Is 2 GB RAM really worth it?

[Chaotic42]

Well, I have 1280MB of memory and I ran out using Linux last night... Weird that it happened right after I posted above. 😀

 

[PerfeK]

If you can afford it, go for 2gb. When I run CSS, it uses up the remainder of my 1gb, leaving my with 10mb free. With another gig, I'd be able to leave other ram hogging programs open without worrying about CSS performance dips. Unfortunately, I don't have a Venice which means I can't run 512x4 at 1T. This means I'll have to wait until I upgrade to a sM2 CPU in late 2006. I'll be fine with 1gb for now I guess.

 

[PerfeK]

Originally posted by: magomago

Originally posted by: Noob
If you play games it will definitely speed up the loading time and increase your FPS a little.

Show me games where 2 gigs "defnitely speeds up loading" over 1 gig, and where 2 gigs "increases your FPS a little" over 1 gig.

For games, save for a VERY select few that can be counted on a hand (EQ2, or SW:Galaxies if you blast the graphics) there are very few games that show strides with 2 gigs of ram.

1 Gig is the current sweet spot for now and the forseeable future. For others to say that 2 gig benefits over 1 gig for gaming, show me benchmarks.

Photoshop maybe another story, that depends on how large of canvasses you work with...and video editing can also use up ram fast (although video ENCODING uses very little ram...)

But for those who play games, to say that 2 gig is worth 1 gig doesn't truthfully apply, unless a person's wallet is that fast. By the time 2 gigs becomes worthful, it'll be like a person stuck with 1 gig of pc2100 ram wanting to move to A64 but not wanting to buy new ram and still not wanting the preformance hit they will take.

1 Gig is good for now and I wouldn't reccomend anymore.

Having 2gb in CSS will raise your minimum FPS which, to me, is more valuable than average FPS.

 

[SonicIce]

RAM requierments will stay the same between now and when Longhorn comes out. There may be a slight change between 1-2GB right now but when Longhorn comes out then 2GB will have more benefits than it does now. A few peices of software or games that come out right now will not be the so-called "2GB revolution".

 

[zendari]

The new monarch deal for $80 for a 1 GB stick seems good. It's corsair brand, and $160 for 2 gigs seems like a sweet deal. It used to be that 1 GB sticks commanded a premium in price, but since 1 GB is like $80 (2x512) that isn't the case anymore.

 

[Waylay00]

Originally posted by: magomago

Show me games where 2 gigs "defnitely speeds up loading" over 1 gig, and where 2 gigs "increases your FPS a little" over 1 gig.

BF Vietnam is one game that benefits from 2GB. The loading times are much faster.

 

[Waylay00]

Originally posted by: holycpu

Originally posted by: Starman
Regarding Battlefield 2: if someone can find the link, there's an interview with an EA designer who admits that in order to run the game on HIGH settings you're going to need 2GBs of RAM.

ya, who has link ? IF THIS CONFIRM TO BE TRUE, then there is a big reason we need 2GB of ram and BF2 is a beginning of 2gb Era.

"The power users who want to get a really full experience and turn every knob and dial to the top....need a couple of gigs of RAM" - Scott Evans, Producer of BF2

Link to Video - http://www.eagames.com/official/battlef...oducer%20Interview%20Part%202&resID=hi

 

[imported_Starman]

^^^

That's what I was referring to :thumbsup:

 

[imported_rod]

Originally posted by: Waylay00
I think it would be wise to buy 2GB now. As someone said earlier, BF2 will play best with 2GB. Back when 512MB was the norm, BF1942 came and to many's surprise, it wasn't enough to get running smoothly. So many upgraded to 1GB and found a huge increase. I think that it will be the same with BF2.

Can I just say that my Dads PC, a P4 1.6GHz, 256MB SD-RAM and a GeForce2, can play BF1942 at acceptable frame rates. Saying that it needs 2GB's is ridiculous.

RoD

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: hatim
Ive seen so many people get 2GBs, but whats the point. I never noticed much of a difference in an upgrade to 1GB from 512. I presume this would be even lesser.

ADD a POLL to the top of the page!

POLL

Is 2GB of RAM Worth it?

[*]YES ----------------------------> 28 votes
[*]NO ------------------> 17 votes

1. 
   Personaly I would say yes, especialy if you are a heavy multi-tasker. Also you could convert some of that extra ram to a virtual HDD and use it for your page file with RAM Disk Software from Cenetek. It's a nice performance boost. Also with 4GB you can enable the nolomem command in Windows XP or 2000 Professional. I noticed that my system is more responsive when I click on something using nolowmem and tons of RAM.

