Will getting more RAM improve FPS?

[what3ver]

My PC has only 2 GB of RAM with Windows 7 x64. I am able to play every game i've tried, but BF3 is sometimes a bit laggy, and sometimes even completely freezes. I've also noticed loading times are very slow compared to other people's.

I'm on a budget, so don't really want to have to go out and buy a whole new PC. Will just getting more RAM improve the speed of loading/fps?

extra Q : I have a ASUS M4A78 Pro motherboard, anyone know any compatible RAM sticks for it? Is this compatible?http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-Dimm-Desktop-Memory-Upgrade/dp/B0011A4UZE will 4GB be enough?

I don't really care about having 200 fps or whatever, just a smooth game is all im hoping for. I can play all the cods, GTA IV, Sims 3 all very well, with high fps, but BF3 seems to be a lot more demanding.


other specs: Nvidia Geforce 260 GTX
AMD Phenom X3 8650 Triple-Core Processor - 2.30 GHz

Old i know, but i don't want to upgrade these until a game comes out which i can't play. I was hoping simply increasing RAM would do it. What do you guys think ?

 

[namelessonez]

Upgrading your RAM would make a "negligible" difference on your FPS, which will be directly dependent on your CPU+GPU. Extra RAM would help in your overall system performance, but not your games.

 

[DM186]

^+1
RAM will help your CPU to conduct more business with your GPU and other parts of your system. But it is your GPU and speed and your CPU that will dictate your fps. I still would add at the very least 2 more gig's of RAM. But now a days 8 gig's are the avg now. Good luck to you

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

Honest answer...ram WILL improve things SLIGHTLY...

Getting a better graphics card than that OLD rubbish one will improve things DRASTICALLY...

All the best Brett

 

[rajaawad23]

overclock you CPU aim for about 3GHz, you will see the difference, what screen resolution are you playing at?
check out this article - http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ram-memory-upgrade,review-32053.html

 

[namelessonez]

Hi

Honest answer...ram WILL improve things SLIGHTLY...

Getting a better graphics card than that OLD rubbish one will improve things DRASTICALLY...

All the best Brett

To say that the OP's card is old is one thing, but to say that it is "rubbish" well....nothing can be farther from the truth!
The GTX 260 may pass as an 'entry level' card sans DX11. It's in the same tier as the 550Ti, 460(128-bit), GTX280, 4870, 5770, 6770, 6790, 7770....to name a few! (Source: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html ).

Also, what is the meaning and extent of 'slightly' as per you? Because if by slightly you mean 2-3fps then that's wasted money as far as BF3 is concerned. He may decide on getting more RAM but he should be informed that it won't help him in gaming, especially BF3. Yes, for his OS it would be significantly better qua performance and therefore not money wasted.

 

[what3ver]

Well, I closed a lot of background programs, such as steam and battlelog/browsers whilst playing, and noticed that the game was a hell of a lot smoother than before. So i'm thinking if i give the PC more RAM to play with it will make it even smoother. As i said, I don't want 100+ fps, just a consistent 30-40 fps would be fine for me.

That's my PM usage now, with a few browser windows open only, and there's not much available/free.

Also, When i close the game, or get kicked - It takes a good couple of minutes for the game to actually close, and being able to actually use my PC again. Hence another reason why i think the increase in RAM would help.

I checked on this http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/intro.aspx

And my PC easily passed, but for recommended it flagged my RAM, and my CPU.




Another Question - Is loading times (maps) down to quality of hard drive ?

This is what i have : 500GB Seagate Barracuda ST3500418AS 3.5" SATA II Hard Drive

Is it bad? Should i upgrade?


I only have 100-150 £ to spend, thats why i can't afford to update GPU/CPU yet.

 

[rajaawad23]

£150, you can do quite a lot, I recommend a AM3 motherboard, with a phenom II CPU and 4GB DDR3 RAM, get a combo, you will defiantly find it for less than £150, your GPU is alright and can last a bit longer.

 

[DM186]

Well, I closed a lot of background programs, such as steam and battlelog/browsers whilst playing, and noticed that the game was a hell of a lot smoother than before. So i'm thinking if i give the PC more RAM to play with it will make it even smoother. As i said, I don't want 100+ fps, just a consistent 30-40 fps would be fine for me.

http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/8784633/1024/Anonymous/Ram.jpg

That's my PM usage now, with a few browser windows open only, and there's not much available/free.

