some hope that before DDR2 is TOTALLY abandoned by chipset manufacturers that someone like VIA, SIS, NVIDIA, or whoever will come out with a chipset/motherboard that can take 8 sticks of normal DDR2 DIMMs and one or two quad-core CPUs.
But even lacking that, 8GB/system gets the job done pretty well and if not you can always build a small compute cluster.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top