RAM Upgrade - Worth it?

RainbowDespair

So I'm thinking about upgrading my RAM from 1 gig (2x512MB) of DDR2-533 to 2 gigs (2x1gig) of DDR2-667 since, after looking up types of RAM that are compatible with my computer, it looks like I could do that for about $75, but before I spend the money, I wanted to know what kind of performance increase I would be looking at.

My system stats:

Windows XP
Dual Core Intel Pentium D 2.8Ghz
GeForce 7600GT w/256MB RAM

Games that I own or am thinking about picking up:
Civilization IV, Titan Quest, Orange Box, GameTap (So Clive Barker's Jericho, the Tomb Raiders, etc.), Left 4 Dead, STALKER, Hellgate: London, Mythos, Bioshock.

And a few extra questions:

I own an XBox 360. With my PC setup, how would the PC version of Bioshock run compared to the 360 version?

I love Half-Life 2, but the frequent and long load times bug me. Would switching to 2 gigs of RAM noticeably improve the load times or is that the kind of thing that I'd need a complete overhaul for?

Esh

Upgrade your RAM. Yes.

HarshLanguage

2GB of RAM would be a noticeable improvement. However, the RAM speed of a single stick would not help at all. I'd get a matching stick of 533 personally.

syndalis

always go with two matching sticks, as dual channel is better in every single possible way.

RainbowDespair

Yeah, I was planning on getting 2 matching sticks of 1 gig each (changed the opening to indicate this).

FreddyD

I put in 4 sticks of 512MB (4 banks, 2 dual channel) in my computer and the increase in bandwidth was insane. It was like buying a new computer. I could minimize games and start surfing the net with little to no decrease in response time.

Zombiemambo

I just bought 2 1gb sticks of RAM and my PC's performance has drastically improved. Definitely upgrade.

august

I just went from 512 to 1.5 gig.

GOOD TIMES.

Zombiemambo

august wrote: »

I just went from 512 to 1.5 gig.

GOOD TIMES.

I went from 512 to 2.5, so HAH!

august

Zombiemambo wrote: »

august wrote: »

I just went from 512 to 1.5 gig.

GOOD TIMES.

I went from 512 to 2.5, so HAH!

Well... it was still good for me anyway.

Talk about a massive improvement. Plus my video card can like DO stuff now.

Dehumanized

i jumped from 1gig of memory to 4 gigs

but i also bought a new everything else, so i guess it doesn't count

Campion

All this talk about RAM makes me want to upgrade, but...



RAM goes where?
(1) !

Thankee, Cynic

Lucky Cynic

But the performance gain from using over 2 gigs is neigh non existent unless your either benchmarking and purposely making your computer work at 100% or if you want to do Auto CAD while playing WoW and UT3.

EDIt, it goes in 1.

Dehumanized

1... if you're really not sure about that sort of thing and want to upgrade, remember the following:

1. Always make sure you are grounded before fiddling with stuff that will go into your computer, or is inside your computer. You can do this by simply touching the metal chassis of the case before you work with it. This will reduce any static charge you have so you don't fry shit.
2. Never force things in. Pretty much everything you can put onto a motherboard is slotted and notched such that it will slide rather easily into the place it's intended to go.

august

Dehumanized wrote: »

1... if you're really not sure about that sort of thing and want to upgrade, remember the following:

1. Always make sure you are grounded before fiddling with stuff that will go into your computer, or is inside your computer. You can do this by simply touching the metal chassis of the case before you work with it. This will reduce any static charge you have so you don't fry shit.
2. Never force things in. Pretty much everything you can put onto a motherboard is slotted and notched such that it will slide rather easily into the place it's intended to go.

Except I found that I had to really push had to get my RAM slotted correctly. Much harder than I thought anyway. At first I was sure I had ruined something.

Lucky Cynic

Yeah, it's pretty easy to tell "Oh shit, this must not go here/doesn't fit!" Just be sure you get the right ram, the right speeds, and boot down, crack open that fucker, and stick them in. Not one side and then another, just perpendicular. Mine DID need a bit of force to go on, but everything should click together with those notches and such.

Ram is the easiest hardware to install.

