The Big 1 Gig

[mvfalcons21]

Okay, I have been having some trouble choosing between 1GB of RAM or just 512MB. My computer right now has 512, and it's pretty good. I have heard that some games won't even run without a GB. Any insight would be helpful.

 

[phaelinx]

I have a gig of ram setup as dual channel, things load faster, hd spins less, If I had known a gig of ram was this helpful I would of gotten it years ago..trust me, get a gig of ram...you will thank me. I use my pc mainly for gaming and having a gig of ram makes games run so much smoother

 

[Bling]

i heard you can turn off your page file aswell. there is mixed reports whether it has any effect. i have heard much advise as to doing it. i however am yet to do it. however i do have a gig of ram and have had it since i bought this computer last year. it definately helps. battlefield games run flawlessly on my system compared to my cousins with half my ram

 

[ne0-reloaded]

if u play a lot of games, get a gig. i remember when i jumped from 256 to 512, it was subtle. but jumping from 512-1024 was huge. games play/load faster, windows is faster, and using my pc is much better. anything less than a gig nowadays is uncalled for. yes you "can" play games with only 512, but not as smoothly. (halo and farcry were the reasons im glad i stepped up to a gig)

 

[spencers]

Maybe the question should be what games do you play?

 

[wallijonn]

what memory are you thinking of getting?

Don't even consider for one single second "generic" memory.

 

[MrDigital]

Okay, I have been having some trouble choosing between 1GB of RAM or just 512MB. My computer right now has 512, and it's pretty good. I have heard that some games won't even run without a GB. Any insight would be helpful.

1GB is a waste. The only people who say otherwise are those who already wasted their money on 1GB and need to justify it to themselves. You won't need 1GB until Longhorn.

-MrD

 

[MrDigital]

if u play a lot of games, get a gig. i remember when i jumped from 256 to 512, it was subtle. but jumping from 512-1024 was huge. games play/load faster, windows is faster, and using my pc is much better. anything less than a gig nowadays is uncalled for. yes you "can" play games with only 512, but not as smoothly. (halo and farcry were the reasons im glad i stepped up to a gig)

Hahaha.. dude you're on crack. 256-512 was "subtle" but 512-1GB was "huge?" Please. 512 makes a difference, no doubt. But have you ever actually checked the memory Halo or Farcry were taking while you're playing? 512MB is more than enough unless you're some spyware master.

Seriously, BS.

-MrD

 

[phaelinx]

LONGHORN? are you kidding me? have you read the specs on that? haha...1 gig is absolutely perfect for xp/2k...the REQUIRED specs for longhorn and i quote;

"Microsoft is expected to recommend that the "average" Longhorn PC feature a dual-core CPU running at 4 to 6GHz; a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM; up to a terabyte of storage; a 1 Gbit, built-in, Ethernet-wired port and an 802.11g wireless link; and a graphics processor that runs three times faster than those on the market today."

dont follow that jargin of not needing 1 gig of ram, if you like your hd spinning out of control, your windows swap file resizing itself constantly, lagging frames on games as you have already run out of ram and now rely on the hd's swap file, but since its hd space as ram its slow as shit and causes your frames to overlap themselves..trust me..get a gig of ram and you will be seriously happy

 

[ne0-reloaded]

Hahaha.. dude you're on crack. 256-512 was "subtle" but 512-1GB was "huge?" Please. 512 makes a difference, no doubt. But have you ever actually checked the memory Halo or Farcry were taking while you're playing? 512MB is more than enough unless you're some spyware master.

Seriously, BS.

-MrD

exactly as i stated: "when i jumped from 256 to 512, it was subtle. but jumping from 512-1024 was huge." it wasnt that hard of a statement to understand . ive played far cry and halo with 512, and the game does play noticeably slower. especially loading maps. both games are resource hogs, and since memory is a resource.....not even gonna waste my time explaining. 512 maybe more than enough if u want slowdowns, or if ur playing at 800x600, but when u crank up the res, turn every setting to highest, 16xaf and 2xaa, ull see that 512mb (which is playable) does not provide the same performance that a gig does. doom 3 is another example (even tho the games shitty). 512mb is playable, but who'd want to play with that type of performance.

