just a quick question on RAM!

[quantumsheep]

Would increasing my system memory from 512mb to 1gb or possibly 2gb bring a significant performance increase. The system is mainly used for gaming.

 

[bront]

The short answer: Yes.

The Long answer: Probably.

What are your system specs, and do you only have 1 chip at the moment?

Depending on the system, 2 chips is ideal, more helps but not as much as 2, particularly with dual chanel Athlon's (939 pin).

Assuming you're not running something anchient, you'll probably get a good full system performance bonus out of going to 1 GB. Going to 2 GB won't give you as much of a performance boost unless you regularly stress memory (Either with particular games, rendering, data processing, or such applications).

1 GB is probably a good sweet spot now for gaming. 2 GB will help a little more, more in some games than others, but you could be talking the price difference between 1 512 MB chip to 2 1 GB chips, so the returns may not be worth it.

Personaly, I've been running 1 GB for over 2 years now in this system and a previous system. I notice it boots a bit faster, I get better HD performance because the system doesn't go to the page file as often (And I save performance there by putting a static 4 GB page file on the HD), and even on a single core CPU multi-tasking was easier. For a dual core system, I'd lothe to think of less than 1 GB.

 

[quantumsheep]

Okay, ill take a trip down the computer shop today and pickup an extra gig of ram, any recommendations on what make? (PC3200)

My system is getting quite old now, 3.0 prescott 478 and 256mb gddr3 6800le @ gt speeds and unlocked.

 

[bront]

Corsair XMS is nice, but if you're keeping your old RAM, the higher timings won't help.

I'd try to match the maker of your current RAM, but if that's not possable, I'd tend to lean towards brand names like Kingston, Corsair, Crucial/Micron, and such.

OCZ and Patriot are popular and seem to do well as well.

 

[quantumsheep]

i think ill chuck my old ram, its corsair pc2700 stuff. So ill get 2 x 1gb sticks of corsair XMS.

Thanks for the help guys, much appreciated!

 

[bront]

Good. I'd look for tighter timings over higher speeds. Without OCing, you'll get better performance. I love my XMs 3200 CL2

 

[MrsD]

Check out the deals here. $67
I have the value select from Corsair, it's great and even able to overclock with it. The xms is about 55% more money.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2000170147+1052407862+1052308476&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=147

 

[Bluefinger]

Good stuff.... Those sticks of memory you are going to buy is what i have, and i'm at the moment trying to OC them nicely. Bront is doing an OCing journal, which includes his Corsair memory modules, so check it out if you want to find out what sort of settings are stable with that sort of memory. Bront's OCing Journal

 

[bront]

Check out the deals here. $67
I have the value select from Corsair, it's great and even able to overclock with it. The xms is about 55% more money.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2000170147+1052407862+1052308476&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=147

XMS CL2 memory runs 91-93, so a little more, but it's more likely to OC, and even if it doesn't, it will be stable at the better timing settings.