here is a 1 GIG PC133 benchmark for you with a geforce 4 4200 128 meg and a athlon 1.4 gig using 3dmark2001se and my memory was set at CAS 2 in the bios, see my system rig for all the details- 8034. with the memory prices being so cheap there is no harm in putting as much memory into a computer as the motherboard will permit. windows will use it if it is there.
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This post is for everyone in here that keeps recommending 1GB of RAM for new computers - Benchmarks
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CommanderYtineres
Member
If you have Everquest SOL or POP you need 512mb of ram to play with everything on, and 768mb to play without video lag in some zones.
vegetation
Diamond Member
I'll nod to this. Sim City 4 is a memory hog. Might even need multiple gigs of ram if you want to switch back and forth to the desktop without ridiculous disk swapping going on.
Have any of you Nforce2 users out there done this setup with your ram:
256 PC2700
256 PC2700
512 PC2700
Will the dual channel still work properly? I do notice plenty of HD swapping when I close down War3 and I currently have the 2 sticks of 256MB. Would it be worth it to grab another 512 stick?
256 PC2700
256 PC2700
512 PC2700
Will the dual channel still work properly? I do notice plenty of HD swapping when I close down War3 and I currently have the 2 sticks of 256MB. Would it be worth it to grab another 512 stick?
sharkeeper
Lifer
Well, I'm not one into games but I can say if I have only 1GB my day will be sad. You can never have too much memory! Windows 9x users need not apply.
Cheers!
Cheers!
Eug
Lifer
I'll be going from 384 to 640 MB RAM on my setup. It will be almost USELESS for the games I have (QIII, UT) but should help with some of the image/video editing apps. Somebody gave me this humungous image file. I tried opening it on my machine, and it seemed like I was in a time warp it was sooooo slow.
My laptop has 768 MB RAM, but that's because the OS (Mac OS X.2) converts all the 2D desktop space to textures and renders with OpenGL. It needs gobs and gobs of RAM, esp. if you have dual monitors and tons of windows open. I'm considering upgrading to 1 GB on the laptop since video editing is slowing the thing down now.
My laptop has 768 MB RAM, but that's because the OS (Mac OS X.2) converts all the 2D desktop space to textures and renders with OpenGL. It needs gobs and gobs of RAM, esp. if you have dual monitors and tons of windows open. I'm considering upgrading to 1 GB on the laptop since video editing is slowing the thing down now.
Had to go to bed last night, so I couldn't answer your questions then. First off, you can't run more than two sticks of RAM in order to use DCDDR. Sorry t0mmyb0y.
You're only right in that 3DMark doesn't SHOW the benefits of more RAM, but that's because in reality, it's not neccessary for people to have more RAM in games. If it were that much of a boon, that program would show it. And there is at least some difference between having 512MB of RAM and having only 256MB, it's just not that great. I believe that this is indicative of actual results of 90% of games out there.
First off, no amount of multitasking with IE or Excel or any other normal program will suck up enough memory to make 1GB of RAM worthwhile. I can open 20 or 30 IE windows at once, along with Winamp and Outlook and not even use more than 184MB of RAM. If you are just dying to have these things open in the background while you play BF1942, then yes, you'll have problems. However, most users don't have such a need for this kind of thing that they want to spend an extra $200 on RAM. And with the Photoshop and sound editing examples you're beating a dead horse. Why don't you try reading my posts where I've repeatedly stated that more RAM will help those types of programs?!
Please refer to my last two sentences. Jesus people, READ! The reason for this post is to show people that come in here looking for advice for mainly game-oriented PC configurations that they don't need to spend another $200.
No, actually it's not. Those are two separate parts that do two separate things. RAM is only there as a transitional space. It holds information for easy access. If you don't have it filled, then you surely don't need more. Plus, even though I don't have 1GB of RAM (wouldn't that make me ever the hypocrite), I think it should be obvious that the diminishing returns would continue.
Many have asked this, and my answer is simple: I'm not a hardware reviewer or a millionaire. I can't afford to get more RAM since it doesn't seem to be worthwhile. Again, see above for why I feel my benchmarks are still applicable.
I don't claim that my methods are perfect, though I have at least recently clean installed 2k Pro on my machine. I should have said, and am now saying, you have to take these with a grain of salt. Now, that being said, some have questioned that anyone has come in here and been told to get 1GB of RAM. Some of my grievence here is from the fact that people are suggesting it, but the other part is from people who come here looking to buy a new computer and assuming that they'll need 1GB of RAM. OK, check out bsr in this thread, or n00tch here. That fits both examples.
My intention was for people to come in here and check this before they ask questions about building a new machine (not like they ever sue the search function or anything :roll😉. That way they're informed about what extra memory will do for them in games.
Judgement
Diamond Member
3dMark cannot be considered anywhere near as memory intensive as some games are. It has to contain a lot less information in ram then most semi-new 3d games.
Not to mention many games have memory leaks, which means unless you plan on playing and rebooting once every hour your performance will decrease to unreasonable levels quickly with less ram.
Although I don't have 1gb of ram, and don't think its worth it for my money, to say it wouldn't help is just wrong. Is it going to help as much as going from 128mb to 256mb etc? Of course not... the returns are deminishing.
I know one thing though, I couldn't imagine playing Asheron's Call 2 (for example) with less then 512mb of memory.... I'd love to have a gig. My computer at home instead, as opposed to my dorm room, only has 256mb and it was almost unplayable until I upgraded.
Not to mention many games have memory leaks, which means unless you plan on playing and rebooting once every hour your performance will decrease to unreasonable levels quickly with less ram.
