how much ram does a gaming rig really need?

2GB of RAM is pretty much a definite with computers these days, especially for a gaming system. Beside, with RAM at dirt cheap prices, why go small when you can go big? :D

As for the X1950XTX - it may not be the best card at the moment, but it still holds up for the majority of games out there.

2GB of RAM is pretty much a definite with computers these days, especially for a gaming system. Beside, with RAM at dirt cheap prices, why go small when you can go big? :D

As for the X1950XTX - it may not be the best card at the moment, but it still holds up for the majority of games out there.

TicTac8745

its because im poor. (acutally im just a 15 year old kid building this with saved allowance and b-day cash lol) and if $30 will upgrade me to a psu that wont explode, then so be it.

and just so i dont have to make another thread, do you know if this will max out WoW/Tf2?

1 gig ram ddr2 800

x1950xtx 512 mb

amd athlon 64 x2 4600+ 2.4 ghz windsor

antec earthwatts 430w atx12v

and if your still there, do motherboards that cost more have better quality? aside from features, are they any better? im getting a $50 one.

WoW and TF2 won't have any trouble on that rig. You'll be fine.

Thankfully, Valve's Source engine runs great even on hardware that is 5 years old, so you're in the clear by a good margin.

4GB is the most you'll need currently because

1. current gaming applications and OS won't use more than that

2. if you dont have a 64-bit operating system, theres no point in getting more than 4GB's

4GB is the most you'll need currently because

1. current gaming applications and OS won't use more than that

2. if you dont have a 64-bit operating system, theres no point in getting more than 4GB's

xwengstax

thats right

i suggest u get a 2x2gb 800mhz because they are cheap and you can leave the two empty slots for future upgrade but 4gb is it for now

[QUOTE="xwengstax"]

4GB is the most you'll need currently because

1. current gaming applications and OS won't use more than that

2. if you dont have a 64-bit operating system, theres no point in getting more than 4GB's

liltirtis

thats right

i suggest u get a 2x2gb 800mhz because they are cheap and you can leave the two empty slots for future upgrade but 4gb is it for now

With those specs? He's on a budget, 4gb is hardly necessary.

2GB is a good start.

i was looking through the hardware performance guides on gs, and i noticed that theres no difference between 1 gig of ram and 2 gigs. this is true for even crysis. should i get 1 gig or 2 gigs of ram? and while im here, can someone tell me if the x1950xtx is a good vid card?Xeros606

Are you buying this or does you already have it?

What are you paying for that x1950xtx?

From where i get my things (scandinavia) it's very pricey, and not worth the $, 8800GS, 9600GT and HD3850 are cards worth their money.

[QUOTE="Xeros606"]i was looking through the hardware performance guides on gs, and i noticed that theres no difference between 1 gig of ram and 2 gigs. this is true for even crysis. should i get 1 gig or 2 gigs of ram? and while im here, can someone tell me if the x1950xtx is a good vid card?swehunt

Are you buying this or does you already have it?

What are you paying for that x1950xtx?

From where i get my things (scandinavia) it's very pricey, and not worth the $, 8800GS, 9600GT and HD3850 are cards worth their money.

its $100 usd off newegg.

[QUOTE="swehunt"]

[QUOTE="Xeros606"]i was looking through the hardware performance guides on gs, and i noticed that theres no difference between 1 gig of ram and 2 gigs. this is true for even crysis. should i get 1 gig or 2 gigs of ram? and while im here, can someone tell me if the x1950xtx is a good vid card?Xeros606

Are you buying this or does you already have it?

What are you paying for that x1950xtx?

From where i get my things (scandinavia) it's very pricey, and not worth the $, 8800GS, 9600GT and HD3850 are cards worth their money.

its $100 usd off newegg.

the extra $20 is well worth it they are all much faster and will last longer

[QUOTE="Xeros606"][QUOTE="swehunt"]

[QUOTE="Xeros606"]i was looking through the hardware performance guides on gs, and i noticed that theres no difference between 1 gig of ram and 2 gigs. this is true for even crysis. should i get 1 gig or 2 gigs of ram? and while im here, can someone tell me if the x1950xtx is a good vid card?imprezawrx500

Are you buying this or does you already have it?

What are you paying for that x1950xtx?

From where i get my things (scandinavia) it's very pricey, and not worth the $, 8800GS, 9600GT and HD3850 are cards worth their money.

its $100 usd off newegg.

the extra $20 is well worth it they are all much faster and will last longer

If I were Xeros606 i´d save up a few more $ and get other cards that are roughly twice the performance.