 

[chuckm1020]

1GB is a waste. The only people who say otherwise are those who already wasted their money on 1GB and need to justify it to themselves. You won't need 1GB until Longhorn.

-MrD

ahahhahahhaha damn dude. i have 2 gb i need it. my problem is i download too much p*rn and play games at the same time. damn that takes up alot of memory.

 

[MrDigital]

ahahhahahhaha damn dude. i have 2 gb i need it. my problem is i download too much p*rn and play games at the same time. damn that takes up alot of memory.

What do you use to download? I run azureus BT client which runs like a memory whore on Java, plus I run UT or Halo at the same time and I sure as shit don't need more than 512MB.

So I stick with my statement of the only people who think they need 1GB (or more) are people who already bought it and are trying to justify the waste of money.

-MrD

 

[Mav451]

512 is enough?

Tell me how many people who Pshop can "get by" with just 512. Ask them how much a gig is worth to them--its huge.

Or, if you're an engineer, try running matlab. It takes a huge chunk of memory (100MB almost). Considering XP takes an overhead of 250-300 (@ 306,000k right now), having more room for Matlab to breathe would be a huge timesaver. And of course, less...MUCH less HD activity from overusing that page file to compensate.

My friend bought a gig of PC3200LL Corsair nearly 1.5 years ago. For $200. He says it was the best investment he ever made--i don't doubt him.

Play MMORPGs? Like SW Galaxy? Or how bout FFXI? Again, 1gig means quicker load times, less HD activity in the game as well.

Doom3? HL2? Unless you're still playing CS1.6, I think very soon 1Gig will become the standard.

*If you go in and see Costo Computers with more RAM than you, you already know that the standard has risen. I saw mainstream $900-$1,000 boxes running 1gig, I know i gotta get more soon...*

 

[MrDigital]

512 is enough?

Tell me how many people who Pshop can "get by" with just 512. Ask them how much a gig is worth to them--its huge.

Or, if you're an engineer, try running matlab. It takes a huge chunk of memory (100MB almost). Considering XP takes an overhead of 250-300 (@ 306,000k right now), having more room for Matlab to breathe would be a huge timesaver. And of course, less...MUCH less HD activity from overusing that page file to compensate.

If you want to talk about Engineers and PS people with WORKSTATIONS, then no sweat, I can agree with your 1GB arguments.

But for your basic desktop gamer, 1GB is stupid.

BTW, if XP is taking 250-300MB of RAM you should really think about running Ad-Aware or something, because something is f'd. XP shouldn't take more than about 100-110MB tops.

-MrD

 

[Mav451]

If you want to talk about Engineers and PS people with WORKSTATIONS, then no sweat, I can agree with your 1GB arguments.

But for your basic desktop gamer, 1GB is stupid.

BTW, if XP is taking 250-300MB of RAM you should really think about running Ad-Aware or something, because something is f'd. XP shouldn't take more than about 100-110MB tops.

-MrD

I use Firefox and Spybot. Spyware is not a problem on my computer...however, I was running iTunes and Firefox (hadn't close it in a while...might have ballooned).

That makes it closer to 100MB region, guess i forgot to close them since i was listening to music at the time.

 

[phaelinx]

If you want to talk about Engineers and PS people with WORKSTATIONS, then no sweat, I can agree with your 1GB arguments.

But for your basic desktop gamer, 1GB is stupid.

BTW, if XP is taking 250-300MB of RAM you should really think about running Ad-Aware or something, because something is f'd. XP shouldn't take more than about 100-110MB tops.

-MrD

wow man..1gig is stupid? Dont listen to the "1 gig is stupid" remark this guy obviously does not have a gig of ram..hes probably 15 years old and is using mommys pc and doesnt have the money to upgrade..trust ANYONE who has a gig of ram..they will tell you its ALOT better

if you webbrowse..256/512 is fine..if you are a hardcore gamer..get 1 gig..you'll be much happier with the load times, the fps will increase, the LIFE of your hd will increase as its not spinning constantly..true games will run off 512..but games run SO much better with 1 gig..

 

[uwackme]

The numbers speak for themselves.

FarCry has a commit charge of 550MB, DOOM3 is 850MB, America'sArmy is 650MB, and MoH PacificAssualt is a whopping 1.26GB!!!

