Memory and gaming

[mrvegas5]

I just bought a new computer and thought it might be cheaper to upgade the memory after I received it since memory prices seems to be dropping.

I want to play Battlefield 1942. I want to play it online which I have never done before. I have 512K pc2700 memory. What would adding another 512k do to the performance of my gaming?

Also, since I have never been gaming online before what site is a good place to start.


Intel 2.4ghz
512K DDR pc2700
Radeon 9000 Pro video
Intel 845pe motherboard


Thanks

 

[dullard]

Welcome to Anandtech.

I'm going to assume you meant you have 512 MB of memory (not 512 kB). There are two games that I know of that really want more than 512 MB of memory: Battlefield 1942 and Sim City 4. I haven't played Battlefield 1942 yet but from what I've heard, it will use more memory if you have it, but you won't notice a major difference in speed for most of the game play. Sim City 4 on the otherhand has a major slowdown for large cities unless you have nearly 1 GB of memory.

All other games currently available won't benefit from more memory. So since your main program is Battlefield 1942, I think you will be fine for now, but you may get a slight benefit from more memory. I'd suggest you wait for the prices to be low enough (which may be soon or may be a long time since memory pricing is so volitile) before getting it though.

One question: Where did you get the computer from? I'm curious since the 2.4 GHz P4 chip will take a nice price drop on Monday, and if you just got it, some places will pricematch the lower price within 30 days.

 

[microAmp]

Originally posted by: mrvegas5
I just bought a new computer and thought it might be cheaper to upgade the memory after I received it since memory prices seems to be dropping.

I want to play Battlefield 1942. I want to play it online which I have never done before. I have 512K pc2700 memory. What would adding another 512k do to the performance of my gaming?

Also, since I have never been gaming online before what site is a good place to start.


Intel 2.4ghz
512K DDR pc2700
Radeon 9000 Pro video
Intel 845pe motherboard


Thanks

You might be better off with 512 MB of memory
I had 512 MB earlier but with 9700 Pro AA & AF turned all the way up and ran fine for me. Dropped another 512 MB in there and for me didn't see a difference. But others said BF1942 likes the 700 MB range.

Performace wise (frames per sec) your video card might be holding you back some.

 

[DaveSimmons]

> Battlefield 1942
That and Simcity 4 are the two games that do benefit from more than 512 MB RAM. The exact speedup varies depending on hard drive speed, but people here have said it's worth the RAM cost.

 

[mrvegas5]

Thanks for the quick response. This was my first post and this site seems like a great way to find information from.


I bought my system from Cyberpower which I not sure want the policy is on price drops. I know that Cyberpower does not have the greatest rating on resellerratings.com, but my freind bought 2 computers from there and there had great prices for name brand componets.


Also, how about a good site for online gaming??

Thanks

 

[CurtCold]

"Also how about a good site for online gaming?"

www.gamespy.com
www.zone.com

Depends on what games you play. Gamespy is the largest, (to my knowledge) online gaming centre.