Videocard question

[bladefd]

Hey, I have been complaining to myself since yesterday because I had a little problem. Battlefield2 is almost unplayable at all medium settings and medium shadows with an eVGA 6800GS videocard that I just setup yesterday. I bought an opteron 144 with that.

2) I got 2 value ram sticks. One of the ram sticks is 256MB from Corsair and it is PC2700. The other ram stick is 256MB from Kingston and it is PC2700 as well. Also, is it possible to run the two ram on dual channel(I know nothing about dual channel btw)? Mobo is Epox 9NPA+ Ultra.

3) Should I try overclocking the videocard? If so, what tool should I use?

4) What can be the problem that is limiting me from playing BF2 at all medium settings?

 

[beserker15]

you need more ram my friend. hearing from my friend, his game doesn't become playable until he got 1.5gb into his system.

 

[bladefd]

Originally posted by: beserker15
you need more ram my friend. hearing from my friend, his game doesn't become playable until he got 1.5gb into his system.

How much more do I need? What if I just bought another 128MB PC2700 stick to make the total 640? Would that help or not?

 

[halw]

According to your original post and the recommendation of beserker15 you need another gig, i.e. 1 Gb.

 

[RussianSensation]

Why are you wasting money on small sized ram sticks? Do yourself a favour and pick up a cheap PC3200 1 gig stick for now. Later upgrade to another 1 gig stick for 2 gigs total. The performance hit shouldn't be that severe. At minimum go with 2x512mb sticks (but not most optimal solution). And have you started overclocking the Opteron 144 processor yet?

 

[Bobthelost]

I'd go with 2x512 PC3200 sticks. The 1T/2T timings issue isn't as bad as it's made out to be aparently and the recent cores can run 4 sticks at 400mhz anyway.

 

[zagood]

a) 90% of the time you won't be able to run memory from different manufacturers in dual channel. They need the same chips and both be either single/double sided with same timings.

b) Adding small sticks of ram is always a bad idea. Take the other posters' advice and get 2x512 or 1gb PC3200. 2x512 can be found with better timings for the price and the kits are made to run in dual channel.

c) After you add the new ram, either try to sell your old sticks for cheap or just put them aside for testing purposes later. Don't add them to the new ram, they'll slow it down.

EDIT: I've heard very good things about this ram:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440

-z

 

[imported_Stew]

Need better RAM.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Yeah seriously, a great video card and CPU won't make up for your puny RAM size. 512MB should be the minimum for just running Windows XP and web surfing/email/etc. For gaming, 1GB would be enough for most games, but BF2, FEAR, and MMORPG's require 2GB.

 

[bladefd]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation
Why are you wasting money on small sized ram sticks? Do yourself a favour and pick up a cheap PC3200 1 gig stick for now. Later upgrade to another 1 gig stick for 2 gigs total. The performance hit shouldn't be that severe. At minimum go with 2x512mb sticks (but not most optimal solution). And have you started overclocking the Opteron 144 processor yet?

I haven't tried overclocking the opteron 144 but again, it won't give me much performance gain anyways in BF2, will it? Plus, I am afraid of raising the FSB too much and possibly killing my ram; I am going to overclock soon though. I would raise the multiplier if it wasn't locked. Should I get 2x512 PC3200 sticks or 1x1024 PC3200 stick - some are saying 2x512 others are saying 1x1024? Also, if anyone can recommend me the cheapest ram that is PC3200 with good timing and stuff, it would be cool(it doesn't have to be the best at overclocking). I don't want to spend too much on ram then go bankrupt lol. I spent 450 bucks on videocard/cpu/mobo just a week ago - I am thinking of maybe waiting a couple of months for the ram. I guess until then, i will turn off shadows completely and lower some of the special effects in BF2 and stuff so it's playable. Thanks again, guys.

edit: If I order ram, I don't want to order them from newegg. They charge tax for my state because they are located here so I have stopped buying stuff from newegg. What if I order ram from ebay or something? Ram doesn't have to be brand new right out of the box like the cpu and videocard, etc.

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

get 2 gigs.

 

[jimbob200521]

1gb min should make it playable, but more is better

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Yeah, get 1GB minimum (1 stick, not 2x512MB). Ditch the 256MB sticks. Also, you can overclock and run a memory divider that will let you run your RAM at a slower speed than your HTT. You don't need a utility to overclock. The best way is just the BIOS. You might want to read about it first if it's your first time. For RAM, it's best to get some decent quality RAM from Corsair, Mushkin, OCZ, etc. Just make sure it has a lifetime warrenty.

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: bladefd

Originally posted by: beserker15
you need more ram my friend. hearing from my friend, his game doesn't become playable until he got 1.5gb into his system.

How much more do I need? What if I just bought another 128MB PC2700 stick to make the total 640? Would that help or not?

dude no offense but you're being HELLLLLLA jewish. you need 1 gig minimum for that game and 2gigs recommended. 128 mb will do nothing...it may actually be negative cause you lose dual channel