Is 512MB of RAM necessary?

[Budman]

Since you're in Canada...

NCIX has a sale right now. CORSAIR VALUE SELECT DUAL CHANNEL 1024MB KIT PC3200 DDR CAS2.5 2X512MB for 127.98$

 

[Promethply]

512MB of RAMs would be the bare minimum currently -- 1GB is now mainstream, and if you're looking for RAMs, then the Corsair Value Select is an economical choice that's also capable of being OCd.

 

[imported_rod]

Your PC will run with 256MB, but CS:S wont play well without at least 512MB. 1GB is the best option. You might be better off waiting for a little while for the money, rather than getting 256MB and having to throw it out when you get 1GB.

RoD

 

[BurnItDwn]

If you run win2K you could probably get away with 256mb of ram, though CS:S won't be the fastest.

 

[Coolin]

Samsung 512MB PC3200 RAM = $48.98 Canadian
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=...-512M&manufacture=Samsung&promoid=1021

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: Son of a N00b
1 gig is becoming the standard now, 512 is really a must

 

[George Powell]

Originally posted by: Kensai
256 = Don't even try it.
512 = Are you kidding me?
1 GB = Acceptable
2 GB = Prepared for the future
4 GB = Lots of money, or editing dude.
8 GB = High end workstation dude.
16 GB = Higher high end workstation dude
32 GB = Holy god. What the hell are you doing!?!

That puts me somewhere in between prepared for the future and editing dude.
Gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

 

[Chode Messiah]

definitely go for 512mb. I just saw on newegg that u can get 512 of ram for 40 bucks. And it's high quality OCZ ram (not generic crap) Also, u can get neweggs stuff shipped to cananda through a 3rd party distributer

 

[Farmer]

I say go for 1 GB, and then add another 3.

 

[KoolDrew]

Get at least 512MB.

 

[Insomniak]

If building now, get 1GB. 512 won't last but another 6 monthsish if you do anything demanding with the PC.

 

[Fisher999]

Originally posted by: George Powell

Originally posted by: Kensai
256 = Don't even try it.
512 = Are you kidding me?
1 GB = Acceptable
2 GB = Prepared for the future
4 GB = Lots of money, or editing dude.
8 GB = High end workstation dude.
16 GB = Higher high end workstation dude
32 GB = Holy god. What the hell are you doing!?!

That puts me somewhere in between prepared for the future and editing dude.
Gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

LOL George; when I get my new system build finished I will be only "acceptable".

Well, at least I won't be "kidding" anyone or "trying" something !!!

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Couple days ago at TigerDirect 1GB ram was like $50 after rebate, but it was some crappy generic brand with CAS 3.

 

[SNM]

You can get a 2x512 of Kingmax for $75.
You can get 512 of Rosewill for $34.

If you're building a new computer and you can't budget $34 for memory....well, anyways. Get at least 512.

 

[Cheesetogo]

Originally posted by: Orbs
Don't the newest A64's allow for 400 MHz and dual channel for 4 way memory configurations? I think I read that here on AT actually.

Yes, the venice cores do, but they still have to run at 2T.

 

[Mindripper2000]

1 gig

 

[Appledrop]

yup, i found 512 to be choppy on CS Source even on my rig ( i bought 1 512 stick to tide me over til' i could afford another) and when i bought the other 512 to make 1gb, everything plays brilliantly and the pc feels a lot nicer to use.... Get 2x 512, even if it means waiting till you can afford it, so you wont be disappointed.

 

[Cheesetogo]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
In 1999, I bought a PC with 128 MB of RAM. For Windows 98, that was plenty. After about 2 years, it seems that 128 is really not enough. In 2001, I elected to still buy 128 mb on my new comptuer because I figured a faster HD, faster RAM and faster CPU could solve problems.

My computer was crap. In spring 2003 I was taking like 3 min to boot up with all that crap you have at startup. XP was just dying on 128. I found a friend who threw out 128 and i doulbed up to 256. The performance difference was immediately noticeable. I booted up EXTREMELY fast now and I was so much happier.