That means if you dont have 1GB of ram, these ames RIGHT NOW will be pagefile'ing thier ass's off.

I have 1G of BH5, sata raid0, and my page file is on a 2G partition on the outer rim of my 80G IDE drive with a FAT32 4K cluster format..... and I have a feeling we will ALL be NEEDING 2GB of ram for the next-next generation games.

Now, gimme a socketA motherboard that implements a 256bit memory bus, and runs my 4x 512M sticks of BH5 @ 250Mhz 5,2,2,2.0, and a PCI-E 16x video socket, uses NV's MCP-T southbridge with soundstorm, and gigabit lan + 4 channel native SATA raid in the northbridge.

Then I'd be ready for the future.

 

[chuckm1020]

The numbers speak for themselves.

FarCry has a commit charge of 550MB, DOOM3 is 850MB, America'sArmy is 650MB, and MoH PacificAssualt is a whopping 1.26GB!!!

That means if you dont have 1GB of ram, these ames RIGHT NOW will be pagefile'ing thier ass's off.

I have 1G of BH5, sata raid0, and my page file is on a 2G partition on the outer rim of my 80G IDE drive with a FAT32 4K cluster format..... and I have a feeling we will ALL be NEEDING 2GB of ram for the next-next generation games.

Now, gimme a socketA motherboard that implements a 256bit memory bus, and runs my 4x 512M sticks of BH5 @ 250Mhz 5,2,2,2.0, and a PCI-E 16x video socket, uses NV's MCP-T southbridge with soundstorm, and gigabit lan + 4 channel native SATA raid in the northbridge.

Then I'd be ready for the future.

yum, MoH is sure alot. makes me happier i have my 2gb

 

[Summoner]

1GB is a waste. The only people who say otherwise are those who already wasted their money on 1GB and need to justify it to themselves. You won't need 1GB until Longhorn.

-MrD

Wow, you sure are living up to your n00b title. Try playing any of the newest MMORPGs with 512mb and then compare with 1Gb. For example, the MINIMUM spec for Everquest 2 is 512mb. Sure, you can play games with 512mb, but running 1gb is one of the best investments a gamer can make.

 

[XSNiper]

i've got 512mb of ram right now and can't wait to get a gig for b-day. I've got alot of games including far cry and i'll tell you right now YOU NEED AT LEAST 1 GB! saying a gb is stupid is kinda like saying, more speed isn't better...which IMO is plain retarded..There's no point in sticking with 512 if you can afford a gig

 

[SJetski71]

1GB is a waste. The only people who say otherwise are those who already wasted their money on 1GB and need to justify it to themselves. You won't need 1GB until Longhorn.

-MrD

Back in the day people would call you a luddite

Modern gaming calls for a gig of ram. This was well established a 1 1/2 yrs ago & since then games have become even bigger ram hogs. You can get by with 512 but in the era of $500 video cards most people don't want to just "get by".

Catch our drift mr-trying-to-justify-that-i-only-have-512-and-i-secretly-hate-it (totally joking btw)

 

[corran_horn314]

On my gaming rig I had 512mb of pc3200 ram, then i bought another stick of the same stuff and put it in dual channel... 1gig makes a noticable difference with most of the newer games i've played. Spend the extra $100 and get a gig unless your really strapped for cash.

 

[Neocorteqz]

What do you use to download? I run azureus BT client which runs like a memory whore on Java, plus I run UT or Halo at the same time and I sure as shit don't need more than 512MB.

So I stick with my statement of the only people who think they need 1GB (or more) are people who already bought it and are trying to justify the waste of money.

-MrD

Didn't pay for my memory, and I have 1.25 GB's. so i guess that doesn't help your statement any. Does this mean I shouldn't have bought the 9800PRO 256MB cause all i need is a 128 megs?

and One could say just the opposite.

People who say you don't need a Gig or better, can't afford it. It really doens't matter, if you can or not. if you can and want to, great, if not, no big deal.

Ohh and I kinda like having enough resources available so i don't use the swap file as much.

 

[Neocorteqz]

On my gaming rig I had 512mb of pc3200 ram, then i bought another stick of the same stuff and put it in dual channel... 1gig makes a noticable difference with most of the newer games i've played. Spend the extra $100 and get a gig unless your really strapped for cash.

certainly make s a hell of a difference doesn't it?

