omfg how much ram is enough

no0b

Diamond Member
Jul 23, 2001
3,804
1
0
I went to a Circuit City the other day and I saw a system with 1GB of ram. It had windows XP on it and no memory intensive apps like photo editing or something. btw it was an AMD XP system for around 2 grand. When do you think we will need 1GB? I have half that and I barely use 256MB of it when I have 15 ie windows open im running windows XP also.
 

Ryan

Lifer
Oct 31, 2000
27,519
2
81
It was a Compaq machine - and it wasn't ddr ram - so 1gb is cheap. I saw it in todays ads. It is a HOME machine.
 

no0b

Diamond Member
Jul 23, 2001
3,804
1
0


<< It was a Compaq machine - and it wasn't ddr ram - so 1gb is cheap. I saw it in todays ads. >>



dem cheap basterds yea but 1GB of any ram is still overkill
 

jacklutz

Senior member
Aug 13, 2001
605
0
0
If they're at Circuit City to buy a computer, they probably just know more RAM is better, anyways.
 

nirgis

Senior member
Mar 4, 2001
636
0
0
It isn't about needs, its about convincing the customer that he should spend $2000 on the computer...
 

Nefrodite

Banned
Feb 15, 2001
7,931
0
0
1gbs not that bad, at the prices now its nothing to increase the amount. my lousy celly has 512 already, a xp with 1gb sounds about right. you might not use all that mem right away, but eventually you might. plus its running winxp so atleast it can use the mem efficiently. many home users install all sorts of cr@p anyways. besides, just because it doesn't include mem intensive image appz doesn't mean someone won't install one. scanning a large image eats a ton of memory. i'm only using win2k, but being able to run a ton of stuff and never worrying about mem usage is pretty nice.
 

yoda291

Diamond Member
Aug 11, 2001
5,079
0
0
I don't know...maybe they need to install q3a into a ramdisk for the extra performance or something. Plus you can't discount the possibility that they might need to use the RAM for apps they buy later. Heck, every time I run Nero, it consumes 80 MB(Yes, I meant to do this, it cuts back on underruns cuz I'm stuck with my old 8x and my 12x is an RMA).
 

Looney

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
21,938
5
0
The new Everquest expansion recommends 512mb of ram... and we all know the recommended specs are normally inadequate.
 

no0b

Diamond Member
Jul 23, 2001
3,804
1
0


<< The new Everquest expansion recommends 512mb of ram... and we all know the recommended specs are normally inadequate. >>


yikes!!!!!!
 

Sluggo

Lifer
Jun 12, 2000
15,488
5
81
As much extra crap as Compaq runs in the background, their computers may need 1GB of RAM to run XP properly.
 

Uclagamer_99

Platinum Member
Jul 28, 2000
2,867
1
76
why does evertquest take up so much ram, i was able to run the original back when i had only 64 and a voodoo1...the graphics kinda suck compared to newer ganmes...and the expansion doesn't look that much better :p
 

compudog

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2001
5,782
0
71
My brother in law bought a gig of DDR ram for his latest upgrade (XP1800+, MSI K7tPro2) and can't get the second 512 stick to work. (NTKERN error when loading msmouse.vxd) I told him to buy a new vid card as his old one (Asus V7700) is flaky. Anyway, a gig of ram is fine. It really doesn't add much to the price. And it may help them move more machines out the door!
 

BoberFett

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
37,562
9
81
Compaq loads up on RAM instead of building a quality computer. Specs are impressive when buying, and cheaper to implement than quality.
 

Ionizer86

Diamond Member
Jun 20, 2001
5,292
0
76
From my experiences, 256mb is adequate. Once, I upgraded from 128mb to 192mb, and the performance increase was extreme. Then, the same day, I installed the other 64mb module to total 256mb (both 64mb sticks were free after rebate) and the performance gain was minimal. Later, more free after rebate ream was offered, so I bought some and now I have 384mb, with no apparent performance gain.

So, I'd say that 256mb is enough. I've never been able to use that much even though apps like Project64 and Nero can use 90mb. For my new DDR system, I've only bought 256mb PC2100 because I felt that's adequate.
 

Rickten

Golden Member
Apr 17, 2001
1,607
0
0
the new expansion to everquest doesn't even work with 128mb of ram. My roomate tried. The screen jumps around VERY badly as he moves and it takes forever to load.
 

Looney

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
21,938
5
0
why does evertquest take up so much ram, i was able to run the original back when i had only 64 and a voodoo1...the graphics kinda suck compared to newer ganmes...and the expansion doesn't look that much better

Actually, the expansion graphics are completely different than the original. Infact, the expansion graphics is far superior to recent released games like Anarchy Online and DAoC. But if you're comparing games like RtCW or Ghost Recon.... well, try sticking 100+ people in the same zone, and you'll see those games would require the same specs as EQ.

I would say 256 is the bare minimum these days. 512 should be the standard. I can definitely see a difference running 256mb vs 512mb in Win2k or XP.
 

gopunk

Lifer
Jul 7, 2001
29,239
2
0
i dunno, but i don't think any of you can say what other people need for ram. i tell people i have 512 mb ddr, and they say "what's the point?! you'll never use it!" um no, i have a ram monitor, and i frequently run out. i do stuff like rip dvds. not to mention, when you're writing programs that use dynamically allocated memory, it's nice to not run out of ram and have your system crash just because of some stupid infinite loop.

my point is this, there are occasions when i use all of my 512 ram. i imagine that if i had 1 gb, there would be occasions when all of that gets used. could i get by with less? yes. but would it be the same? no, it's definitely faster to have free ram on hand.
 

Nefrodite

Banned
Feb 15, 2001
7,931
0
0
heh i remember when 8mb was a lot of ram. it was almost 200 bux i think. nothing extends the life of your system like memory:)
 

spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
65,469
5
76


<< dem cheap basterds yea but 1GB of any ram is still overkill >>



I frequently use more than 512 sometimes 700 meg. Really all depends on what you're doing. With the p4 and home computers they are being marketed as hardcore multimedia machines - need ram for that.

1 gigabyte is fine.
 

CStroman

Golden Member
Sep 18, 2001
1,568
0
0


<< So, I'd say that 256mb is enough. I've never been able to use that much even though apps like Project64 and Nero can use 90mb. For my new DDR system, I've only bought 256mb PC2100 because I felt that's adequate. >>



Project64 has got to be the best N64 emulator. I only have 256 in my computer now, and my last computer only had 128 and I was fine with that.