A matter of Ram?

[Blehstor]

Hi guys. I got an ATI 5770 some days ago and i can't stop noticing my computer does run a little bit slower than before. (Not in games of course, I had a 7950 Gx2) I have a very crappy generic DDR2 2GB of RAM memory that runs at 800 mhz (it says 400 mhz real in everest) and im thinking about getting G.Skill 4GB Trident Edition (1066 mhz) at a reasonable price.

The question is: am I going to be noticing extreme positive changes? Like faster and smoother Windows running.. or better gaming experience? Should I just save for a DDR3 mobo? (im not planning to change my PC for at least 2 years..)

My mobo: Biostar GF7050V-M

 

[bvzxa34]

When reading RAM, you have to multiply times 2. Example would be my kids computer. The old Biostar Grand mobo they had was max 266. With the 2GB dual channle kit they had, the RAM was PC3200 DDR 400. It deafults to 266 or PC2100.

266 = 133 x 2
400 = 200 x 2

So the RAM is running was running at 133mhz on the Biostar mobo. Recnetly I won an auction for an ASRock P4i65 and 3.4 P4. So I took out the RAM, GPU, and hard drive out and used the same parts on the ASRock board. Big improvement. However the RAM was at 133(266). So I set the RAM to 200(400), even bigger improvement when I reset the computer. I felt the increase. Pages loaded faster. There emulators were running faster with high end filters.

Naturally going from 2 to 4gb you should see a smoother run, even if you added another 2 GB of your existing RAM. All my newer builds run with 8GB of RAM. Win 7 runs about 1GB to 2GB depending on what you are doing.

If you're running XP, then your 4GB will become 3.25GB. So it also comes down to what OS you have.

 

[Blehstor]

I have XP but im planning to get 7 if I do improve my ram. So would I also note the change in games?

 

[saint19]

Hi newcomer and welcome to the Tom's hardware forum.

U won't see a big difference between 800 and 1066, BUT u would see a difference from 2GB to 4GB.

So, my advice is go with 4GB but don't waste your money in a 1066 RAM cause u won't see a big difference.

 

[Blehstor]

Ohhh thats an interesting advice really. So you are saying I get another 2 GB memory and forget about G.Skill. What you say is cheaper so I might do that.
Is that difference going to be in general?

Thanks a lot.

 

[saint19]

Yeah, if u want see a difference add 2GB more and ready.

Now, for DDR3 is another budget. If u want DDR3 u need a mobo that support DDR3 and a processor that can be installed in that mobo. The price of that three components is around $300 with AMD.

Bear in mind that the price of DDR2 and DDR3 are very similiar, the budget difference is on CPU and mobo.

Yeah, the difference is going to be in general, since u increase the physical RAM u can increase the virtual RAM that help in multitask and games.