Ram.. How much do i REALLY NEED

[Slash621]

OK.. Going DFI Lanparty NF2 and Barton 2500+... not sure on BRAND of memory but i need to figure out if i wanna go 512 or 1gb right now

Overclocking / gaming usage on a regular basis.

Could i make use of 1gb? Is there a reasonable performance jump for using 1gb instead of 512?

Modules in question will be matched dual channel 256x2 or 512x2.... most likely corsair XMS... ive also been told about TWINmos and Buffalo stuffs. but lets jus stick to the questions at hand.


Many thanks in advance,
Mike

 

[GTaudiophile]

I have 512MB. I thought that was enough until I started playing BF1942. Another 512MB would cut the load time for that game by 50%. I'd go with 1GB. I've found you can really never have too much RAM.

 

[chocoruacal]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
I have 512MB. I thought that was enough until I started playing BF1942. Another 512MB would cut the load time for that game by 50%. I'd go with 1GB. I've found you can really never have too much RAM.

BF1942 uses a gig of RAM?!?! There's a new one.

If you have to ask, you definitely don't need a gig. Its not going to do anything for games/internet/porn. For most people its just an ego booster. If you did photoshop/video editng/CAD for a living, then yeah, you'd benefit.

 

[Geomagick]

I'm running 512MB PC3200 Corsair XMS stuff and it ploughs through everything that I throw at it, used to have a gig many moons ago prior to my recent upgrade and it wasn't worth it.

As chocoruacal said if you ask whether you need a gig then you don't and I have to agree with him.

 

[amdskip]

I too upgraded to a gig, very happy.

 

[ramazorg]

1 gig is the only way. I have 256 megs and it doesnt cut it anymore. My next rig will have 1 gig.

 

[beatle]

Newer games use more ram than a machine with 512 megs can give it. Keep in mind that it doesn't unload all of your ram and let the game have all it can have. At least 100 megs are reserved for the OS, plus any resident apps you're running. I've played SOF2, BF1942, Unreal 2, and SimCity 4. ALL of these games use way more than my 512 meg machine had. I put in another stick and even STILL some games will max out my memory. Even SOF2, a game based on the Q3 engine, sucked up all available memory. I would highly recommend a gig if you're going to be playing games, especially newer games.

 

[TheBDB]

I think the concensus is 512 will work just fine, but if you have the money it is possible you will see performance increases in some apps with 1GB.

 

[Slash621]

I seem to have a decent ammount of 1Gig voters too.... getting tough to decide

Also i plan to keep this rig antoher 2-3 years like my last one... I think newer games will brake what 512 can handle

 

[beatle]

You could always buy 2x256 now and later pick up a 512 meg stick if you feel that you need more. Unless you're overclocking at the bleeding edge, you should be fine.

 

[JBT]

I use 2 x 256. I think that with the new games comming out a gig would be VERY handy. As you have heard many of the games out RIGHT NOW are getting performance gains from 1 gig. With all the textures and shaders that the furture games like the most popular HL2 and DOOM III will have I bet that the gains would be very helpful. So if u have the money now and wish for the system to last quite awhile go for the GIG baby!!

 

[EXman]

I had 1 gig I now have 512 I didn't the extra ram.

<-- don't game much BF1942 plays fine for me though

 

[Mutilator]

Upgrading from 512MB to 1GB of RAM definately helped out DesertCombat. Someone here posted that DC has been known to use 700MB of RAM on some maps.
We're talking about what? ~$90/512MB chip? I'd go ahead and buy 2 if you can afford it.

Edit - Noticed you mentioned XMS... my pricing was for Crucial. Add a few $$

 

[Lyfer]

If you're an "avid" gamer, I highly recommend 1gb of RAM. In Warcraft III, big games like 4vs4/6vs6 totally lag with 512mb of ram.

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: Slash621
I seem to have a decent ammount of 1Gig voters too.... getting tough to decide

Also i plan to keep this rig antoher 2-3 years like my last one... I think newer games will brake what 512 can handle

Go for the gig,

Like others said, FUTURE games are going to push that 512 standard to 1 gig easily... Doom 3, Half Life 2, Max payne 2... Ya, they are all gonna want a gig.

 

[4x4expy]

I play plenty of games with 512mb. BF1942 has zero lag for me with max bots and at 1280x1024 with graphics opions wide open. I have taken a 512 stick of pc3500 from another rig and popped in here for a total of a gig and saw no difference in frame rate, load time, etc. So, it is pretty safe to say that with any of today's games you wouldn't notice a difference. If you are going to keep the system for 2-3 years, you may need a gig later. My suggestion would be a stick of 512mb now, spend the $100 you save elsewhere in your box where you would see a difference now, and in a year or so with the increased size and complexity of games, you could buy another 512mb when it is cheaper than now.


My $.02.

 

[sniperruff]

512 is enough for now. more is a waste of money

that is unles you run photochop, virtual dub and 20 other intense apps while playing BF1942 then go for the gig

a faster CPU gets you a faster PC, not 4 sticks of 512mb PC3500

 

[exm]

I actually have 768 Mb of RAM. My Dell came with 256 Mb standard and I purchased a Micron PC2700 stick for app. $60. I'm quite happy with it; no problems reported. My suggestion is to for 512 Mb as a minimum but if you can upgrade to 768 Mb or 1 Gb for a nice price, go for it.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: amdskip
I too upgraded to a gig, very happy.

Same here - when scanning and working with high-res images, the photo editor I use will just stash the entire thing into RAM if there's space. Working on a picture stored in RAM is so much faster than when it's on the hard drive.

 

[Nebor]

The forums were slow for me w/ only 512mb of ram.

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: Nebor
The forums were slow for me w/ only 512mb of ram.

Well just go ahead an ignore that post Slash.

 

[BD231]

Originally posted by: Nebor
The forums were slow for me w/ only 512mb of ram.

lol. Yeah, you havn't seen anything till you've run Microsoft Word on 1gig of ram.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: BD231

Originally posted by: Nebor
The forums were slow for me w/ only 512mb of ram.

lol. Yeah, you havn't seen anything till you've run Microsoft Word on 1gig of ram.

For real, and if you have high bandwidth memory like PC4000, when you type, it doesn't delay going to the screen! Not until 110wpm anyways... But who can type that fast?

BTW, Check out 8x AA and 8x AF in Excel, it will BLOW YOU AWAY. Makes me wish I had 5900 already.

 

[Slash621]

What do ya'll think of Geil Golden Dragon in PC3200 and PC3500 flavors for the DFI LPNF2... I plan to go the 2500+ overclocked route

 

[tweeve]

get a Gig, you will be happy with it, i am btw, i notice a bit diffrence in BF1942 with a gig compaired to others that dont, the computers that have a gig do better and are able to run with more bots before lag gets too bad over the lan. i have also made BF1942 use more then a gig of RAM, just play the Battle of Midway, and take your carrier and RAM the other carrier with 24 bots playing. I garentee that your system WILL LAG BAD. 5 systems got bogged down including my server which is a P4 2.8C with the ASUS P4C800 Deluxe MoBo, 1GB Corriar RAM PC3200, and a 128MB Geforce 4 TI 4800, the server was running it as a detcated and it even crashed due to lack of RAM. so at times even a gig is not enough.