4GB on windows 7 home prem, how much performance gain can I get from 8?

[calvin0416]

My PC
http://shop.amd.com/US/_layouts/shop/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=BM417AA&region=us-en

I read that Windows 7 requires less memory to run than vista. I opened my system the other day and I noticed it has 2 empty memory slots that I can fill with 2x2GB.

Would my system benefit more from leaving the existing 2x2 and add 2x4 to make it 12gb or add 2x2gb to make it 8.

Or I can just do with the existing 4gb? The system doesn't seem bottlenecked at all. I'm just using it for gaming.

 

[Kraelorn]

For gaming its good to add another 4 gigs, more is already overkill, even for a long term perspective. Don't think that games will be use more than 3-5 gigs of ram in a next few years. Even most hardware hungry games today don't consume more than 1.4 gb of ram (Bad Company 2 for example - while it recommends 3 gb of ram it peaks here at 1.4-1.5 gb on max settings (32-bit Windows XP Sp3, 4 gb of ram, i have additional 4 gigs for the future but don't use them now)). 32-bit OS can't share more ram for one process. 64-bit can't share more than 2 gb for 32-bit apps. And 99.999% of modern games are 32-bit only.

 

[JimKiler]

I was just questioning that too since I can buy another 4GB (2x2GB) for $45 on newegg. Toms Hardware had a recent article about adding more RAM and seemed to say getting 8GB is beneficial and more if you want to prevent swap file usage.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ram-memory-upgrade,2778.html

I was playing BioShock 2 for the first time last night while downloading files for a SARDU CD and windows told me there were not enough resources for AERO and recommended turning it off. So I am thinking I need to add more RAM.

I thought the Unreal engine was 64 bit, they had demos when the first 64 bit CPU's were being released. Wouldn't games like Bioshock 2 which uses unreal tech be 64 bit?

 

[deimos3428]

Civ V works better for me with > 4GB, due to the large amount of file caching it wants to do.

 

[Kraelorn]

I was just questioning that too since I can buy another 4GB (2x2GB) for $45 on newegg.

Supercheap. Is this DDR-3? In my shop cheapest DDR-3 @ 1333mhz (Samsung and NCP) 2x2gb costs 2 times more and I had alot of problems with it. So I switched to high-priced, but good quality ram.
Ah, yeah, OCZ is a piece of junk.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

I was playing BioShock 2 for the first time last night while downloading files for a SARDU CD and windows told me there were not enough resources for AERO and recommended turning it off. So I am thinking I need to add more RAM.

Hmm thats weird.

 

[tweakboy]

No Windows 7 and Vista both take about the same memory to run. They use up about 1.4GB and another 1GB for cache, so your left with 1.5GB for your application and games.

Will you notice a difference with 8GB yes you will. For example after your done playing a game and come back to desktop. Then want to launch your browser or app it will launch fast cuz you had more ram and more in cache. With 4GB after a gaming session things are slugish,, opening apps thrashes hard drive. with 8GB that would have been in memory and apps come up instantly after heavy Gaming.

Also another reason is if your multitasking. Like you want to leave all your apps open then launch the game. Apps like photoshop studiomax Pro Tools Adobe Premiere Sony Vegas can all stay in memory while you will have about 4GB for gaming. Or you can launch 2 games,, and mutlitask them. You wont see the kind of difference you see going from 2GB to 4GB ,, but it will be nice to have it. I recommend it brother...

I had to go 8GB since I use DAW.. Sonar X1 Producer

 

[fffblackmage]

If your computer isn't currently being limited by ram, then adding more won't magically make it run faster.

 

[JimKiler]

Supercheap. Is this DDR-3? In my shop cheapest DDR-3 @ 1333mhz (Samsung and NCP) 2x2gb costs 2 times more and I had alot of problems with it. So I switched to high-priced, but good quality ram.
Ah, yeah, OCZ is a piece of junk.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scrollFullInfo

Hmm thats weird.

I was thinking more along the lines of G.SKILL

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231274

but I also saw Mushkin in the same price range.

 

[Golgatha]

I wouldn't run less than 6GB of RAM in any gaming rig currently and 8GB is ideal IMO. I run VMWare machines on top of my normal stuff, so I have 12GB .

 

[WildW]

Windows 7 will use any spare memory to cache frequently used programs, so adding memory can help with general system responsiveness, particularly if you don't have an SSD yet. For gaming in and of itself it's not so likely to make much difference.

 

[Kraelorn]

BTW if OP's Windows 7 is 32-bit, then adding more memory is just useless.

 

[Golgatha]

BTW if OP's Windows 7 is 32-bit, then adding more memory is just useless.

Looked it up on Newegg.com's website. His computer only comes with 64bit Win7.