4 GB of ram vs 2 GB of ram makes a huge difference - Up to 18 % performance difference

[0roo0roo]

maybe you are just jaded now.
pc gaming has always been expensive. while we didn't have to pay for gpu, everything else was more expensive and made up for that cost.

 

[zig3695]

how good of an OS does M$ have to create to get people to stop complaining? honestly, i bet is there was an apple logo on the vista box, people across the globe would be cheering about how awesome it really is. people will just always hate microsoft and thats that. im not sure why, people think they are a rip-off company, but i beg to ask, what do they sell thats overpriced? office 07 maybe? it sure aint vista, which can be had for $110 oem flavor. its not their xbox360, which is cheaper then the beloved sony. what is it really? why does everyone think microsoft rips people off? i tend to believe they have grown so strong because they make a good product but then again thats common sense so it must be wrong.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
maybe you are just jaded now.
pc gaming has always been expensive. while we didn't have to pay for gpu, everything else was more expensive and made up for that cost.

a few years ago $200 cold get you a nearly high end gpu, not now. it seems like we are getting bent over the fence on these gpus because amd/ati can't make a contender, so i guess i don't want to be nvidia's bitch either...

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: zig3695
how good of an OS does M$ have to create to get people to stop complaining? honestly, i bet is there was an apple logo on the vista box, people across the globe would be cheering about how awesome it really is. people will just always hate microsoft and thats that. im not sure why, people think they are a rip-off company, but i beg to ask, what do they sell thats overpriced? office 07 maybe? it sure aint vista, which can be had for $110 oem flavor. its not their xbox360, which is cheaper then the beloved sony. what is it really? why does everyone think microsoft rips people off? i tend to believe they have grown so strong because they make a good product but then again thats common sense so it must be wrong.

well the 360 is cheaper than the sony since it doesn't have a built in hd dvd player of some sorts, but the 360 is not without its problems either - like a serious cooling issue that ms won't accept responsibility to. you go on just about any 360 site, even ms own, and within the first 30 posts you read, you will probably read about the "ring of death"

 

[Roguestar]

The fact that big, big business is reluctant to move over to Vista until SP1 at least, and Internet Explorer 7 (which comes with Vista) will slow the uptake. More and more people are IT literate and know what they want and they don't want to change. It's bigger than it was with windows 98, there are less huge architectural changes and more things are used specifically for IE6 (four systems developed in work here, for example, which won't run on IE7). See also the fact that Dell have started again selling XP machines because, frankly, people don't like change. No matter how good it is for them.

 

[Mem]

I wonder what sort of difference we'll see when demanding DX10 games arrive,you can bet 4GB+ with Vista x64 will be the way to go.


Side note all those old XP v Vista benchmarks some members have posted don't mean a thing,drivers are now more mature and getting better all the time,as to HARDOCP well their reviews have always been inaccurate and terrible IMHO.

There was a review of the HD2900XT that had Vista/XP benchmarks with Nvida cards included and showed the FPS to be very close here@Driverheaven.

 

[zig3695]

doesnt really mean anything, but ive noticed TOCA race drive 3 plays even smoother in vista then it did in xp...

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: Roguestar
2x2GB so you'll have space for future upgrade.

I disagree... I doubt most users will want to keep the same machine when 8GB is deemed necessary . Personally, I would not buy 2x2GB sticks to replace my 2x1GB sticks (and buying 2 more 1GB sticks to make it 4GB) as I see it as a waste of money. By the time I want 8GB of RAM, I'll have a new system setup for it.

Originally posted by: mechBgon
4GB of RAM is $120 to $160 now. I paid ~$400 for 256MB back in about '00. I paid $220 for 2GB of DDR400 less than two years ago.

What kind of cheap ram do you buy . The same DDR2-800 in my current machine is still $120 for 2x1GB. Of course I paid over double that not even 8 months ago . I'm tempted to upgrade as I love having a powerful PC... but I'm trying to avoid spending money frivolously on things that really aren't that important. I'd actually be more happy getting 2GB of faster ram rather than getting 2GB more. Seems OCZ decided to rate my memory at 4-4-4-15... too bad they didn't mention that was at DDR2-667 as set in the SPD ~_~. I should just raise the voltage a bit (as it's only running at 1.9V and the max is 2.1V) and lower the timings to see if I can get it stable and actually running at advertised speeds.