Although I don't have 1gb of ram, and don't think its worth it for my money, to say it wouldn't help is just wrong. Is it going to help as much as going from 128mb to 256mb etc? Of course not... the returns are deminishing.
I know one thing though, I couldn't imagine playing Asheron's Call 2 (for example) with less then 512mb of memory.... I'd love to have a gig. My computer at home instead, as opposed to my dorm room, only has 256mb and it was almost unplayable until I upgraded.
paralazarguer
Banned
Anyone know how to make a rolling eyes emoticon? I need to use one right now. for everything he just said....
There are TONS of posts in this thread providing examples of games which actually do benefit from more than 512MB. Posting a thread that's supposed to be some definitive "game machines don't require more than 512MB of ram" reference based solely on 3d mark score is silly at best. It doesn't have anywhere near the memory footprint of some games, esp. RTSes. It's obvious from people's real world experiences even in this thread that some people do benefit from more than 512MB of ram in some games. There is no blanket answer for everyone...especially not based on some meaningless FPS 3dmark scores.
mechBgon
Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Ilmater, you're incorrect. nForce2 can run dual-channel mode with three memory modules. I know that might seem counterintuitive, but that's the fact. nForce2's northbridge doesn't combine the two 64-bit controllers into one 128-bit path, unlike E7205; it load-balances between the two. Identical modules are still desirable, but it will work regardless.
paralazarguer
Banned
By the way, if you have 512 megs of ram and look at your memory usage while gaming and say "well, I have 100 megs free! I guess that means I have tons of extra ram!" No, it doens't work that way. Windows uses the swap file heavily and tries to leave some physical ram available. the more ram you have, the less the hard drive will be used as swap space. The same game *might* have a 300meg footprint on a 512MB machine and a 400MB footprint on a 1gb machine. You have to look at the swapfile usage aswell.
Yah, read that in my manual and a few review sites. I was thinking of trying out 2x256MB in slots 1 and 2, and a 512MB in slot 3, which would effectively amount to 2 x 512MB in dual-channel, discounting any RAM/mobo timing issues. But I'm lazy, I'm going for 2 sticks for 1GB.....ONLY FOR GAMING!!!! :Q
😉
Chiz
I have 1 GB of ram. Bought it because running 2 windows of Everquest can actually eat up all your ram (even 1 GB). You will actually get message popups saying "your out of ram etc etc". So I got 1 GB and don't regret it. I don't see what the discussion is about though, buy what you can afford, you are never going to hurt yourself by buyin more memory. If you can buy 1 GB without blinking, then go ahead and do so.
To do this, all you need to do is add the "Virtual Memory" column into the processes tab of task manager. Also, limiting your VRAM to a fixed number can help if you have a lot of ram that isn't being utilized.
To do this, all you need to do is add the "Virtual Memory" column into the processes tab of task manager. Also, limiting your VRAM to a fixed number can help if you have a lot of ram that isn't being utilized.
Wow. I stand corrected. I thought for sure I'd read that before. Was the nForce 1 like that? Is the Granite Bay like that? Maybe I read it about something else and got mixed up.
As for paralazarguer, I know how to check my VMem usage, thanks. I will admit that I'm overzealous in the way I labeled this thread, but that's a usual flaw of mine. In the end, this thread did do one thing I intened. It gave me a spot that I can add to my sig and say, "If you're considering going to 1GB of RAM, take a look at this first." I get people riled up enough and I get a lot of true opinions about what they think about that kind of memory configuration - and even offer a counterpoint - and there really doesn't need to be anything else said.
Even if you don't think that everyone in the world is recommending it, I mention it at least once a day to people who come in here looking for buying advice.
I've learned two things: that more memory is beneficial in more games than I previously thought, and nForce 2's DCDDR function works even when you have 3 sticks in it.
Now calm down paralazarguer, it's all good.
paralazarguer
Banned
Yeah, that's all well and good but seriously, does anyone know how to make that rolling eyes emoticon? 😉
Woodchuck2000
Golden Member
In the next couple of years, there are bound to be things that will benefit. With ram at it's current price (here in the UK anyway...) I would probably recommend 1Gb of ram to any semi-serious user.
I'm thinking of upgrading my PC from 512DDR to 1Gig at the moment. I'm a frenetic multi-tasker with a penchant for VMWare so I figure it'll get well used...
I'm thinking of upgrading my PC from 512DDR to 1Gig at the moment. I'm a frenetic multi-tasker with a penchant for VMWare so I figure it'll get well used...
Yah, lately when nForce2 users have been asking what RAM they should choose, 2 x 256 PC2700 or 1 x 512 PC3200, I've been rec'd the 1 stick of PC3200. The benefits of having dual channel don't outweigh the cost of having to replace all of your RAM and eating depreciation on 2 sticks, then having to purchase a second 512 stick at full when you want to upgrade.
I shoulda bought 2 x 512 to start with, now I'm gonna be eating some cost on 2 month old Samsung PC2700.
Chiz
The Epox 8RDA that I ordered a few days ago is coming with 1 module of 512MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM. Hopefully this will give me an upgrade path. One thing, though: the RAM I ordered is a Kingston module (CAS 2.5, IIRC, if it matters); if I decide to go dual-channel at a later time, would I need to get the exact same model of RAM module, or would a piece of Mushkin, Crucial, or Samsung PC2700 work also?
Like you, I also have to crunch large avi's to mpeg for dvd authoring. Until I get my 200g hard drive, I am limited to 100g avi's, but even at that size, all my 512 is used up. I can't imagine what my system is going to do when I start converting 200g files! Memory prices need to fall faster!
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