In 2003 fall, I went out and bought myself 512 to stick in. Now I run with 512 and its even faster. Good, but sticking in my old 128 to make it 640 doesn't help much anymore.

It seems 512 is the standard now. If yo ugo with anything less, you're screwed, especially for Longhorn. SEeing how 512 is the minimum for Longhorn, I would choose to get 1 GB at least.

I'm now even wondering if buying 1 GB this summer will be sufficient.

512mb is deffinetly not going to be the minumum for longhorn, especially considering that xp only needs 64mb. I'd say 128mb. Now, if your talking about the amount needed to run comfortably, then 512mb would proabbly be the min.

 

[imported_Reck]

Hm? CS:Source ran perfectly fine for me with 256MB of slow memory. In the stress test I got 57FPS.

 

[shoRunner]

yes you need 512.

 

[Appledrop]

Originally posted by: Reck
Hm? CS:Source ran perfectly fine for me with 256MB of slow memory. In the stress test I got 57FPS.

lol, well... Fine is subjective. 512 is not enough for totally smooth cs source.

 

[Insomniak]

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo

Originally posted by: Orbs
Don't the newest A64's allow for 400 MHz and dual channel for 4 way memory configurations? I think I read that here on AT actually.

Yes, the venice cores do, but they still have to run at 2T.

Doesn't really matter.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: Orbs
Don't the newest A64's allow for 400 MHz and dual channel for 4 way memory configurations? I think I read that here on AT actually.

yes with the venice cores.....4 dimms running full PC3200 is a-ok

 

[Fisher999]

Originally posted by: Fisher999

Originally posted by: Orbs
Don't the newest A64's allow for 400 MHz and dual channel for 4 way memory configurations? I think I read that here on AT actually.

That's what I thought too Orbs but it just came to me that it was at the MUSHKIN.com website that I was reading about what stevty2889 described.

If I recall correctly, though, Mushkin was only having the problem on SOME boards and ONLY when they used pairs of different RAM size and density. In otherwords, if ALL four channels were filled with SINGLE-sided same amount (512MB for example) RAM sticks everything was ok.

But if they used one pair of single-sided 512MB sticks in one memory channel and one pair of single-sided 256 MB RAM sticks in the other memory channel the memory controller defaults to 333MHz.

Furthermore, it was impossible to run any more than TWO double-sided RAM sticks in these boards because the boards "saw" each double-sided RAM stick as TWO sticks of RAM.

So for these particular boards the key in being able to use all four RAM slots in 400MHz mode was using the same density and single-sided RAM in ALL four slots (like 4 X 512 MB for example).

Now it just occurred to me that somewhere (it was probably here) i heard that it is Corsair who manufactures the most single-sided RAM sticks.

I hope I've been helpful rather than confusing !

Orbs:

I have to clarify the statement I made above which is in bold. I am at MSI's website and reading about their K8N Neo4 Platinum (nForce 4 Ultra) motherboard. They have a nice little RAM chart that basically backs up what I said above with the exception of that bolded statement.

Their mobo WILL accept FOUR DOUBLE-SIDED sticks of DDR400 with one caveat, the memory speed will default to 333MHz. The board WILL accept FOUR SINGLE-SIDED DDR400 DIMMs filling ALL FOUR DIMM slots and STILL run in DDR400 mode.

Therefore using single-sided RAM seems to be the best solution !!!

In addition, the PLACEMENT of the DDR400 RAM in the RAM slots can affect the "effective" memory bus speed. This MSI board uses two green-colored RAM slots (DIMM 1 and 3) and two purple-colored RAM slots (DIMM 2 and 4). If one puts two double-sided RAM sticks in both green RAM slots (DIMM 1 and DIMM 3) the memory speed will default to 333MHz. MSI doesn't list a DIMM 2/4 situation so I suspect if one were to just populate DIMMs 2 and 4 the mobo wouldn't POST!!!

NOW if you put those SAME two RAM sticks in either DIMMs 1 and 2, or DIMMs 3 and 4 , the effective memory speed will be 400MHz

Now, of course, not all boards will necessarily behave similarly but I hope this sheds some light to your question rather than confusing the issue.

Greg