Also, When i close the game, or get kicked - It takes a good couple of minutes for the game to actually close, and being able to actually use my PC again. Hence another reason why i think the increase in RAM would help.

I checked on this http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/intro.aspx

And my PC easily passed, but for recommended it flagged my RAM, and my CPU.




Another Question - Is loading times (maps) down to quality of hard drive ?

This is what i have : 500GB Seagate Barracuda ST3500418AS 3.5" SATA II Hard Drive

Is it bad? Should i upgrade?


I only have 100-150 £ to spend, thats why i can't afford to update GPU/CPU yet.

RAM right now is very cheap to get so if you go that route make sure all of the RAM is the same size and speed and remember 8 gigs is the average amount of RAM and speed wise get the 1600mhz.

Here is a couple of programs that might help you with gaming it will turn off all back ground running programs. Good luck to you.

http://gboost.en.softonic.com/

http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html

 

[rajaawad23]

RAM right now is very cheap to get so if you go that route make sure all of the RAM is the same size and speed and remember 8 gigs is the average amount of RAM and speed wise get the 1600mhz.

Here is a couple of programs that might help you with gaming it will turn off all back ground running programs. Good luck to you.

http://gboost.en.softonic.com/

http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html

he has AM2+ board which runs DDR2, Im trying to convince what3ver, to get a motherboard bundle with a phenom II and DDR3 RAM...

 

[what3ver]

he has AM2+ board which runs DDR2, Im trying to convince what3ver, to get a motherboard bundle with a phenom II and DDR3 RAM...

I'm a she btw but whatever


I did read your suggestion - It all seems very cheap though. I remember spending quite a lot more on my current motherboard/cpu/ram. Are you sure it would give me a noticeable performance increase ?

And while i'm learning, whats the diff between DDR2 and DDR3 ? Is DDR3 just a newer/faster version?

And another question, Since i already have 2 x 1 GB ram sticks, and buying 2x2 GB - I can combine them right, and get 6GB of RAM? The motherboard has 4 RAM slots. Or should i just buy 4x2GB ?


Thanks everyone btw, you are helping!

 

[DM186]

he has AM2+ board which runs DDR2, Im trying to convince what3ver, to get a motherboard bundle with a phenom II and DDR3 RAM...

I understand and I am glad you pointed that out about the DDR2 RAM but he has a AM3 CPU with M4a78 pro MOBO. And if you can get him to upgrade to the better RAM and be able to keep or upgrade the CPU.

Plus the MOBO all for 150 pounds "Sorry I don't have a pound key" then do it. @OP If he can get you to go for the deal you should take it and it will be better in the long run. Good luck guys.

 

[gamerk316]

RAM will help reduce the amount of paging the OS does, and paging does kill performance. Given how Win7 is very RAM happy to begin with, you are almost certianly loosing performance due to lack of RAM.

...that being said, your entire system is underpowered for BF3. A 260 is simply too weak to really play BF3 at any settings above low/medium, and a lowly clocked tri-core Phenom is underpowered to handle BF3 multiplayer. At this point, I'd argue the entire rig needs to be replaced.

 

[what3ver]

RAM will help reduce the amount of paging the OS does, and paging does kill performance. Given how Win7 is very RAM happy to begin with, you are almost certianly loosing performance due to lack of RAM.

...that being said, your entire system is underpowered for BF3. A 260 is simply too weak to really play BF3 at any settings above low/medium, and a lowly clocked tri-core Phenom is underpowered to handle BF3 multiplayer. At this point, I'd argue the entire rig needs to be replaced.

I know the whole lot needs replacing eventually, but i was just curious to know if RAM would help, at all. All i need really is 5 or so extra FPS to make the game smooth. Hardly worth spending £100s of pounds.


I play on Low settings @ 1440x whatever Resolution. But really, I don't notice a different between resolution sizes bizarrely. 1920xwhatever played exactly the same. I don't personally mind playing on low graphics currently though, they are still vastly more advanced than other games.