I say go for the gig, and if you have a dual channel system, 2 512 sticks.

 

[unhappy_mage]

i have 512 on this machine, and there's 413 mb used. I am running firefox, antivirus, rsync, and puTTYx2. This is a normal load for me to have on this machine (or the g4ming box), and I run no games. On my gaming machine, I close everything and get down to ~180MB used. Then in-game, I'll get down to like 50MB free. However, Windows will cache more stuff if you have more ram. thus, your levels, sounds, textures, etc, get cached and don't have to load more than once. ram isn't just used by the game, windows can use more for better results.

 

[Warmonkey]

1024 is the way man, 512 is noob.

Waste? I think not, this is [H] man, 1GB or more is very [H].

 

[Ice Czar]

1GB is a waste. The only people who say otherwise are those who already wasted their money on 1GB and need to justify it to themselves. You won't need 1GB until Longhorn.

-MrD

"you make alot of assumptions" said the moderator with 4GB of RAM sitting in his workstation

 

[Neocorteqz]

"you make alot of assumptions" said the moderator with 4GB of RAM sitting in his workstation

I plan on upgrading to some Dual Channel goodness when I get some dough (at least two 1 Gig sticks)

You running a Xeon system?

 

[newls1]

Well, On my gaming rig, im running 2GB of PC3500 in dual channel Games run good...

 

[Ice Czar]

I plan on upgrading to some Dual Channel goodness when I get some dough (at least two 1 Gig sticks)

You running a Xeon system?

Dual Opteron 244s Tyan K8W, PNY Quadro FX3000, 4GB PC2700 ECC & Reg,
Dothill SANnet (external), PCP&C 510 AG in a 4U Rackmount

and I dont even own a game

I GB per channel per CPU

 

[pirateface]

If your running a lot of big games like DOOM3, Farcry, stuff like that 1GB is the way to go.

Same goes for video editing, multimedia work, and heavy multi-tasking.

Right now I have like 522mb in use and rest free, so I can safely say 1GB is a need for all the multi-tasking I do, ie. having Photoshop running, Dreamweaver, winamp, a few IE windows, TV tuner on, msn, icq, azureus etc....

 

[Neocorteqz]

Dual Opteron 244s Tyan K8W, PNY Quadro FX3000, 4GB PC2700 ECC & Reg,
Dothill SANnet (external), PCP&C 510 AG in a 4U Rackmount

and I dont even own a game

I GB per channel per CPU

Very nice.

 

[Ice Czar]

Ive got an interview with a Memory Retailer\Wholesaler (Fortune 500 sales)
best friend works there, if it pans out, I'll be upgrading to PC3200

as it was I couldnt afford it, but at cost...

dual cores and PC3200, like the sound of that
however as of right now Im still saving up for full blown versions of XSI SoftImage and Mental Ray (about $4000)

 

[Ety]

Well, On my gaming rig, im running 2GB of PC3500 in dual channel Games run good...

I played on a friends XPS over the summer 2gig ram 3ghz p4, 9800XT and 2 Gigs of RAM does run games good. It kinda sucked playing on my machine with 256 after playing on it it loads stuff in ten seconds and it takes my PC 2-5 minutes :-( Hopefully the 512mb RAM i am ordering next week will help.)

 

[MrDigital]

wow man..1gig is stupid? Dont listen to the "1 gig is stupid" remark this guy obviously does not have a gig of ram..hes probably 15 years old and is using mommys pc and doesnt have the money to upgrade..trust ANYONE who has a gig of ram..they will tell you its ALOT better

if you webbrowse..256/512 is fine..if you are a hardcore gamer..get 1 gig..you'll be much happier with the load times, the fps will increase, the LIFE of your hd will increase as its not spinning constantly..true games will run off 512..but games run SO much better with 1 gig..

Rookie, look at the machine in my sig. You wouldn't even know what to do with something like what I have.

And of course I don't have 1GB -- I don't need it, like most of you who bought it for no reason. Unless, of course, you bought it for the reason that (as one user so eloquently put it) "1GB or more is very [H]."

