Should I get more RAM for gaming?

[coolmandingo]

I currently have 512 DDR 2100 RAM, and I was thinking of adding either 256 or 512 more, do you think this will improve my gaming? Mt currnet setup is an AMD 2200+ w/ 512 RAM and a Ti4600. thanks

[TechZ]

I have pretty much the same specs except for a P4 2.4 isntead of an AMD, i doubt unless youre playing the new Doom and such new titles at full res with all effects on, u need an upgrade. On the other hand one stick of 512 MB is pretty cheap nowadays...

[confus-ed]

What o/s ?

For 9x - 512k is pretty much enough (not much real benefit with any more & you need to know how to 'tweak it') ... but xp loooooooooves memory ! ... the more the 'better' ...

With a big fat 'gart' set for any agp card, having enough phyical memory for this to live in as well as all your processess is a most definate plus ... some games will benefit significantly (direct 3d generally) but open gl ones that do their own video 'reservations' probably won't gain too much ...

This is one of those how much do you want to spend questions ? You have a 'nearly' new agp card which prolly isn't that much slower than all the 'new' DX9 ones (but I've seen some significant gains with technically 'worse new' cards - I pressume dx9 'support' is responsible there) & enough but maybe 'not quite' enough system memory ....

If you can trade out your ti 4600 for a decent price, buy a 'new' dx9 compatible card (though you need a 'good' one to beat it - read expensive) & some more memory ... but this all depends on your ability to 'lash that cash' ...

To get a better performing video for sure you'll be in the $200+ range ? ... 256 of ddr is $35? 512 twice that ... I'm not that sure how 'much' improvement you'll get for your $70 though, you will get some, & in some games, but not in all ...

[Penman]

I upgraded from 512Mb to 1Gb of RAM not that long ago, running XP and didnt notice much difference in any games I played. Running with a Ti4200 so pretty soon that'll be getting replaced

My advice - look at your hard drives or keep the cash and wait on the DX9 cards coming down in price.

[cisco2]

I'd think 512 is generally enough too.

As Confus-ed says with XP more won't hurt. I always thought 9x had greatly diminishing returns after just 128mb though. Either way if you're running 9x an OS upgrade should come before more RAM.

I haven't delved into the particulars of HD performance beyond simple mirrored RAID 5 configuartions for servers. Separating your OS and your apps/data and your swap file always seemed to speed things up a good deal. Perhaps giving some thought to how you might best improve HD throughput and access time would be a good idea.

Watch your HD access light(s) while you're gaming. If they're always flashing then you would very likely notice the results if you spend your $$$ there.

[Radical Dreamer]

Originally posted by confus-ed
What o/s ?

For 9x - 512k is pretty much enough

Yeah, but its so much more fun with 1024k

[Platypus]

Originally posted by Radical Dreamer
Yeah, but its so much more fun with 1024k

What?? No-one could ever need more than 640k !!!

[ADS_Tech]

Originally posted by Platypus
What?? No-one could ever need more than 640k !!!

Arf arf!!

[inferno_gn]

Hi there,

*lol* 640k? I remmeber those computers at school, using those big black disks! *lol*

Jules...

[NooNoo]

Originally posted by inferno_gn
Hi there,

*lol* 640k? I remmeber those computers at school, using those big black disks! *lol*

Jules...

You mean like the one I have sitting in the corner of my office?

[jmani]

Originally posted by NooNoo
You mean like the one I have sitting in the corner of my office?

You mean like the one I use here at work?

[coolmandingo]

Thanks for the help guys, sorry I forgot to mention that I am using windows XP. Also aside from gaming I do alot of audio recording and editing.

[confus-ed]

So if you do "alot of audio recording and editing." then some more memory ought to come in handy if only for that ... Buffering fat audio files soon munches memory ... like I said xp loves memory ... the more the merrier

If you have multiple hard drives, the tip on putting the swap file on the non system disk (where windows is) is ... big improvement (or even turn it off - if we fit the extra memory) ... I dunno about raid 5 though what are we doing a NASA launch ? - too many pennies for my liking ... I think he wanted a cheapo improvement ?

[flyguy42]

I was just about to write that you shouldnt need more unless you do alot of video/audio editing. 512MB is usually enought for games... and I always try to match my RAM with my Processor... (as in the faster it is, the more RAM I buy) But in your current setup, I would put the money else where. I would go with a new processor... maybe one that runs on the 333Mhz FSB, then you could upgrade your memory to faster 2700 that can support real aggressive timings. Alot of games nowadays not only love alot of memory, but memory bandwidth.

[GokuSS2]

From the looks of your specs I say get a new video card.