 

[gamerk316]

The problem is, while the lack of RAM is hurting performance, I can't determine if the weak CPU/GPU is hurting it MORE. So its hard to recommend an upgrade which may not help unless the other components also get upgraded.

 

[sebasmon]

RAM won't help too much. You should consider getting a quad core and clocking that to 3 ghz, depending on your mobo. If you have an AM3/AM3+, you should definitely get a new cpu. The 260 is most definitely not a rubbish card, but the CPU is hurting your fps more than the GPU, IMO.

 

[redx2dth]

Is anyone gonna suggest a bigger pagefile? Since you have 2 gigs of ram your pagefile should be at least 4 (double the amount of ram). My ram is 8 gigs and my pagefile is 20 gigs (16 for ram and 4 for the 2 gigs of v-ram on my 7870)

Also you don't have to manually close out unnecessary programs before gaming. There are several free utilities that do that (and close the programs and drivers you cant see, but still don't need) for you. The only problem with your FPS is your lack of ram and your lack of pagefile. (CPU clock speed is also a major factor but you cant change that without shelling out for a new mobo and cpu, or risk overclocking it too high since your cpu model is not an FX unlocked series cpu) Google how to change the pagefile if your interested.

If you are going to buy a new cpu and mobo I suggest any FX series cpu, the quad cores clocked at around 3 GHz are about $100 and a supporting mobo shouldn't be over $100 either. Also if your going with a more powerful processor dont forget to give t the power it needs with a high enough wattage power supply. Intel processors wont play well with your GPU because amd goes good with amd/ati gpu's and intel pairs well with nividia gpu's.

 

[cats_Paw]

Generally speaking, your PC is old and as that, it will have problems.
The ram will probably save you from crashes and frezzes, but i doubt it will improve FPS.

 

[jessterman21]

Buy some more RAM - it will definitely smooth out your gaming experience. Windows + a game hovers around 4GB on my system. If there's more RAM to use, your PC will use it, and games (especially those as demanding as BF3) will be much better off for it. When I upgraded from 2GB to 4GB a few years ago it fixed my stuttering issue in a lot of games.

 

[whiteknights]

did it appeared to be a Ram issue?

 

[dev893]

I realize this is an old thread but in my opinion you should downgrade to a 32bit OS since a 32 bit requires a minimum of 1gb where as a 64 bit requires 2gb. if you don't plan on upgrading I would install a 32bit so that you have double the required ram. I always like having at least double the required ram

 

[JOHN JAKE]

i know this an old thread but try getting adwcleaner and download it. after you download it open and scan after you scan click clean after it cleans dont click anything on adwcleaner. ok now open task manager and close out adwcleaner and your pc should run faster it runs faster because it close out all the uneeded processes

 

[emeianoite]

THREAD NECRO!!!

Hopefully this will help someone, whether its an old thread or new, someone will read it.


Upgrading ram from 8gb to 16gb on new games might be near no benefit. Upgrading from 4 to 8 might give you smoother gameplay and much more multitasking room, which is what we all do unknowingly. Example


System
Mumble
CCC
Trixxx

Main apps i run in the background while gaming. On games that use lots of ram, you couldnt easily cap 3.8gbs. Reason you dont usually see it past that is because the system doesn't allow itself to be completely starved.

This is when page file kicks in, and it better not be dynamic... lol.

Planetside for example ran up to 3.75gb for me (total ram usage on 4gb) at warp gate i capped at 90fps.


After 4gb upgrade to 8gb; i capped at 125fps.

I gave my system more room to multitask and prevented the choke.

These results arent going to be drastic unless you're capping your ram usage. Which many times, you aren't.

System:
Core2quad 9650 @4.25ghz
8gb gskill ddr2 1066mhz (4x2gb)
Ati HD7950 3gb
3x velociraptor raid 0
1tb drive for storage and backup

 

[Ryan Scheffert]

I have 3GB of ram on my computer and it makes my PC look like a piece of sh*t. If anything, aim for at least 5 or 6GB of ram. I use my computer to play Minecraft all the time. and it makes my game laggy, especially on servers. I have an eMachines EL1358G with a 1TB hard drive. My processor is a AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 220 Processor 2.80 GHz. Can someone help me too? please email me at
ryanscheffert@yahoo.com