Viewing Thread:
"Should I get more RAM?"

Slightly theoretical question this one as my pay packet this month is going on a Hyundai L90D+ monitor, but anyway...

I currently have 2 sticks of 256MB PC3200 RAm running in dual channel, but I'm finding it being eaten away with background programs and multitasking etc. I'm also seeing a lot of hard disk access when I'm playing newer games like HL2.

I think more RAM would help this, but I can only afford to buy 1 stcik of 512MB - this means I wouldn't be running in dual channel anymore (256 + 256 + 512).

So my question is how much performance would I lose going to single channel, and would this "upgrade" actually make my system slower?

edit: Specs:

MSI Delta L mobo
Barton 2500+ oced to 3000+
9800 Pro
2 x 256 PC3200
etc. etc.

I used to stack shelves for £3.18 an hour, til i found out i got paid even if i didn't go in. I was asked to leave a little while after that...

I didn't even pay for my PC - it came from student loan. The amount I've paid since then probably just about covers the round IDE cables.

It's a good little machine though, and dead cheap at the time. It's only begun to struggle since Far Cry came along.

As an aside, I decided to go with a 17" LCD instead and get the RAM and a new keyboard while I'm there, so we'll see if it works in dual channel soon.

Coin wrote:
> :D
>
> I could post a smart remark about how I don't even stack shelves...
>
> But I won't.

Heh. Enjoy your youth while you can.

Christ, now I sound old!

Fair enogh.

Timmargh wrote:
> poopots wrote:
> Can I poke a bit of fun?
> A 15 year old shelf stacker has a better PC then yours, and I paid
> for all of it myself.
>
> I'm assuming you live with your parents and don't pay gas,
> electricity, telephone, rent, council tax, car insurance, house
> insurance, TV license ...

:D

I could post a smart remark about how I don't even stack shelves...

But I won't.

i would i used to have 2, 256 megabyte sticks that and everytime i went into a new area in doom 3 it used to take about 4 seconds loading time now i have put in a 512 megabyte memory stick , it runs better you can also exit games faster.

smv wrote:
> Too much. I remember the days when adding RAM used to be a cheap
> upgrade :(
>
> For anyone who's interested I asked in another forum and after a bit
> of research I found that I can still run dual channel even with three
> RAM sticks, as long as the two sticks on the first memory controller
> have the same combined capacity as the stick on the second
> controller. ie (256 + 256) + 512 is effectively 512 + 512.
>
> Good news for me.

I run exactly the same set up and still retain dual channel as well. It confused me at first.

poopots wrote:
> Can I poke a bit of fun?
> A 15 year old shelf stacker has a better PC then yours, and I paid for all of it myself.

I'm assuming you live with your parents and don't pay gas, electricity, telephone, rent, council tax, car insurance, house insurance, TV license ...

Chippxero wrote:
> AMIGA 600 ram?? i remember this being pricey when i got it back in
> the day. when 4 mb was too much RAM

It was an Amiga 1200 - 2MB of chip memory, 4MB of fast memory and an 80MB hard drive all for £800.

Can I poke a bit of fun?
A 15 year old shelf stacker has a better PC then yours, and I paid for all of it myself.
Oh and by the way, I will give you a word of warning, ram is quite a biatch for compatibility some times.

1Gb is efficient for most things nowadays but some people are never happy :-)