Memory: is more always better?

Hmm and then there are us sorry peeps who still run with 2x256mb modules

 

I dont get it, I have a X2 3800+ & 7800GT with a single 1GB corsair 3200C2 Pro... if I get rid of my pagefile and run the F.E.A.R. benchmark with CachemanXP monitoring peak usage I only use 600-700MB... why do I need 2GB?

 

When the computer loads the new room/level or program, memory usage spikes. 600-700 mb is still being played and new stuff loads, taking another 300-400 mb, and you are maxing memory and going to the pagefile - that is what causes the stuttering. Usually this only causes some slowing, but if the margin gets too close or goes over you get the unplayable stutter.

For example: you have been running in dungeon or in a closed space, and lots of targets, now you move into an outside area. The computer was probably cruising along shifting 200-300mb dealing with targets and graphigs files that are already handy, spiking with the room changes to 600-700. the step outside suddenly doubles the requirement adding the need for new color/texture, physics, targets, lighting, etc. probably spiking the bandwidth, and need for memory to over the 1 gb. and transfer capacity.

 

Try a Gb of old sdram, p4, and a 6600. One of the reasons I am lurking around here, learning what is good, and what is not. Some of the issues are the SOS tho'

 

Oh ok, thanx... I'm gonna play it for awhile and see how close it gets, or if it goes over

 

Well I played it for about 20 minutes (no pagefile), indoor and outdoor scenes, peak usage was 993MB.. didn't notice any real slow downs except for saving check points but they are notoriously slow on FEAR anyway... I dont think it would have went over 1024MB because you get that message from WinXP and it auto creates a Pagefile... so can I assume I dont need another gig of memory?

 

One thing to point out is that with the current 2gb value sets, you can quite easily achieve 3-4-4-8 1T settings with 250 "fsb" (500ddr) eventhough the set would be CAS 3 DDR400. By just paying a little more attention on what you're buying; anything with Samsungs UCCC chips will do nicely most of the time.

Then again, sometimes a more pricey 2gb kit with decent latencies might not overclock too well, eventhough usually this is because of the other components like the motherboard. Having paid a pretty nice price for the G.Skill kit in my signature, I was expecting to get a bit more hrz out of them, but it seems that my a8n premium doesn't see it the same way. What to learn from this? Always make sure your motherboard is 100% compatible with the memory you're planning on buying! =]

I've been wondering about this, because these G.Skill ZX's are guaranteed to do 2-3-2-5 ddr400. So if that theory is correct, these should be 2-3-2-7. I've heard that tRCD CAS + 2 idea before too and have tried to remember it when changing settings, but this whole manufacturer guaranteed thing is a bit confusing...

 

As long as you don't runn anything else when you are gaming. If you look at the article the 2GB usually is needed when doing a lot of shifting between applications, but your peak appears to be within what you already have. (a serious type like a programmer can probably tell you about some special memory management issues, but I think windows 95 and later solved most of those.)

 

Ah!!

 

True - I seem to have got lucky with my 2GB of Value Select. They run 250 at 3-4-4-8 1T perfectly happily with just a .5 voltage boost, memtest86 stable over 20 hours .

EDIT: sorry, .25, not .5!

EDIT EDIT: Actually, I've just realised I have no idea what the voltage boost is. I thought it was documented somewhere but now I can't see it. I have the ASRock Dual939 board with the AGP and PCIe slots, and the VDIMM settings are "Normal" and "High".

Whatever, the RAM runs lovely, and with a board like that I'm fairly certain the max VDIMM isn't going to be anything dangerous

 

I agree.
In my opinion 1GB are enough for most applications; I have2*512MB and swap file size=0.
I put 2 more RAM modules but 2GB total RAM did not improve the system's performance.
For other users may 2GB help.
For me no.

 

A lot if it must depend on what quality settings and resolution you play as I notice a definate increase in performance with 2Gb, I run with everything maxxed out at 1920x1200, just looking at memory usage on a couple of games you can see its high.



Thats just going into one level, you can see my starting usage is fairly high (400Mb) as I have the odd background app that I always have running, but still.

Fear goes even higher to around 1.8Gb on some levels.

 

Well for one i assume its a good artical but i cant read the text (black on white not good for dyslic) so ill ask these questions.
1) Can someone change the bgcoler of the artical to the light blue of the forums
and
2) Is it worth me upgrading my 400MHZ 512GB to 2Gig of 533 mhz DDRII ?