How Much RAM Do You Really Need?

By Jon Kullberg
published

Test Setup

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Processor
Socket 939AMD Athlon 4000+ (Clawhammer, 2.4 GHz, 1 MB L2 Cache)
Memory
AMD Platform (DDR400)4x 512 MB - DDR400 (200 MHz)Corsair Pro Series CMX512-3200XL (XMS3208 V1.1)(CL2.0-2-2-5-2T @ 200 MHz)2x 256 MB - DDR400 (200 MHz)GeIL GOS5123200DC (CL2.0-2-2-5-2T @ 200 MHz)
Motherboard
Socket 939 PlatformAbit A8N Fatal1tyNVIDIA nForce4 Ultra Chipset
System Hardware
Graphics Card (PCIe)NVIDIA Geforce 6800 GT (Reference Card)GPU : NVIDIA Geforce 6800 GT (405 MHz)Memory : 256 MB DDR-SDRAM (550 MHz)
Hard DriveMaxtor DiamondMax 10300 GB, 16 MB Cache, 7,200 RPM
NetworkIntegrated NVIDIA Gigabit Ethernet network
Power SupplyTagan TG480-U22, ATX 2.0, 480 W
Software
Chipset Drivers (PCIe)NVIDIA Forceware 6.70
Graphics DriverNVIDIA Forceware 81.85
DirectXVersion : 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
OSWindows XP Professional 5.10.2600,Service Pack 2

Benchmarks And Settings

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Benchmarks and Settings
OpenGL
Doom IIIVersion : 1.31024x768, 32 BitVideo Quality = Ultra Qualitydemo1
Quake 4Version : 1.0640x480, 32 BitVideo Quality = Ultra QualityCustom made demo
DirectX 8
Unreal Tournament 2004Version : 32551024x768, 32 Bit, Audio = off, max settingsTHG8-onslaught-single
DirectX 9
Far CryVersion : 1.31, Build 1378800x600, 32 Bit, Video Quality = Very High
3DMark 2005Version : 1.21024x786, 32 BitGraphics and CPU Default Benchmark
Battlefield 2Version : Demo 1.0800x600 32 BitQuality options : tested using both max settings and lowest settingsCustom made demo
Video
Pinnacle Studio 9 PlusVersion : 9.4.1from : 352x288 MPEG-2 41 MBto : 720x576 MPEG-2 95 MBEncoding and Transition Rendering to MPEG-2/DVDno Audio
Auto Gordian KnotDivX 5.2.1XviD 1.0.3Version : 1.95Audio = AC3 6chCustom size = 100 MBResolution settings = Fixed widthCodec = XviD and DivX 5Audio = CBR MP3, kBps 192182 MB VOB MPEG2-source
Audio
Lame MP3Version 3.97.1 Multi-threaded AlphaWave 17:14 minutes (182 MB) to mp332 - 320 kBitVBR = level 3
Applications
WinRARVersion 3.41Extraction of 1 file, 2.65 GBCompression = BestDictionary = 4096 kB
3DS Max 7Characters "Dragon_Charater_rig"1600x1200Rendering Single
Synthetic
PCMark 2005 ProVersion : 1.0.1All Tests
SiSoftware Sandra ProVersion 2005, SR2aMemory Tests = Bandwidth Benchmark, Memory and Cache Benchmark
Multitasking
Quake 4Version : 1.0Set to loop using Ultra Quality settings
BulletProof FTP ServerVersion : 2.4.0.31Transferring 3 files totaling 8,11 GB over Gigabit Ethernet
Jon Kullberg
5 Comments Comment from the forums
  • survivor1940
    I am a little confused as to what ram would work better with the Asus P5KPL-CM motherboard running intel E5200 CPU. I will not be gaming.I know I can use up to 3.5 Gbs of ram on my Windows XP 32 bit OS.The question is which would perform better> 2x1Gb ddr2-800 pc2 6400 or ddr2-667 pc2-5300?
    Reply
  • yugiteddy
    I use a Mac and a windows computer from IBM. I use the mac most of the time... it has 768 megabytes of ram.
    The Mac is a powerbook G4.
    Applications do crash but I like to do things quickly so that's why. With the IBM (Netvista), I don't use it that much, but sometimes I control it through RDC. The "Netvista" has 1 Gigabyte of ram.
    I don't really mind about the computers and the ram-I just care about that I can use them and that they don't crash each time I play a game.
    From someone, who is learning applescript.
    Reply
  • usasma
    I've got 12 gB of RAM and I still experience slowdowns. Today it was due to numerous programs reading my hard drive - and even the RAID 5 array didn't help.

    Performance is achieved by striking a good balance between RAM, CPU, Hard disks, and the mobo.
    Reply
  • my 256mb ram pc is working surprisingly fast.it take 2 minutes to load while my laptop got 2 gb ram and takes like 5mins to start up.my 256mb ram system has been (like you were saying) balanced to do tasks throughout the system that are necessary only and working amazingly well.
    Reply
  • 80725760
    Reply