Tom's Hardware > Forum > Motherboards & Memory > Memory > Is this good enough for gaming?

Is this good enough for gaming?

Forum Motherboards & Memory : Memory - Is this good enough for gaming?

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Hello.
I just want some feedback on the amount / type of memory i have and how well it'll perform playing games with high graphics (such as Crysis)

Basically.. i have
4 gigs DDR2 ( 2 x 1 GB -rated at 1200MHz Kingston HyperX, 2 x 1 GB -rated at 1066Mhz Kingston HyperX )

Running on http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813188013

and i'm wondering if it'll be good enough?
Or...should i get more memory? (maybe 8gb of 4x 2GB sticks? or will that be too much?)
Playing games with 4GB isn't that amazing... so i' just wondering if 8GB is twice the performance of 4GB? or is it actually less then twice?

I was also wondering... since i bought this computer build online, I wasn't the one that installed the memories...
And i have no idea how one is 1200MHz and the other is 1006MHz... i'm assuming they're both the same memory cards but... one is over clocked? Doesn't that throw the memory off balance? Because i've been reading some forum posts and they mentioned stuff about different volts isn't a good thing.

In this case, does the 1200MHz have a higher voltage than the 1066MHz? >.>


Message edited by akarainer on 07-08-2008 at 06:54:10 AM
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Unless you are running a 64bit OS, your PC will not use 8GB (will actually slow it down). However I would make sure to get matched speed RAM. 1066 +1066, or
1200 +1200. (if you run with 1200 +1066, you are just getting 1066 from all)

Reply to IH8U

+1 for using 64bit in order to use 8gb fully.

Reply to Shadowthor

Yep. I'm running 64bit. Sorry forgot to mention.
How would i change the 1200MHz one to 1066MHz? or the other way around?


Message edited by akarainer on 07-08-2008 at 07:00:48 AM
Reply to akarainer

8 gigs is NOT 2x faster. its about the same speed. Crysis will not use that much, but lots of apps will run better with that extra ram.

 

If you are against Vista then 8 gigs is not for you. XP 64(any driver/app issues are shared with both anyway) is just not worth it at this point IMO. If you use vista do not be alarmed when windows eats ALL 8(well about 6-7) gigs to pre fetch apps you use often for faster loading.

 

If you run 1066 and 1200 memory together you either have to overclock the 1066 or under clock the 1200. All sticks use the same speed and voltage. So if you set 2.2 all sticks get 2.2 volts(or as close as the board will get to it)

 
Quote :

Yep. I'm running 64bit. Sorry forgot to mention.
How would i change the 1200MHz one to 1066MHz? or the other way around?


You set that in the bios. by default it will run with the speed of the slowest memory.


Message edited by nukemaster on 07-08-2008 at 07:03:04 AM
------------------------------ http://i33.tinypic.com/sw3a5y.png
http://tinyurl.com/26uxxb - C2/i7 Temp? http://tinyurl.com/cj3pw - VGA power?
http://tinyurl.com/5v55wk - C2 Mem performance? http://tinyurl.com/6pmbke - SLI/Xfire?
http://tinyurl.com/yfmxdc9 - Part Guide?
Reply to nukemaster

agreed. besides, gaming wise (unless you have an ungodly load of processes going) 4 gigs is more than enough. i play crysis with only a gig of DDR2 800. what you want is the graphics/cpu match to get the performance that you want.

Reply to daft

If your gaming performance is suffering with 4gb or ram, then its probably a GPU issue.

Whats your GPU?

------------------------------ Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L*Intel E2180 OC 3.00Ghz Lapped*PowerColor ATI 3850 256MB*Patriot 2x1GB DDR2 800*Cooler Master CM690*Western Digital 250 GB*Silverstone Strider 600 Watt Modular PSU*Samsung Lightscribe Drive*CoolerMaster Geminni II Lapped Mirror Finish
Reply to SuicideSilence

Oh. I haven't tried playing the game yet, but since i just bought the desktop. I'm just checking if it'll run alright while playing Crysis.
But if you must know, It has a Quadro FX 1500 on it. (Yes i know, it's a media GPU and not a gaming one). However i have asked on the video card forums where the Quadro FX1500 stand compared to the PCI-E Nvidia Cards and they say it's around the Geforce 7900 series. And on Gamespot.com their forums say that Crysis's recommended GPU is Geforce
7800. So.. it should run alright. Either way i'm probably not going to be using the Quadro for long. I'll probably get the 8800 GTS. and SLI it with another one later on.

BTW Nukemaster, thanks for the heads up. I'll try and see what I can do with the memory speed in the BIOS.

Reply to akarainer

Your RAM will not be your bottleneck. Unless you have a very very old CPU, that graphics card will be your bottleneck. It would be much better for you to get a 9800GTX, or better yet, two of them. Their prices have dropped considerably, and your 680i (issues aside), ought to handle them fine, as long as you have a decent PSU to supply them. Crysis is an incredibly graphics intensive game, and you won't be able to put up decent settings with your Quadro.

Reply to zipz0p

Remember Crysis is a extremely demanding game, so high settings will not be an option for your current card. In fact i am not sure if there is any card that will run it high rez and eye candy. I do not find it scales as well as farcry did.

------------------------------ http://i33.tinypic.com/sw3a5y.png
http://tinyurl.com/26uxxb - C2/i7 Temp? http://tinyurl.com/cj3pw - VGA power?
http://tinyurl.com/5v55wk - C2 Mem performance? http://tinyurl.com/6pmbke - SLI/Xfire?
http://tinyurl.com/yfmxdc9 - Part Guide?
Reply to nukemaster
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