What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

[CheckSando]

THE RESULTS:::

What an extra GIG gets you:

Loading a map on average:
1gig: 1:30
2gig: 22 seconds

Verifying client Data(what ever that is):
1gig: 45 seconds
2gig: 23 seconds

Joining a game:
1gig: 20 seconds with about 40 seconds of lag (depending on map)
2gig: 15 seconds to start NO LAG on any map.

ALT TAB:
To Desktop-with full control
1gig: 25 seconds
2gig: 1/2 second
Back to in Game full play-
1gig: 1:20
2gig: 2 seconds

Quit game:
1gig: 33 seconds
2gig: 1 second




Well after scouring the forums, I have decided to upgrade to the much needed 2 gigs of ram. No one has really said what the increase will be though.

Some really believe all you need is 512mb...:laugh:
Some say 1gig will do....:|:
Some say 1.5...:hmm:
The rest say you should have 2...

My system currently has 1, and I would really like to see a performance increase.

Lots of similar topics in different forums, but nothing was conclusive.
What is the increase in overall performance?

Today I will install the 2nd gig of RAM.

I will look at before and after increases of:
3DMARK 2005 scores.
Frames per second at a couple different resolutions.
Load times of maps.
)))Any other ideas would be appreciated.

The machine I have is as follows

3.40 Ghz P4
ATi X800 GTO 16 256mb PCi Express
1 gig RAM currently.

I hope this test will let people know exactly what they can expect from dropping $$$ on more RAM.

Please reply with ideas and thoughts so that when I do the tests this afternoon more information can be attained.


~Sando

[IncognitoX]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

Here is the deal simply stated.

I just switched from 1 GB to 2 GB

1GB

If using teamspeak you listen to the battle take place while you wait to verify client.

2GB

You get in game, and wait up to a minute for the game to start.

You are in game before the round begins every round.

Thats the biggest difference.

Also hard disk activity decreases dramatically so hardware lag if you had been encountering it in the past will simply disappear for the most part.

[Bullit_toof]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

Sadly buying more RAM will seroiusly damage the contents of your wallet. Especially if you're going to buy decent RAM.By that I mean RAM with low latency timings. I.e My 1 GB RAM timings are supposed to be 2-2-2-5. Thats what it says on the box anyway! Can't figure out how to change them in the BIOS without melting them.

My 3DMark05 score is just below 5000. People with similar systems to mine but have 2 gigs of ram have their scores increased by about 800-1000 points from what i've seen so far.

[CheckSando]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

Thanks for the input!
Most of the threads were along that line, very basic info.

I know when I went looking for results, they were very plain jane.

like : its WAY faster...totally L33t!!!!!111

Hopefully the results I bring will be in more detail.

ie. load times and FPS so on and so forth.

Cant wait for the increase.

[CheckSando]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

Sadly buying more RAM will seroiusly damage the contents of your wallet. Especially if you're going to buy decent RAM.By that I mean RAM with low latency timings. I.e My 1 GB RAM timings are supposed to be 2-2-2-5. Thats what it says on the box anyway! Can't figure out how to change them in the BIOS without melting them.

My 3DMark05 score is just below 5000. People with similar systems to mine but have 2 gigs of ram have their scores increased by about 800-1000 points from what i've seen so far.

TigerDirect had a sale on 1024 PC3200 400 Ultra, from about $160 down to $59 with rebates.....cant beat it!

I have no idea about timings though

[Aradiel]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

I started playing BF2 with 1Gb then bought 1 more.

My rig:
- Intel P4 3.2
- Hitachi Deskstart 160Gb SATA
- Asus v9999 Ultra Deluxe (6800 Ultra 256Mb AGP 8x)
- 2 (then 4) x 512 Corsair XLow Latency
- WinXP Pro SP2 (Dual Channel Memory)

With 1Gb, I could play at 1280x1024 with most graphics settings on High but I would experience some lag once in while. When you're a ground pounder you don't care. But when you are a looner nap-of-the-earth BH helo pilot, your passengers don't like such lags.... :cry:

If I forgot to launch XFire or TS once I started BF2, it was no use to try the Alt-Tab trick to switch back to desktop.... PC would get unresponsive, game would hang, and in the end I would press the Reset button.

Nonetheless, once, I tried to press alt-tab and waited until I got back to Desktop. Once there, I checked memory I found out that total mem usage was a tad above 1Gb, meaning my PC had to swap once in a while. And even if I stopped all unneeded software and services before launching BF2 I would end up gobbling up all memory while playing.

Now please remember that all available memory is taken by WinXP until a program ask for it. And what XP does with this unused memory? A monstrous File cache used to accelerate disk access... So what happens when the system & programs already use most of your 1Gb ? There not much left for the system to use as cache...