Combine lots of (4gb) memory with DUAL CORE X2 and you have a multitaskers dream

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Blain
:laugh: >> BENCHMARKS << :laugh:

Yes, I have run some benchmarks! :thumbsup:

Here's where I started...
XP Pro, IC7-G (875PE), 3.4C Northwood P4, 9800AIW,
All are PC3200 DIMMs, timings were handled @ SPD default, dual channel enabled 1-1.

512MB (256x2) @ Default 3400MHz
1GB (512x2) @ Default 3400MHz
1GB (512x2) @ 3% OC 3502MHz
1.5GB (512x2 & 256x2) @ Default 3400MHz
1.5GB (512x2 & 256x2) @ 3% OC 3502MHz
2GB (512x4) @ Default 3400MHz
2GB (512x4) @ 3% OC 3502MHz

😀 >> Click Here To See The Results << 😀



BTW, I used the PassMark PerformanceTest V5.0 to run the tests.

I'd have to say an OC bump is the better bang for the buck. 😉

 

[imported_X]

Nice cerebral benchmarks, but I would be very interested to see your tests in EQ2. I guarantee you will see a significant performance increase with over 1GB of memory.

 

[Maluno]

We cant really offer a single right answer for this, because it is completely dependant on how you want to use it. With the OP not describing his typical usage, we cannot answer.

 

[The Green Bean]

I picked up some cheap sticks of OCZ 3700 (1 gig) for about $150...Would I be better of selling it of and spending $40 more and getting 2 gigs (1x2) of value RAM? Ram isnt as cheap here as its in the US. This is cuz current games rn about 7-10% faster on TCCDs than 3-4-4-8 RAM which I upgraded from and to which I would be going back.

 

[The Green Bean]

I picked up some cheap sticks of OCZ 3700 (1 gig) for about $150...Would I be better of selling it of and spending $40 more and getting 2 gigs (1x2) of value RAM? Ram isnt as cheap here as its in the US. This is cuz current games rn about 7-10% faster on TCCDs than 3-4-4-8 RAM which I upgraded from and to which I would be going back.

 

[The Green Bean]

messed up net connection.

 

[The Green Bean]

bump

 

[Waylay00]

Originally posted by: rod

Originally posted by: Waylay00
I think it would be wise to buy 2GB now. As someone said earlier, BF2 will play best with 2GB. Back when 512MB was the norm, BF1942 came and to many's surprise, it wasn't enough to get running smoothly. So many upgraded to 1GB and found a huge increase. I think that it will be the same with BF2.

Can I just say that my Dads PC, a P4 1.6GHz, 256MB SD-RAM and a GeForce2, can play BF1942 at acceptable frame rates. Saying that it needs 2GB's is ridiculous.

RoD

Did I say BF1942 would benefit from 2GB? No...

I said BF2, the upcoming title in the franchise.

Get your facts straight first 😉

 

[2cpuminimum]

will more than 256mb of ram help in warcraft III?
It seems like it might be possible to pick up some second hand ram cheap for the bp6 in a few months, as pc100 sdram go for slightly higher than shipping cost on ebay, and I was wondering if it would be worth it to go up to 768 someday.
(dual celeron366mhz, 2x128mb pc100)

 

[Googer]

Get 4gb, Use Cenatek's RamDisk Software* and convert 1.5gb of that memory to a virtual disk. Then add your Windows swap file to the newly created ramdisk ( For example- D:\ ). You now have a high speed system that no longer depends on the hard disk for data retrieval. AWESOME.

*Free trial version download is avalable.

 

[amol]

I had a 1GB stick originally

Added another 1GB stick to get dual channel and I see a big difference

 

[Acanthus]

Not til longhorn.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: X

Originally posted by: RussianSensation
By the time 2 gigs of ram gives any tangible benefit in games, 6800GT and A64 2.6ghz will be like Intel 1.7 and Geforce MX440. For games you'd get much more benefit getting an Audigy 2 to offload the cpu further.

Try playing WOW or EQ2.

Wow does not consume that much memory, even in ogrimmar.

 

[Swanny]

Wouldn't be worth it for me.

 

[RockGuitarDude]

If you play any MMORPG, 1GB is much needed. My friend with 512MB lags out and dies every time we PvP in WoW. I have no such problems with 1GB.