Why would I want more than 128 megs of ram?

[madthumbs]

When I went from 96 megs of PC100 to 128 of PC133, I didn't get a significant performance improvement in games. I see everyone getting more than 128, and it was rare when I had 64 that the swap file was ever used. How could I specifically benefit from more ram?

 

[AndrewR]

It depends on what kind of programs you're running and how many of them you are running. For me, I like to keep open Agent, Internet Explorer (several windows), Windows Explorer, Eudora, possibly ACDSee, and maybe a few others. Since I also run antivirus sometimes, Norton Protected Recycle Bin, and the ATI multimedia center, 128MB doesn't go very far if I happen to run something memory intensive. I was seeing a large dip in resources on occasion and some disk thrashing as my main memory was used up. I don't see that anymore with 256MB.

If you use graphics programs, then you'll see the benefit in working with large images, such as those commonly created by a scanner (mine can create some monsters when I go for maximum detail -- try loading a 40MB image with a small amount of RAM).

For most people, though, the extra RAM is worthless. I could afford it, and it makes my computer a little more able to handle any heavy tasks I throw at it. As you said, it doesn't show any improvement in games, however (at least that I can tell).

 

[veryape]

Because applications are using increasingly more ram and the newer non-98 versions of Windows can utilize more ram then before.

 

[jmcoreymv]

Well especially in win2k, because its a major memory hog, albeit alot more stable than 98/me, or for hardcore games, cad, compilation, 2d graphics, 3d rendering, and the list goes on.

 

[hungrypete]

i have 128 and i have tons of swapping on my system. 256mb is practical is you are very serious about steady performance. A fast hard drive helps make up for less ram, and that's something I, for one, don't have. So my swaps are very noticable. On the other hand, my Win2k workstation w/ p3 733 / TNT2 16mb Vanta (and its pretty sweet ) and an ATA66 HDD does not swap as noticeably as it does on my home machine. It just depends on how picky you are, and most geeks are picky

 

[Tonec]

You don't really need any more than 128 but with current memory prices upgrading to 256 is basically the cost of one dinner at a restaurant.

 

[dwm696]

What restaurants do you go to then??.......or more to the point where do you get your RAM????

 

[Fumiup]

Maybe this will help

http://firingsquad.gamers.com/guides/memoryperformance2/default.asp

 

[madthumbs]

Thanks all,
I skimmed the article and benchmarks that Fumiup gave. I tend to agree with the article and results. I don't leave programs open, since they load up really fast anyway. I plan on Raid someday as well. I don't think an extra 128 megs is worth it so that I "might" gain 1 fps in Quake 3 or something. I do use graphic programs but not photoshop (memmory hog). I haven't ran into a problem, and even had no problems when I briefly used 96megs of ram. Perhaps when I upgrade to DDR, I will invest in more than 128, but 256 for now is overkill.