Originally posted by: oldman420
I use vista 32 bit business and I have 4 gigs of ram the system rarely if ever uses more than 30% of it.
I found no difference when I upgraded from 2 to 4 gigs.
I am sure when I get a 64 bit os I will see the difference though.

You aren't even seeing all of that in 32-bit Vista anyway.

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: Mem
I wonder what sort of difference we'll see when demanding DX10 games arrive,you can bet 4GB+ with Vista x64 will be the way to go.

[/L]

Mem you seem to be the only other person on the same page as me.

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: pcslookout

Originally posted by: Mem
I wonder what sort of difference we'll see when demanding DX10 games arrive,you can bet 4GB+ with Vista x64 will be the way to go.

[/L]

Mem you seem to be the only other person on the same page as me.

I'm on your page too

Been running Vista for a long time; 64-bit + 4 GB for month or so now.

 

[Mem]

Hehe does not take a crystal ball to look at the way ram and gaming is going,remember the old days in XP when 512mb was enough then 1GB, and now 2GB ,won't be that long before we start seeing 4GB barrier and beyond for gaming.

Games always seem to need more ram as time moves on.Going Vista x64 gives you that longtivity for 4GB+ in gaming.

 

[Fenixgoon]

yeah the 18% is in battlefield 2142, which uses one of the worst engines known to mankind. COD2 isn't too bad from what I recall, but FEAR is also noteworthy of being an unnecessarily burdensome engine as well.

how about they try Quake4, SupCom, CnC3, CoH?


edited out HL2 EP1 since they did test that.

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
yeah the 18% is in battlefield 2142, which uses one of the worst engines known to mankind. COD2 isn't too bad from what I recall, but FEAR is also noteworthy of being an unnecessarily burdensome engine as well.

how about they try Quake4, SupCom, CnC3, CoH?


edited out HL2 EP1 since they did test that.

I would love to see anandtech do that!

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: Roguestar
2x2GB so you'll have space for future upgrade.

I disagree... I doubt most users will want to keep the same machine when 8GB is deemed necessary . Personally, I would not buy 2x2GB sticks to replace my 2x1GB sticks (and buying 2 more 1GB sticks to make it 4GB) as I see it as a waste of money. By the time I want 8GB of RAM, I'll have a new system setup for it.

Originally posted by: mechBgon
4GB of RAM is $120 to $160 now. I paid ~$400 for 256MB back in about '00. I paid $220 for 2GB of DDR400 less than two years ago.

What kind of cheap ram do you buy .

I'd probably buy some nice normal Crucial DDR2-667, which is currently about $150 for 4 x 1GB, but a pair of those Patriot 2GB modules could be an option. I've got a DDR system now, and while DDR is still cheaper now than it was when I bought 2GB of Crucial DDR400, the far lower prices of DDR2 make me want to build a second system that has hardware virtualization support and at least 4GB of RAM, since one of my uses is running virtual machines.

 

[Nathelion]

2x2gb is better. The more sticks, the lower the bus speeds will have to go to be stable. Sometimes a 4 stick setup can't even reach stock speeds. I'm assuming you'd want to oc the c2d, so go with 2x2gb sticks.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: Nathelion
2x2gb is better. The more sticks, the lower the bus speeds will have to go to be stable. Sometimes a 4 stick setup can't even reach stock speeds. I'm assuming you'd want to oc the c2d, so go with 2x2gb sticks.

I can run my 4GB of G.SKill DDR2-800 at DDR2-1000 4-4-4-12 @ 2.3v if I wanted.

It's not that it won't do it, it's that you need to adjust voltage. That's all.

 

[rise]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: Nathelion
2x2gb is better. The more sticks, the lower the bus speeds will have to go to be stable. Sometimes a 4 stick setup can't even reach stock speeds. I'm assuming you'd want to oc the c2d, so go with 2x2gb sticks.

I can run my 4GB of G.SKill DDR2-800 at DDR2-1000 4-4-4-12 @ 2.3v if I wanted.

It's not that it won't do it, it's that you need to adjust voltage. That's all.

good to hear, i have a 2nd 2x 1024 kit coming, actually was supposed to be here today.

i like g.skill, both kits i've bought from them perform very nicely with the proper vdimm.

