F1addict

I was just wandering if getting 2 more 2GB ram sticks will really do anything or make any noticeable difference in anything with my computer.

right now I have
4GB (2 x 2GB) G.Skill DDR2 800 ram
3.1GHz Dual core AMD Athlon 64 X 6000+ cpu
Gigabyte MA78GM-S2H micro ATX motherboard (supports 16GB of Ram)
200GB Maxtor HDD
650W Cooler Master Real Power Pro PSU
256mb XFX GeForce 8600GT XXX PCI Express x16 vid card
64bit Vista premium

now the computer so far is running great, I just installed Vista yesterday so I haven't had a chance to really push it but I've spent today downloading all my stuff back onto the computer (its a major upgrade to an old HP media center PC, all thats left is hard drive, which was completely wiped, and the DVD drive, which I'll be replaceing soon because it doesn't recognize some of my games) and it seems to be really fast so far. I can open photoshop elements in 5-6seconds, about 5 times faster then the old components would do it at. The Sims loads insanely fast and plays great on pretty much maxed out settings, and as I type this its doing a decent job downloading Flight Simulator X onto the hard drive.

But I always hear/read people saying that the more Ram you have with Vista the better it runs, and that 4GB is what you need to really run it properly while more is better, 2GB being the real minimum to run it well.
Is this true? Will 8GB really do anything or should I just stick with 4GB?
its only $40 to get another set of what I have, probably less by the time I actually by it

ash369

That seems cheap enough, if it were me i'd boost the RAM and upgrade it to 8GB. Nothing but good things can happen with adding more RAM.

grimx133

Have a whack of programs running and then open up task manager and take a look at the performance tab to see how much of your memory you are using. Unless you are getting close to maxing it out and entering page file territory, you aren't going to get a real performance boost from more memory.

Tumbleweed36

IMHO, 8 gigs is probably a waste of money and 4 gigs will be fine. There just aren't enough applications out there that will benefit from that extra ram.

vnrao86

For vista 64-bit operating system 8GB is very good and that will increase the speed of the computer.Don't increase more than 8GB.For vista 32-bit OS 3GB is good.


***HAPPY XMAS***

magnethead

agreed

magnethead

Not 100% true. I myself have done a quad core stress test, and only acheived 2.86 page file usage with 87 programs running.

Also, note that you cannot be in dual channel mode with 3 GB of RAM. I find 2GB often overran, so 4GB is the best overall value.

HawMan

to get 3GB in Dual Channel you need to run ( If you have 4 RAM Slots )


1GB in Slot 1 & 3
512mb in slot 2&4

However you may get some stability issues if they are different models / brands of RAM

magnethead

I meant using 2 sticks ;)

(cost effectiveness + overclockability)

F1addict

so maybe I'll hold off. Atleast until my brother builds his computer and I steal his old case. Because there really isn't enough room in my case and I'm kinda worried about over heating anyways. The ram slots are close together and close to the CPU and if I open the computer up I can't even see my ram because all the PSU cables are in the way. Stupid micro atx cases.

I think I still will do it though, Especially if I see the ram on sale. Because in the future you never know what you'll need as games start using more and more of your system and everything gets more advanced. Vista alone is using about 25% of my Ram ALL the time Thats a gig of ram! And people actually run vista on computers that only have 1 gig of ram.HOW?

Tumbleweed36

Could be they don't stress their rig as much as you do. Anyway, I agree with the comment about the small cases....kind of a PITA in my opinion. Have a great holiday week.