What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

[stilla-killa]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

i would say 512X4 to run dual channel but it depends on ur motherboard and how many memory slots u have

[Sir. bzb]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

Once upon a time...

General Information
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP
DirectX Version 9.0c
Mobo Manufacturer http://www.abit.com.tw/
Mobo Model KD7(VIA KT400-8235)
AGP Rates (Current/Available) 8x / 4x, 8x
CPU AMD Athlon(tm) XP/MP/4 2163 MHz
FSB 166 MHz
Memory 512 MB

Display Information
Graphics Chipset ATI RADEON 9800 XT
Driver Name RADEON 9800 XT
Driver Version 6.14.10.6561
Driver Status WHQL - FM Approved
Video Memory 256 MB
Core Clock 418 MHz
Memory Clock 364 MHz

Main Test Results
3DMark Score 3068 3DMarks

CPU Score 2333 CPUMarks

But then......

- AMD Athlon 64 4000 San Diego (Socket 939) Dual DDR400 CPU
- AMD Approved Cooler
- Asus A8N-SLi Premium nForce4 SLi Dual Channel PCI-Express Motherboard
- GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) DDR PC3200 CAS2.5 Dual Channel Kit
- 250GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 16mb cache SATA-2 Hard Drive
- 2 x Leadtek GeForce 7800 GT 256MB DDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Cards (SLi Configured)
- Pioneer DVR-110BK 16 x 16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black)
- Creative Sound Blaster Audigy ZS 7.1 Sound Card

3DMark Score 9960 3DMARKS

Cant find the actual print out for the new system but i did keep a note of the score.

Point being that on either system i could play BF2 with stuff turned up, the newer one just makes it look way better. I assume this is down to the graphics cards having relevant features. I cant say i noticed being late for maps, equally i wouldnt have noticed. Also i think i was kinda used to the performance of the old machine and never thought it slow.
Obviously the upraged machine has that much extra in that it is impossible for me to say whether ram helped for bf2, but overall it makes a huge difference. The old comp did used to have 1gb but one stick died. If you ever play with photoshop you'll notice the difference, open as many files as you can and watch it laugh at you.

I assume BF2 is also not shy about using huge textures, i have a total of 512 video memory and thats load the ram/pagefile is no longer taking, so the case may also be that larger capacity cards rather than straight ram to improve the performance.
I think it would help if people posted there specs vs 3d mark score, its impossible to gauge performance vs peoples opinions on there performance, it is a benchmark program for a reason.

[LaserCobra]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

Didn't read the entire thread but I tried 2Gigs of Corsair XMS PC3200 (compared to my current 1Gig Kingston HyperX PC3200) and didn't notice enough of a difference to warrant the extra money (no real difference at all). I'm only using 800MB of memory with the game and TS running. I'm holding off on my purchase...

Rig:
Asus P4C800-E Deluxe mobo
2.4CGhz @ 3.0GHz
1Gig Kingston PC3200 @ 420Mhz 3-3-3-6
BFG 6800GT OC @ 400/1.10
WD S-ATA Raptor HD
SB Live Value sound card (lol)
3DMark05 = 5540

BTW- I've geeked my rig out by tweaking the OS, cleaning the game cache, defragging, etc. Got my system idling @ 70MB of mem usage. Just wanted to throw that out there....

BTW^2- I built a friend a SLi rig using 2 x eVGA 7800GT's, Asus A8N-SLi Premium mobo, 4000+ Clawhammer, 2 gigs Corsair XMS mem, 2 x WD S-ATA hard drives, etc, etc and it still wasn't as fast as I thought it should be. Verifying client data took a bit longer due to the higher graphic settings.
3DMark05 = 9,xxx @ stock speeds. He didn't want to overclock... *evil grin*
The parts
The end product


I'll shut up now.

[LaserCobra]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

important question ?????

512mb x 4sticks or 1gb x 2sticks ???

Sorry for the double post but I was rambling in the last one. 4 stick is not > 2 sticks just because of dual channel support. If anything it makes your system less stable due to voltage consumption. Any overclocker would tell you the same.

2 x 1Gig > 4 x 512MB


Extreme Overclocking

[Lazy8s]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

laid.

[r0uJe]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

what about adding another half a gig of ram (512mb)? i have 1.5gb on my machine...

[BG1]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

After getting 2 gigs of ram I'm usually the first to load the map and bf2 runs smoother overall. Also when you minimize bf2 and run other applications etc. there's no slowdown at all. However, if you don't run the game on high detail there's no real need for 2 gigs but usually people with that amount of ram have the rig to run bf2 on max settings.

[NoConflict]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

My rig:

FX-60 (Yes, I know, I own you... actually my dad works for AMD)
7800 GTX
and 2 GB of ram

before I got the 2 GB of RAM, I had 1 GB, the jump from 1 to 2 is amazing

[CheckSando]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

The results are in

[« R²» HKS]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

I have 3 512meg sticks and the difference between 1gig and 1.5 gig is massive to say the least. Mainly though it effects loading time, verifying client data. However I have noticed that without regular defrags its like going back to 1gig of RAM so this is just as important.

what about adding another half a gig of ram (512mb)? i have 1.5gb on my machine...

The difference between 1.5gig and 2gig is minimal. 1.5gig is definitely enough to get all these performance benefits.

[marktheimmortal]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

2 gigs makes one hell of a difference for me.

I've just built a new system and was using 1GB whilst I waited for my 2GB to arrive. The difference between 1GB and 2GB in BF2 is immense.

loading times vastly improved, I can run with all graphics high at a higher resolution and with AA on full with no lag/stuttering.

Not only that I can alt-tab back to desktop and download things in the background etc.

So yes, 2GB is no longer a luxury.

As for the 4*512 or 2*1Gig question; I did a fair amount of research prior to building the new system and found that on most motherboards it's better to have 2*1Gig sticks.

[redrider]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

2 small bits of info. After you build your computer with 2 gigs of ram pull up windows Task manager and see what Ram usage is. With BF2 running its just under 1.7 gigs. The other is say later on you want to move up to 4 gigs ram, you only have 4 ram slots, and for some silly reason 6 months ago you put in 4 sticks of 512. I say get the 2 x 1024. . . . . . Red

[Sir. {RF}TFS]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

I found that I noticed a bigger increase in performance overall on my PC when I started using striped RAID than when I installed an extra GB of memory so if your MoBo supports it , it would probably give your PC a bbost overall as opposed to just for the game and would cost just a little bit more for the 2 HDD or 1 if you already have a SATA drive.

[sumguyhavinfun]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

I went from 1 gig to 1.5 and thats done it for me quite well as all those have said, everthing is faster and smoother.

[Zoukaila]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

Getting an extra GB of RAM greatly improved BF2 performance, to say the least. I also got rid of the windows swap file. This really makes a difference, for every application runs faster now. A lot less disk access, because it seems windows likes to swap everything, even if it doesn't need to. Try it!