More RAM = No difference in game play?

[m0nsterm@sh]

Hey Everyone,

So, I just got my 2nd GB of RAM (I now have 4 x 512MB DDR2 RAM) and I don't notice any difference in my map or game loading times!!!

The RAM is installed correctly... I see listed in my system properties. Any thoughts as to why this is?

Other system stats include:
10,000rpm hard drive
3.4GHz Intel processor
Radeon x850 video card (256MB)

[Beerman]

Re: More RAM = No difference in game play?

Wow you have some kick ass specs. What kind of internet do you have that can affect gameplay.

[DosX]

Re: More RAM = No difference in game play?

I have a G15 Keyboard and one of the Mods that comes with it is a RAM utilization scrollbar.

When I had 1GB of RAM I noticed that playing BF2 it would be around 90-95% of my RAM being used. When I upgraded to 2GB it lingers around 45%.

If you don't have much else running, eating up your RAM, then you may not see much difference between 1GB and 2GB. I'll guarantee you this though.... ALT-TAB back to windows now. I bet you can manuever much easier now. Before I got 2GB I could barely alt-tab and do anything in windows.

[Rub-UFS-]

Re: More RAM = No difference in game play?

I would think you should see a LITTLE difference in loading times. With my 2GB RAM I'm always 1st to get in the game (if there is no start timer).

[bitvomit]

Re: More RAM = No difference in game play?

Hey Everyone,

So, I just got my 2nd GB of RAM (I now have 4 x 512MB DDR2 RAM) and I don't notice any difference in my map or game loading times!!!

The RAM is installed correctly... I see listed in my system properties. Any thoughts as to why this is?

Other system stats include:
10,000rpm hard drive
3.4GHz Intel processor
Radeon x850 video card (256MB)

I just got 1.5GB of ram and noticed an enormous difference in BF2. My maps load quicker, stuttering is a thing of the past, I can crank several settings that caused insane stuttering before, and best of all I can alt+tab BF2 and close it out instantly. Judging by your other specs though, I don't think memory is gonna have much of an effect on your BF2 experience. Don't think 2gb as a waste though. The next gen of games are gonna require 1gb of ram and also having 1gb+ of ram can make windows XP run alot faster.

[m0nsterm@sh]

Re: More RAM = No difference in game play?

I'm reading all these forums with people who got more RAM saying that their in-game play no longer studders (I never had that problem), that the maps load faster (I already loaded the fastest out of my 4 man clan but still takes about 35-45 sec to fully load a map), that there is no longer "verifying client data" before "join game" (I still verify for 10-15 sec), people can seemlessly alt+tab back to desktop and back into game (I lag 5 sec doing that).

So, I'm really at a loss here.

I'm wondering that since my 1GB of RAM was DDR2 (which is already super fast) that the 2nd GB of DDR2 doesn't make that big of a difference... but with the size of these games/maps, I find that really hard to believe.

[u_got_pwnt]

Re: More RAM = No difference in game play?

Loading times for Battlefield are mostly the same for everyone anyway. From clicking on Play BF2 to having a map laoded completely takes most people more than 3 or 4 minutes..

[RolandThompsonGun]

Re: More RAM = No difference in game play?

I went from 1 gig to 2 gigs and that cut my load times down but what really changed was the verify client data. That went from 2-4 minutes to 30 seconds. Not much else changed that I could see.

[Orion126]

Re: More RAM = No difference in game play?

I purchased a whole new comp:

2.8 ghz dual core intel
160 gb HD
Nvidia 7800GT 256 mb
2 gb ram

My old system
2.6 p4 HT
120 GB HD
Radeon 9800pro 128 mb
1.5 gb RAM

Load time is a little better, prob 10-15 secs better, but now I run everything on high except shadows, those are medium (too dark in some area's and the lower the lighting settings the less shadows)..my average FPS is about 50, so it looks better and with the extra ram I get no stutters nor does it slow down when theres 20 heads in one flag with artillary raining down on them...

[bitvomit]

Re: More RAM = No difference in game play?

Having more ram gives you the freedom to keep more programs open. Before I got 1.5GB of ram, I used to close out every program before I loaded up any game. Now I can keep my most accessed programs like firefox, winamp etc loaded in memory indefinitly without having to have to access them from the hard disk everytime I load them up. More ram is also a boon for people that use shell programs like window blinds, desktopx etc as they can take up a nice fat chunk of memory.

[skatefarm999]

Re: More RAM = No difference in game play?

hey man, ur computer is soo high spec obviously you arent going to see much of a change...although u shud notice that u can run other programs or keep your other monitor on as i do if u have one

[GenFranco]

Re: More RAM = No difference in game play?

Same here... I got 2 Gigs and noticed very little difference. It probably bc. my graphics card is already good: nvidia 7800GT. But I have the same g15 keyboard and i noticed very little use of ram. Digging a bit more into the task manager, I noticed it is using a only 430 megs of RAM!! that's it! The rest of it was mostly unused. What was worse is that it is also using 430 megs of virtual memory--which is hard disk swapping to emulate more RAM. I still can't believe this. Can anyone else confirm? (go to task bar and add virtual memory as a metric). To me it is a crime to be forced to use slow VM when I have so much RAM just sitting there. I would be curious if any smart techie out there knows how to cheat this

GenFranco

[DosX]

Re: More RAM = No difference in game play?

Check THIS POST out.... You may want to disable virtual memory.

[Xanthias]

Re: More RAM = No difference in game play?

Digging a bit more into the task manager, I noticed it is using a only 430 megs of RAM!! that's it! The rest of it was mostly unused. What was worse is that it is also using 430 megs of virtual memory--which is hard disk swapping to emulate more RAM. I still can't believe this. Can anyone else confirm? (go to task bar and add virtual memory as a metric). To me it is a crime to be forced to use slow VM when I have so much RAM just sitting there. I would be curious if any smart techie out there knows how to cheat this GenFranco

You could always turn the VM off altogether. This would put the data it would ordinarily put into the VM into your RAM instead...

LOL...I was going to find that post that you just did. Looks like we both responded simulaneously! Yes...that is the post I was going to look for...lots of info there...much discusssion about RAM in general. I'm STILL going to go with 3 Gigs though! :-P

[Sexy In Garden]

Re: More RAM = No difference in game play?

How about choose a fast SERVER.. I have 3.0GHz P4, 1Mb connection and 512MB RAM... If I choose the right server it loads within about 15-20 seconds