Adding RAM to an old PC: is it worth it?

[Shocktrooper]

I just recently upgraded my PC with a new video card, and while there is a lot of improvement, i'm feeling like its not enough. For example, HL2 plays, but load times are excessive and i only get around 25 FPS. My question is if more ram would be worth it?, specificly, would it increase my FPS in games?

so what do you guys think?

PC SPECS:
1.8 Ghz p4
256 Mbs RAM
80 Gb Hard Drive
eVGA GeForce 5500 128 Mbs

Thanks!

 

[(cf)Eclipse]

hmm, what kind of ram does it take? hopefully ddr, at which point you can get 1gb pretty cheaply, which should make things much more resposive

 

[Shocktrooper]

yup, ddr pc2100.

 

[hardcorecomputer]

Memory is almost always the best performance : price ratio. Another 256mb should help quite a bit, but I would spend a few extra bucks and get a 512mb stick.

 

[(cf)Eclipse]

hmm, so we have the choice of going to 512mb by adding another 256mb stick similar to the one you have, or get 1gb total with 2x512mb of new ram. i'd personally go with the latter, esp since you can probably transfer the ram over into a new rig if you update what you have now sometime soon, maybe something like this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227039

for the 256mb stick, we need the specs on what your stick is now. get cpu-z, check what it says in the SPD tab
http://cpuid.org/cpuz.php

 

[Shocktrooper]

current RAM specs:
256 MBytes
PC2100(133Mhz)
DDR-SDRAM

Would it be an good option to get a 512 stick and have a total of 768 Mbs of RAM? Might be a good middle ground cause i'm on a budget but i want to max performance possible.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145024
how about this stick?

 

[(cf)Eclipse]

well, what i really wanted to know were the timings it was rated for

you would have to check with your mobo's manual to see if it supports mismatched dimms. its it a dual channel board, or only single channel? (i'm assuming the latter)

 

[morningreis]

At least upgrade to a minimum of 512MB. 768MB would be optimal.

 

[tdg]

No other component really boosts performance as much as RAM IMO for the dollar spent, and with 256, you'd see a good gain with at least another 256, but really adding a stick of 512 would be the sweet spot.

 

[(cf)Eclipse]

No other component really boosts performance as much as RAM IMO for the dollar spent

this is true if, and only if, memory capacity is in shortage

 

[Shocktrooper]

here are the timings

Frequency- 133mhz
FSB: DRAM- 3:4
CAS# latency- 2.5 clocks
RAS to CAS delay- 3 clocks
RAS precharge- 3 clocks
cycle time- 6 clocks
DRAM idle timer- 16 clocks

would this change any of your opinions on products or whatever?

 

[(cf)Eclipse]

ok, if you get another stick to use with the one you have now, make sure it has the same 2.5-3-3-6 timings for highest probability of compatibility