is there a noticeable difference between 512 megs of ram vs 1 gig?

[DarkKnight]

I'm upgrading my system and I'm stuck on whether i should get two sticks of 256 PC 2700 ram or 2 sticks of 512 mb PC2700 ram (I plan on using dual channel on a ASUS A7N8X Deluxe board). Will there be a noticable difference between 512 megs of ram vs 1 gig? if i just get the 512, i can probably by a 52X24X52 burner.

FYI, I mainly use my computer for playing games, burning cds and surfing the 'net.

 

[compudog]

More RAM is always a good idea. When I built my PC (on the same board as you) I got 2 x 256 PC 2700. I will be adding a 512 stick later this week for a total of a gig. We'll see if there is any performance improvement.

 

[RyanVM]

I've been running 1GB since I built this rig, so I'm not really qualified to say what the differences are. I can tell you that it's rather nice to have my pagefile completely disabled, though

And from what I've heard from those that have upgraded from 512MB --> 1GB, games like BF1942 seems to play a little bit better with 1GB, especially on large maps and such.

Personally, I'd say go with 1GB just because it'll add some life to your computer. But you'll probably be OK in either circumstance.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

You'll probably notice an improvement in speed depending on what games you play and how much memory they can use at most.

If I were you, I'd get 2x 256mb and the burner because unless you really feel the need now, you don't have to.

Also, in burning CDs and surfing the 'net, you won't notice any difference.

 

[nippyjun]

i have the same mobo and had 512 megs. When I exited out of games the desktop wouldn't just appear but would sort of scroll down until I could see it. Now with 1 gig when I exit out of games the desktop is immediately there. I even remember with my last system going from 512 to 640 did the same thing, but I wanted to have dual channel so I went with a gig now.

 

[snidy1]

I definatly noticed a differance.

 

[bgeh]

i'll go for 1 gig. brought lots of difference in simcity 4(my pop's 200k) and bf1942, of course

 

[Hardtarget]

in all honestly right now you probably don't need it. BF1942 and Sim City 4 (2 games already mentioned in this thread) are the only games i can think of right now that will benefit at all, and really they won't beneft a ton. Get the fast burner, and then in the future you can always upgrade your ram. I've got a p4 2.4 on a asus p4pe with only 512 and it is working great for me. I came into 256 megs of ram for free recently so I'm gonna install that and see if 784 does anythign better than 512, i doubt i'll really notice anything though.

 

[chizow]

PlanetSide can and will use more than 1GB of RAM. Its on store shelves today....

Chiz

 

[Apotherix]

not really

 

[Jeff7]

I got 1GB of RAM so I could have a bigger RAMdisk, but shortly before the new stick arrived, my RAMdisk software seems to have decided to die; it appears in Device Manager normally (AR Soft is the maker of it) when it's running, but now it says that it can't load the drivers for it? Dunno, but that's one thing to use the extra RAM for - a RAM drive for temp stuff or downloaded crap that'll delete itself when you reboot. I use it for temporary internet files, cookies, etc.

 

[t0mmyb0y]

Originally posted by: compudog
More RAM is always a good idea. When I built my PC (on the same board as you) I got 2 x 256 PC 2700. I will be adding a 512 stick later this week for a total of a gig. We'll see if there is any performance improvement.

Let me know how that goes. I have been thinking about this for awhile since prices are sooooo low. Same board and situation as you. Kingston Value RAM in my case.

 

[filmmaker]

I noticed a significant jump in the time that Photoshop took to open on my system when I had from two 256 sticks and added a 512 to my system.

So if you have a program that takes a lot of resources, I would recommend getting more RAM since it is so goddamn cheap these days.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Yep, great for ram drives to have lots O' ram. I have a couple proggies let me buffer the job in ram so having a gig helps me out with them.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
I got 1GB of RAM so I could have a bigger RAMdisk, but shortly before the new stick arrived, my RAMdisk software seems to have decided to die; it appears in Device Manager normally (AR Soft is the maker of it) when it's running, but now it says that it can't load the drivers for it? Dunno, but that's one thing to use the extra RAM for - a RAM drive for temp stuff or downloaded crap that'll delete itself when you reboot. I use it for temporary internet files, cookies, etc.

