Question On Software Memory Requirements

[desolator4u]

Sup ppl?
I was wondering about something regarding the Memory Requirements for Softwares; games to be specific. When they give the Minimum and Recommended amount of RAM that is required or suggested, how comes Manufacturers never state the Type and the Speed? Isn't there a fairly big difference between 4GB DDR2 800MHz over 4GB DDR3 1333MHz that would affect the performance of a piece of Software? Or is it not much of a big deal as I think it is?

~Des

 

[jitpublisher]

The minimum recommended is what the game needs to operate smoothly. You want enough memory that the PC is not continually hitting the hard disk and causing lag, not the minimum required to actually run. It would run with less, it just would not be very enjoyable to play.
What is most important is simply having enough memory or RAM.
The different speeds and types of memory, you could only tell the difference in benchmarks, not so much in actual use. If you notice, as speed in mhz of memory goes up, latency timings go up too. 800 mhz DDR2 with timings of 4-4-4-12 is probably faster "feeling" than 1333 mhz with timings of 7-7-7-20. The 1333mhz allows for more overall bandwidth. But you know, RAM has really has not been a bottleneck for several years now as far as raw speed goes, you just simply need enough installed. However, if you are playing at high res, very high detail levels, and running in cards in SLI or Crossfire, more memory bandwidth certainly does not hurt.

 

[desolator4u]

The minimum recommended is what the game needs to operate smoothly. You want enough memory that the PC is not continually hitting the hard disk and causing lag, not the minimum required to actually run. It would run with less, it just would not be very enjoyable to play.
What is most important is simply having enough memory or RAM.
The different speeds and types of memory, you could only tell the difference in benchmarks, not so much in actual use. If you notice, as speed in mhz of memory goes up, latency timings go up too. 800 mhz DDR2 with timings of 4-4-4-12 is probably faster "feeling" than 1333 mhz with timings of 7-7-7-20. The 1333mhz allows for more overall bandwidth. But you know, RAM has really has not been a bottleneck for several years now as far as raw speed goes, you just simply need enough installed. However, if you are playing at high res, very high detail levels, and running in cards in SLI or Crossfire, more memory bandwidth certainly does not hurt.

Beautiful reply man, so DDR2 800MHz with CAS Latency of 5 would basically perform the same as DDR3 1600MHz at CAS 10 (though most seem to be 9). The DDR3 Modules would be processing at twice the speed, but at the same time, the latency makes the data take about twice the time to get to where it needs to be processed, or something like that, right?

~Des