Campion

I don't know about that, my network card was super simple, this seems much more complicated. Now I'm supposed to know what kind of DDR my current RAM is and I just have no clue (I haven't done a lot of dancing). I tried finding out through the system information, but that didn't get me anywhere, now I've pulled one of'm out to see if the web can tell me (which it hasn't).

So can anyone give me another hand with this RAM issue? All the letters on this thing include:
HY264T32000HU-3.7-B
B4D64306
Assembled in China
256MB 1Rx16 PC2-4200U-444-12-C1

I'm thinking DDR 2, but I'm really not sure, and the man at the store sounded very serious about getting the correct RAM.

Lucky Cynic

PC2 4200? That is the speed of the ram.

If so, then here you go.

Campion

All of those are DDR2, but none of them look like mine. Can I make safe assumptions, or no?

TheMorningStar

I also have an upgrading question. I've been wondering, would it be worth it to get a 7600GT 256mb (AGP) for 130 or so, or should I just save for awhile (probably a year) and make the jump to pci-e?

My current system is this:
p4 2.66ghz FSB @533
1.5gb pc2700
6800 128mb vanilla.

Right now I'm playing BF2, STALKER, and I'm thinking about getting Company of Heroes. Crysis has me curious, but I'm sure it'd rape my system. My biggest problem is my monitor is widescreen, so anything that isn't it's native resolution (1440x900) looks like shit. I guess if the performance increase is enough it'd be worth it, since I'm pretty set on waiting at least 8 months before completely rebuilding.

Dehumanized

I'd wait out a complete upgrade in your case. 8 months should see hefty price drops in C2Ds and current 8800s, and AGP is a dead format -- so moving up to that 7600GT would just give you another couple months before an upgrade would be imminent.

Lucky Cynic

Well, no. You can keep that 7600GT, but yeah, you will not be able to do much with it. I mean, you can play games, just not the newest ones at such great frames. I would scrape and save, and get things together next year. I mean, hell, maybe even 6monthes you can get a great rig.

TheMorningStar

Cool. I was leaning that way anyways. Thanks guys.


When I do get around to Crysis, I want it to be in it's full glory.

Lucky Cynic

TheMorningStar wrote: »

Cool. I was leaning that way anyways. Thanks guys.


When I do get around to Crysis, I want it to be in it's full glory.

You may be waiting a few years even after that, then. It's been scaled up several years. So even rigs these days, the really expensive $3,000 ones can't even crank everything up to the max and still manage to put out a huge resolution at 60fps.

However, you don't need to go crazy like that for it to look good. But if you insist on having crazy high resolutions and lots of other DX10 visuals, you will have pay a price. Just depends how much of it you want.

GimeC

Hijacking a similar question thread: Upgrading laptop RAM is okay if there's an open slot for it and it's at the same speed as the other stick, right? Also, is crucial.com RAM credible?

Finally, I've got 512MB as it stands and can either go for 512 or 1GB more. I'm honestly just in it for the orange box, which runs right now but very poorly and with slow load times. I think I'd be happy with the increase of 512MB, but should I foot another 60$ and go for 1GB+ instead? This laptop's a few years old so an entirely new computer isn't too far down the road.

Dirty Drawers

GimeC wrote: »

Hijacking a similar question thread: Upgrading laptop RAM is okay if there's an open slot for it and it's at the same speed as the other stick, right? Also, is crucial.com RAM credible?

Finally, I've got 512MB as it stands and can either go for 512 or 1GB more. I'm honestly just in it for the orange box, which runs right now but very poorly and with slow load times. I think I'd be happy with the increase of 512MB, but should I foot another 60$ and go for 1GB+ instead? This laptop's a few years old so an entirely new computer isn't too far down the road.

If your rig can take 2GB, I would upgrade to that instead of adding in one more stick. RAM works best in matching pairs. I myself recommend OCZ RAM, but that's my preference. I prefer their RAM's quality.

FreddyD

Dehumanized wrote: »

I'd wait out a complete upgrade in your case. 8 months should see hefty price drops in C2Ds and current 8800s, and AGP is a dead format -- so moving up to that 7600GT would just give you another couple months before an upgrade would be imminent.

In fact, if he had an x1950 Pro AGP I think he would be fine until mid-2009.