9600GT =$139(20$ mail in rebate)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134038

HD3850 512mb $126

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102715

i was looking through the hardware performance guides on gs, and i noticed that theres no difference between 1 gig of ram and 2 gigs. this is true for even crysis. should i get 1 gig or 2 gigs of ram? Xeros606

I'd definitely go with the extra RAM too. You can get a cost efficient 2 gig kit for around $50. Crucial Ballistix is a decent solution. Big props and saving your cash and building yourself at 15. The only downside to the 1950 is lack of DX10 support, but hopefully by the time it is a necessity you will have the money to build a new rig again!crzycespy

dude im 13 and i dont get props?

WoW and TF2 won't have any trouble on that rig. You'll be fine.

Thankfully, Valve's Source engine runs great even on hardware that is 5 years old, so you're in the clear by a good margin.

tequilasunriser

[QUOTE="crzycespy"]I'd definitely go with the extra RAM too. You can get a cost efficient 2 gig kit for around $50. Crucial Ballistix is a decent solution. Big props and saving your cash and building yourself at 15. The only downside to the 1950 is lack of DX10 support, but hopefully by the time it is a necessity you will have the money to build a new rig again!nish2280

dude im 13 and i dont get props?

not until you eat all your vegetables. :|

XP 2GB, VISTA 3GB+

I`d say go with at least 2 you will notice a big diffrence last week I just upgraded from 2 gigs to 4 I don`t noticef a big diffrence but from 1 to 2 is pretty big. Check out tigerdirect.com after rebates i got 2 gigs of crucial ballistix 800mhz sli for $30. The mobo make a big diffrence if you plan on overclocking cheap boards won`t handle it very well and basic boards wont even let you touch clock speed and you fsb in the bios. I would recomend a good board preferrably an Sli one since you could then later upgrade to 2 cards when you can afford it. I would want one that you could overclock with since you can up your preformance for free.

my rig is the apitamy of a powerful budget pc, and i built it and upgraded over a period of about a year. I have a intel c2d e4400 clocked at 3.33ghz the e4400 is about the cheapest c2d you can get with a clock speed 2.0ghz I easily clocked it in the range of a c2d extreme for twice the price. I know it still doesn`t have the cache size but it still preforms admirably. I do have an aftermarket coller but i`ve heard that the standard cooler it comes with can get you 3.0 stable. I have two 8800gs video cards there like $100 ea. and with an overclock they preform very close to a 8800gt at res. up 1680x1050, but i don`t play beyond that so thats fine with me.

check this out this barebones $299 tigerdirect.com , plus this cpu $139 tiger , this video card $99 tiger, and some memory $50 Tiger.

Thats about $600 for a sweet ass custom rig thats very expanabled kid.

2GB is more than enough even if you use vista. PC_X360

not really, i went over 2gb while playing UT3 so i had to buy two more sticks of RAM...in which it also improve performance

[QUOTE="PC_X360"]2GB is more than enough even if you use vista. mike4realz

not really, i went over 2gb while playing UT3 so i had to buy two more sticks of RAM...in which it also improve performance

I use 2GB and for sure it's not optimal while playing crysis at high resolution but for all other games iv'e played it's perfectly fine.

(Vista 32Bit ultimate.)

[QUOTE="tequilasunriser"]

WoW and TF2 won't have any trouble on that rig. You'll be fine.

Thankfully, Valve's Source engine runs great even on hardware that is 5 years old, so you're in the clear by a good margin.

HuusAsking

[QUOTE="tequilasunriser"]

WoW and TF2 won't have any trouble on that rig. You'll be fine.

Thankfully, Valve's Source engine runs great even on hardware that is 5 years old, so you're in the clear by a good margin.

HuusAsking

Having played Orange box games extensively on 2 PCs similar to OP's set up (including having only 1gb of ram) with flawless performance I'd say again that OP's rig wouldn't have trouble with either game.

These computers have XP though so I don't know about Vista. I'd assume much better performance would be had with 2gb+ ram if running Vista, but with XP 1gb if fine for those games.

So I'm getting Vista Home Premium 64-bit...should I get 4gb?_en1gma_

[QUOTE="_en1gma_"]So I'm getting Vista Home Premium 64-bit...should I get 4gb?codezer0

ram is cheap , can get a good 2gigs of ram for 50$ ,

If u want to save $20 that costs 1gb of ram do it and spend it bying a better video card like 3850 which is about $120 OR 9600GT For about $135 besides adding 1gb fo ram later when u save more money is the easiest and cheaper think u can upgrade(only if u have windows xp go for 1gb otherwise if u have vista save a bit more money and go to 3gb or more). As for x1950 is still a good vga and u can play those 2 games at 1280x1024 all maxed out without problems but as i said give $20-30 more and byu a much better vgaadamosmaki