How much memory until its useless/not worth it

McRackin

McRackin

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
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Im getting a new system with a Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-DS4H with 4GB (2x2gb) 800mhz ddr2. Would it be worth my while upgrading it to 8GB for another $50 or would the extra 2 chips sit idle most of the time?
 
I rarely see more than 4gbs being used on my pc.
However, the ram is incredibly cheap and isn't going to hurt anything :p
 
Hey man it depends on what you do. For the most part, 4GB is more than enough for most people for their daily computing needs. But for professionals...well I don't need to tell them what they need.

But since DDR2 is cheap why don't you go treat yourself? You'd be like oh hot damn Vista just cached all my memory. SWEET.

That's a good thing by the way, for me cached is better than not being used. Hehe.
 
Well yeah I just want to make sure that this mobo I'm getting wont bottleneck below 8GB....so theres at least a likely chance that the 8GB will be used if not now then down the road a year or two
 
with ddr3 going to be main stream soon, ddr2 prices may rise. so i say do it now
 
Ok second question...
Although probably more appropriate in mobo forum...
What graphics card potential does this mobo have/whats the best card on the market that it supports?
Or better yet, what specs do I look for in my mobo so I can figure it out myself ;)

As far as I know the Radeon HD4850 512MB is a very 'par' card right now and I'm probably going to want to upgrade by the end of '09
The mobo has Crossfire so I can duel HD4850, but if better ones like the 4870 are cheaper by next year I might get 2 of them
 
ivandurago said:
I rarely see more than 4gbs being used on my pc.
However, the ram is incredibly cheap and isn't going to hurt anything :p
Click to expand...

I cant remember where i saw it but there was a 4GB vs 8GB and there were a couple of spikes in the 8GB test that wernt in the 4GB one.
 
So I can throw in a RADEON HD4870X2 2GB DDR5 DUAL DVI-I TVO PCI-E as long as I get a higher watt PS?
 
Yes. Hell, you wouldn't even need a more powerful PSU if you are in fact using a BFG LS-680.
 
bullshit with a X4 phenom and dual 4870 vids 8+gigs ram would probably spike more then 680+ watts
 
I've got 4 gigs in mine. It barely uses 1 Gig with the stuff I do with it. DDR2 is so cheap, I'm upgrading to 8GB even though I don't use it. I just ordered 4 GB of 1066DDR2 for about $38 AR. It's so cheap, if it gets cheaper after I buy it, I won't be bothered, but if I wait, and price goes back up....that will bother.

I'm looking soon to upgrade to Vista Ultimate. If I understand it correctly, vista will use all the ram I don't need for superfetch cache. Disk I/O being the slowest function in a computer, I expect that to be a good way to utilize 8GB (what amounts to about $80 worth) of ram.
 
I just went to 8GB and using W7 x64, it cached up to 6GB while actually using only about 1.5GB.
 
mjz_5 said:
with ddr3 going to be main stream soon, ddr2 prices may rise. so i say do it now
Click to expand...

not according to Intel and AMD not until 2010 rumor is...


i have 8G, ihad 4G, i abuse my rig and the most i have seen it hit is just under 5G, running one Ubuntu VM, TF2 minimized, photoshop open, outlook and a bunch of other small things going.
 
McRackin said:
I have a hard time believing a 350W is sufficient for anything...
Click to expand...
Well, just because you have a hard time believing it doesn't make it untrue. Take a look at the HardOCP reviews and you'll see the same numbers as I'm giving you (once you factor in PSU efficiency of course, since they measure wattage from the wall and not from the PSU).
 
McRackin said:
I have a hard time believing a 350W is sufficient for anything...
Click to expand...

The system in my sig pulls around 295W under full load, and runs flawlessly on my seasonic 400W psu, As for the max amount of ram before its useless, the answer is....you can never have enough, I had 4Gbs under Xp (well 3.25) and made the switch to Vista 64, seeing as ram was so cheap I got 8gbs, its nice not having to worry about running out of ram (pagefile is disabled too)
 
McRackin said:
bullshit with a X4 phenom and dual 4870 vids 8+gigs ram would probably spike more then 680+ watts
Click to expand...

McRackin said:
I have a hard time believing a 350W is sufficient for anything...
Click to expand...

With a test setup composed of:
QX9770, 2GB Corsair, RAM, the video card(s), 3 WD Raptor Hard Drives, a DVD/CDRom, a floppy drive, and a Koolance Exos water cooling system
Click to expand...

With HD4870 Crossfire, the system only drew 458W. And that's not even factoring PSU efficiency. If you look throughout the rest of article I linked to, the same setup + GTX280 drew around 354W. However, that is not to say you should get a 400W PSU for a GTX280 card plus that setup. You also have to factor the following:
Paul_Johnson said:
Yes and a quick search would turn up this topic a million times over. Here is the recap:

1) APFC can fool Kill-A-Watts into giving you abnormally low readings (some times giving better than 100% efficiency)

2) Power supplies derate with temperature anywhere from 2w/c above a nominal rated at value to 10w/c.

3) Kill-A-Watt's and most power meters sample too slowly to catch transient loads (the Transient load from our tests is 117w and is COMPLETELY missed by Kill-A-Watts).

4) Power supplies last longer if you stay in the 40% to 60% range of their output.

5) power supplies are quieter if you stay in the 40% to 60% range of their output.

6) Power supplies are cooler if you stay in the 40% to 60% range of their output.

The power meters in UPS software are just as bad. You have to spend some change before you get anywhere near an accurate power meter when your PSU has APFC.
Click to expand...

So with the HD4870 Crossfire setup drawing at 458W, you'll need a quality 750W PSU in order to remain around the 60% range of the optimal quiet, longevity and temperature range of most power supplies.

Anyway back on topic: Go for 8GB of RAM for the hell of it.
 
Zero82z said:
Well, just because you have a hard time believing it doesn't make it untrue. Take a look at the HardOCP reviews and you'll see the same numbers as I'm giving you (once you factor in PSU efficiency of course, since they measure wattage from the wall and not from the PSU).
Click to expand...

So you think I have a chance at running duel 4570s with 8gb ram on my 680W?
That would be sweet, I'll have to try it out in the future...lol don't want to go out and spend $150 for a new ps
 
McRackin said:
So you think I have a chance at running duel 4570s with 8gb ram on my 680W?
That would be sweet, I'll have to try it out in the future...lol don't want to go out and spend $150 for a new ps
Click to expand...

Read the link I provided. Oh and there aren't any such cards as 4570s. Did you mean HD4670s? If so, don't bother. a 4670 Crossfire setup is not worth the cash. Or did you mean HD4850 Crossfire?
 
McRackin said:
So you think I have a chance at running duel 4570s with 8gb ram on my 680W?
That would be sweet, I'll have to try it out in the future...lol don't want to go out and spend $150 for a new ps
Click to expand...

If you mean two 4850s, then yes, you'll be able to handle that fine with your current PSU.
 
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