-MrD

 

[MrDigital]

Back in the day people would call you a luddite

Modern gaming calls for a gig of ram. This was well established a 1 1/2 yrs ago & since then games have become even bigger ram hogs. You can get by with 512 but in the era of $500 video cards most people don't want to just "get by".

Catch our drift mr-trying-to-justify-that-i-only-have-512-and-i-secretly-hate-it (totally joking btw)

If any of you actually took a look at the machine I'm running these comments of "he just can't afford 1GB" wouldn't be happening. I spent more on my motherboard than most do on their RAM. It's not an issue of affording it. It's an issue of waste.

Do I order a 32oz porterhouse steak and eat 10oz of it and throw it away, simply because I can afford it? No. I order what I need.

There will come a time when 1GB is needed. Maybe it will be in the next 6 months, but I doubt it. If those of you with 1GB (for gaming) right now want to believe it makes a difference, more power to you. But I will continue to try and inform new builders that it is a waste until the day it is not.

-MrD

 

[MrDigital]

"you make alot of assumptions" said the moderator with 4GB of RAM sitting in his workstation

If you use that 4GB to run a SQL Server, great. If you do some weird billboards in Photoshop that are 4GB+ files, great. If you do 3D work that involves a lot of textures, great.

If you're going to tell me that games run better on 4GB, well.. I'll skip that.

-MrD

 

[ChingChang]

i heard you can turn off your page file aswell. there is mixed reports whether it has any effect. i have heard much advise as to doing it. i however am yet to do it. however i do have a gig of ram and have had it since i bought this computer last year. it definately helps. battlefield games run flawlessly on my system compared to my cousins with half my ram

I tested on my system with no PF, but it didn't work too well. I got a couple "not enough memory" errors, and some programs need the page file (such as Photoshop).

MrDigital, how would you know that 1gb doesn't help if you don't even have it? lots of memory helps out a ton if you multitask, or are into editing. I have a gb and am actually thinking of adding another 256 or 512.

 

[MrDigital]

I tested on my system with no PF, but it didn't work too well. I got a couple "not enough memory" errors, and some programs need the page file (such as Photoshop).

MrDigital, how would you know that 1gb doesn't help if you don't even have it? lots of memory helps out a ton if you multitask, or are into editing. I have a gb and am actually thinking of adding another 256 or 512.

It does help out a lot if you have a workstation and not just a desktop gaming rig.

Just because my home machine doesn't have 1G, it certainly doesn't mean that I don't have many at work that do. For home users who are doing nothing but surfing and gaming 1GB is generally a waste.

-MrD

 

[wallijonn]

Okay, I have been having some trouble choosing between 1GB of RAM or just 512MB. My computer right now has 512, and it's pretty good.

What system have you rigged up? Is it PC100, PC133, PC2100, PC2700, PC3200, RDRam?

Are you running Linux, W98SE, W2K or WXP?

Are you running an i815, i850, i845, i865 or i875?

The fact that you say that your sys is running well is reason enough not to buy another 512MB of RAM. But what about the future? You may not be able to find the exact same memory in the future so if you then desire to upgrade you may be forced to either retire this system or sell the RAM and get 1G of some other RAM.

If all you do is internet surfing, emails and the occasional game 512MB will probably suffice for now. Heck, it is probably overkill.

Just as 1 G is probably not really necessary, neither is overclocking, the fastest processors, 4G broadband, or WXP. (I use W98SE with 1G of RAM with a 512MB vcache, along with W2KP, WXPP and Linux). If you play games, then what use is HyperThreading? Or Dual Channel controllers, or RAID, or SATA? Or LCD or Plasma screens? Or a 6800GT? Or watercooling. Or...

Just buy what you can afford.

Me, I can't afford another 1G of RAM but I will probably buy another 1G (2 x 512s) because it may not be available in the future. So I'll wait just before Nov. 1 to buy. After that the prices will probably go up as Christmas is around the corner and all the newer RAM chips will be coming out and the older stuff will no longer be made.

So, have you seen any price drops in PC133 or RDRam lately?

As for speed, for some reason I detect faster browsing now that I have installed .iNET.

One thing I do notice is that when I play a game the CDRom doesn't seem to be accessed as much as it used to be. Maybe it's the 1G of RAM...