Jump to content

Ram advice, part Duex


Raziel
 Share

Recommended Posts

Thanks for all the info in the last thread, and since you all seem so capable...I thought i'd come back with a couple more questions .

Based on what I have absorbed, for my system it would be best to get 2 sticks of 512mb. Bringing my total memory up to about 1.5 gb.

But in looking at the costs for ram sticks, the 1gb version is about 12% cheaper then 2 512's.(Which is part of the reason why I started the first thread). Which got me thinking, since I can only really afford to update once Would it better to wait a bit longer and buy 2 1gb sticks?

Considering my modest system(see below), Im not really sure if it would be worth it. I get the feeling that once I pass the 1gb mark, anything i had is suffering from diminishing returns and that I would better off saving the extra funds for a Grapics card update.

What do you all think?

-------------

Computer make/model: Dell Dimension 5100

Motherboard make/model:

Processor type/speed: Pentium 4 3.0ghz Dual Core

BIOS type:

Memory type/amount: 512 MB

Cdrom type/speed: HP DVD/CD Combo

Sound card make/model: Sound blaster Live 24-bit

Video card make/model: Ati Radeon x600

Video card memory: 256MB

Monitor type/size: Dell 21 inch

Mouse type: Microsoft Optical mouse

Joystick: N/a

Modem model/speed: Cable via PCI Ethernet Adapter

Desktop color depth: 32bit

Operating system: WinXp

DirectX version: 9.0c

Videocard driver version: 6.14.0010.6601

Soundcard driver version: 5.12.0001.0512

Mouse driver version:

------------------------

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see your "Temporary" System Profile has changed. All the advice that I gave you before, was based on your 700Mhz system with 256 Megs of RAM. Next time make sure your profile is up to date before posting anything, since you waste our time otherwise.

On a 3Ghz system, you're going to see a huge jump in speed from 256 to 512 Megs of RAM, from 512 to 1GB, you'll see about a 15 to 20% Boost, and from 1GB to 2GB, you'll see about a 5 to 10% Boost. About the only time this makes a bit MORE of a difference, is with certain games like Battlefield 2, which are HUGE memory hogs.

Same thing applies as before, where you should have 2 identical sticks for the Double Data Rate to work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Either go for 2 matched 512 sticks OR 2 matched 1G sticks period. If you don't your memory bandwidth will suffer.

The system posted in the first message COULD benefit from the additional ram. RAM upgrades the cheapest performance boosters in existence, and if you plan to go to Vista you WILL want a minimum of 1G, and actually from what I've read a 2G system running Vista should be roughly equivalent to a 1G Windows XP system today...

i.e. the moral of the story is more memory never hurts, and will help, if you're planning to go vista even 1.5G seems like it will be a little short, lastly make up your own mind, find a good price and do it, or don't...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...