Now I use 2 Gb (4x512) and the main difference is:
- I can easily use TS, XFire and BF2 at the same time with no delay to connect to servers
- I am often among the first players to connect on a map (some with ultra fast hard drive get there ahead of me)
- I can press Alt-Tab whenever I want to switch back to desktop to launch my preferred tools to play if I forgot to do it beforehand (XFire, TS, Joy2Key) or even to shutdown other software I forgot to close (Outlook, downloading softwares, etc)
- I get no more lag because of virtual memory swap (no longer any 1 or 2 seconds disks access during play)

And I truly think that the additionnal memory helps a lot with regards of file caching (client verif is faster, textures & map loading is faster)

One other imporant thing to keep in mind : when you adjust your settings or when you setup the game the 1st time, BF2 write a lot of thing on the hard drive (usually in your C:\Doc & Settings\ profile folder). If you HD was fragmented, it means all those nice files BF2 needs to load when you play are scattered all over your HD and worse : they may well be fragmented. So one thing to keep in mind : after EACH graphical settings adjustments, unfragment your C: drive as well as the drive where you installed BF2.

EDIT : I did not write anything about more FPS or anything to do with game perf. Maybe it's just because I have a somewhat highend rig but the main advantage of 2Gb, is less waiting, less lag. True, it can also help you raise your screen resolution as the higher it is the more RAM you consume (and the more RAM you use, the more swap you get if less than 1.5 or 2GB)

[stilla-killa]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

what i have been told is that u cant really see a diff over 1 gig of memory unless u video edit alot which they recommend 2 gigs. but i have 2 gigs myself just to future proof my machine

[glaucoma]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

The load time is seriously reduced, but that didn't matter so much to me.
What matters much more to me, is, that ever since the gameplay on all size maps has been silky smooth, because the map caching no longer happens from hd, which means a consistent framerate all the time, no matter what.

[imported_Master Shake]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

Well I just upgraded from 1G to 2G also and the diffrences I noticed were as follows....

No lag issues- runs smooth and allows me to win a gun fight more often = more points.

Maps load much faster-I get more time playing than waiting for the map to load, I also get in the map before 90% of everyone else = more access to vehicles,cap flags during the begining of the game quicker, and I can get myself into a position of comfort before a plane is straffing me at our home base.

All of the above has made my average score per map go up about 20% from where it was, witch definitly boosts the ego a bit and since Im all about ME thats a good thing.

[Robske007a]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

It helpes a lot, if u don't see any performance increase you can mail me and i'll refund u for the gig.

[warchild.IrishRage]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

The load time is seriously reduced, but that didn't matter so much to me.
What matters much more to me, is, that ever since the gameplay on all size maps has been silky smooth, because the map caching no longer happens from hd, which means a consistent framerate all the time, no matter what.

there is a major difference between 1 gb and 2 gb.
I built my rig for bf2 when it was comming out.
3.6 p4 overclocked to 4.1
x800xt pci-e
Corsair XMS 1gb ddr2 667
34 gb raptor as main drive ( with bf2)

I got the game and jacked everything to ultra and notice that there was plenty of lag and i was quite dissapointed , so i broke down and bought another gb of corsair xms ddr2 667 ( $490 at the time ) and have not had a single lag spike since. As the previous poster said you can run multiple things with no lag, be one of the first in game and can alt tab at any time quickly.

Aside from bf2 with this much ram there is never really any waiting time on any programs at all, any programs that freeze pretty much auto switch to not responding rather then wait a couple mins for it to tell you that.
Over all I would say if you can afford it, get it. There is no downside to have a **** ton of ram.

PS i liked it so much on the next rig im building now 4 gb is going in

[Hephaistion]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

Buying from Tiger direct is a bad idea. 50% of everything I buy from them is defective.
Try Mwave.com
or
Zipzoomfly.com
Go with Crucial or Kingston Memory, buying cheap memory is like throwing $$ down the toilet.
Take 4 of these and call me in the morning:

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA19781

Or try these out!

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=85002-39

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=83757

[Jerrylee1970]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

the system im finishing up today should work GREAT


Amd 4400+ dual core
2 gig kingston ram (dual inline)
2 raided 7700rpm hdd's
gforce 6600 pcie w/256meg
on a 1meg dsl down

[JohnnyBigGuns]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

I highly recommend getting 2 gigs for BF2, it made a huge difference in performance for me. Get rid of most of the stutter and latency issues in game. And the wait time for loading a map is bearable.

[666PROTECTOR]

Re: What will 2 gigs of RAM get you?

important question ?????

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