 

[Doom Machine]

i think ram speed comes into play here, i'd rather have my 2gb dominators than some 4gb kingston value pack...lol
either way i have no issues with performance in games, even Oblivion with Qarl's 3 texture pack at my monitors max resolution play very smooth on my vista ultimate. crysis's recommended specs arnt that high either, 1.5gb ram if i recall.

all you need for this year is fast 2gb ram, Vlited vista without all the junk, blackvipers services tweaks and along with decent cpu/gpu its good to go...besides DDR3 will probably be mainstream next year or something.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Doom Machine
i think ram speed comes into play here, i'd rather have my 2gb dominators than some 4gb kingston value pack...lol

4GB of vanilla DDR2-533 trumps 2GB of anything, when you use up the first 2GB. If you still fit into 2GB, that's great but some people are finding that it won't cut it anymore.

all you need for this year is fast 2gb ram, Vlited vista without all the junk, blackvipers services tweaks and along with decent cpu/gpu its good to go...besides DDR3 will probably be mainstream next year or something.

I'd recommend NOT tweaking services, not at BV's suggestion or anyone elses. We debunked this already for his WinXP tweaks over in Operating Systems, complete with real-world benchmarks showing null benefit. If you mess with the program, don't come cryin' when you have weird problems later :evil:

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: Doom Machine
i think ram speed comes into play here, i'd rather have my 2gb dominators than some 4gb kingston value pack...lol

4GB of vanilla DDR2-533 trumps 2GB of anything, when you use up the first 2GB. If you still fit into 2GB, that's great but some people are finding that it won't cut it anymore.

all you need for this year is fast 2gb ram, Vlited vista without all the junk, blackvipers services tweaks and along with decent cpu/gpu its good to go...besides DDR3 will probably be mainstream next year or something.

I'd recommend NOT tweaking services, not at BV's suggestion or anyone elses. We debunked this already for his WinXP tweaks over in Operating Systems, complete with real-world benchmarks showing null benefit. If you mess with the program, don't come cryin' when you have weird problems later :evil:

mechBgon I think windows vista alone can take up to 1 GB of ram. so even with 4 GB of ram that only leaves you with 3 GB of ram when you have 4 GB of ram. Of course only with Vista 64 bit.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
I'd recommend NOT tweaking services, not at BV's suggestion or anyone elses. We debunked this already for his WinXP tweaks over in Operating Systems, complete with real-world benchmarks showing null benefit. If you mess with the program, don't come cryin' when you have weird problems later :evil:

:thumbsup:

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: Serradifalco
In an C2D machine is it better to have 2x2gb sticks or 4x1gb sticks?

Definitely you want 2 x 2 gb. When 8 gb becomes mainstream in mar 08, you won't have to replace all of your ram that way.

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: Roguestar
The fact that big, big business is reluctant to move over to Vista until SP1 at least, and Internet Explorer 7 (which comes with Vista) will slow the uptake. More and more people are IT literate and know what they want and they don't want to change. It's bigger than it was with windows 98, there are less huge architectural changes and more things are used specifically for IE6 (four systems developed in work here, for example, which won't run on IE7). See also the fact that Dell have started again selling XP machines because, frankly, people don't like change. No matter how good it is for them.

We just bought a couple of dell brisbane x2 3600+ units at work. Our nework admin made them install xp pro on them because so much of our software won't work on vista yet. I'm not a vista hater and I'm sure I'll upgrade one day, I'm just hoping that they'll have drivers available by then!

 

[Synomenon]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
What's Patriot's reputation like? Survey says...? I wouldn't mind 4GB or even more, for what I'm doing, but I want something that'll be rock-solid.

Ok, I've had this RAM now for around a week. I've run Memtest86+ for 12+ hours with this RAM doing the random tests. Zero errors. I've run the bitfade test for at least 10 hours zero errors as well.

I have voltages and clocks all at stock in my BIOS and it's been very stable. :thumbsup: for Patriot RAM so far.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: IsLNdbOi

Originally posted by: mechBgon
What's Patriot's reputation like? Survey says...? I wouldn't mind 4GB or even more, for what I'm doing, but I want something that'll be rock-solid.

Ok, I've had this RAM now for around a week. I've run Memtest86+ for 12+ hours with this RAM doing the random tests. Zero errors. I've run the bitfade test for at least 10 hours zero errors as well.

I have voltages and clocks all at stock in my BIOS and it's been very stable. :thumbsup: for Patriot RAM so far.

cool I'm still fending off the urge to build a new DDR2-based rig... barely.

* tries to keep ignoring The Voices. cannot... afford! :Q *