I don't understand why people use proprietary ramdisk software to accomplish the same thing that Windows' built-in disk caching does for free (and better). Letting Windows take care of the disk cache itself is the best option simply because it's so flexible, not to mention faster. If you are only using 200MB of your 1GB of RAM, Windows can use all of the rest of your memory for a cache if it needs to. However, if you start up a few big applications that need 800MB of RAM, some of your disk cache can be instantly freed to make room for your programs so that Windows won't need to go to the swap file.

Also, please don't get me started on putting a swap file on a RAM disk; that's just totally idiotic if you think about it for a second.

BTW, I have 512MB of RAM, but plan to upgrade to 1024MB soon. My primary uses are heavy multitasking of Dreamweaver, Photoshop, countless web browers of various kinds and versions, and occasionally VMWare or Maya (or both). For gamers, if you happen to play one of the few games that benefits from it, by all means go ahead and get 1GB if you can afford it. Otherwise, get 512MB plus the nice CD-RW.

 

[0roo0roo]

yes i'm using over 512 haha and i'm just surfing. well after a few days of up time i have 30 ie explorer windows open amoung other stuff

i don't close em to start up counter strike.

i do have to close some stuff for 1942, esp desert combat which takes more then 600mb alone. simcity is also a hog. its all about the gmaes its so cheap why not? why cripple a system u spend a ton of money on other parts for their super speed to save 50 bux on ram

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
yes i'm using over 512 haha and i'm just surfing. well after a few days of up time i have 30 ie explorer windows open amoung other stuff

i don't close em to start up counter strike.

i do have to close some stuff for 1942, esp desert combat which takes more then 600mb alone. simcity is also a hog. its all about the gmaes its so cheap why not? why cripple a system u spend a ton of money on other parts for their super speed to save 50 bux on ram

dvd2one need a 1GB so can do the 30+(actually had 46 open yesterday..pared down to 16 today ) ie windows and do a burn if/when needed

 

[Compddd]

Planetside uses around 880MB of RAM to run, I betaed it for along time and will be buying it tommorow

 

[EdipisReks]

Unreal 2 really likes having 1GB.

 

[Cuular]

Shadowbane also is a memory hog. The more the better for it as well.

 

[RyanVM]

hehe...I'm seriously considering going to 2GB of RAM with my next upgrade (probably around the time the Athlon64 is established)

 

[Malladine]

Originally posted by: EdipisReks
Unreal 2 really likes having 1GB.

I can attest to that. The game runs superbly on my wife's system w/a radeon 9700 gold, XP 1700+ @ stock and 1gb PC2700 ram. Max settings, never a stutter.

Which reminds me, anyone set UT2k3 to max settings @ 1024x768? Lol.

 

[Malladine]

Originally posted by: RyanVM
hehe...I'm seriously considering going to 2GB of RAM with my next upgrade (probably around the time the Athlon64 is established)

Established? 2yrs? yeah, maybe 2gb then. Most mobos today can take up to 3, but doesn't win2k have a problem with more than that? Are you talking about a 64bit windows along with the Athlon64?

 

[JCE86]

In what applications would you find having more ram be effectively beneficial? Would having more ram improve watching DVD's? Would having ram improve watching DiVX videos?

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: JCE86
In what applications would you find having more ram be effectively beneficial? Would having more ram improve watching DVD's? Would having ram improve watching DiVX videos?

like ugh stuff that loads a ton of ugh stuff into memory videos stream, they don't load entire videos into memory. dvds are 6-8gb, u couldn't buffer the entire video if u wanted to

picture editing/video editing takes a lot of memory. running a ton of apps together multitasking will eat your memory. games will eat your memory alive.