More than 2 GB RAM for windows, useless?

I currently have 1 GB of RAM and was deciding whether to buy two 512's or two 1GB sticks.

My friend tells me that I can get 3 GB but my comp will only use 2 GB. Is this true, what should I do?

You never need 3gigs of RAM on any game. Not Crysis, I run on 1.5. Not Oblivion. Not Galciv 2. Needs 1 full gig to run, I never seen higher.

Your mobo has like 4 ram slots. Don't fill em up with dual RAMs. If you need the slot you need to take out both RAMs because they can't run by themselves.

Remenber, RAM is overrated, you don't need as much as the ads tell you.

The current reccommended average amount of RAM is 4GB.

32 bit operating systems (XP, Vista32) will use some portion of 4GB but not quite the whole 4GB, like 3.2 or 3.5.

64 bit operating systems (XPx64, Vista64) will use all of the 4GB.

Considering RAM is cheaper than Gas these days (provided you have the current DDR2) I'd go for the whole 4GB in 2 2GB sticks.

If you're using an old computer, particularly with DDR, I would just find the identical to a T match for RAM stick(s) you already have and increase to 2GB. Do not mix and match RAM that is not exact copies as it will forfeit dual channel benefits.

I would get 2 x 1GB.--Anna--

what she said.

I ran 2g and 3g on my XP system to see if there would be any difference. There was none in MSoffice speed or game FPS.

[QUOTE="--Anna--"]I would get 2 x 1GB.ct1615

what she said.

I ran 2g and 3g on my XP system to see if there would be any difference. There was none in MSoffice speed or game FPS.

I agree. I didn't see any difference with 4GB and neither applications or games use that much memory.

Certain games, such as FPS with large maps like Crysis or BF2/BF2 mods, really benefit from more more more and more RAM.

Otherwise you spend the first half of the round loading textures and stuttering away as your harddrive is substituted for your missing RAM.

I have 1.5 gigs and have zero problems with Crysis. Like I said 1.5 is plenty.

Certain games, such as FPS with large maps like Crysis or BF2/BF2 mods, really benefit from more more more and more RAM.

Otherwise you spend the first half of the round loading textures and stuttering away as your harddrive is substituted for your missing RAM.

WDT-BlackKat

I'm trying to tell people not to bother wasting your money on like 4 gigs of RAM. Come on 4 GIGS!!!

Angry_Bosmer what the hell are you talking about??Ram being useless are you kidding??

You are running 1.5GB,are you running dual channel cuz you have to for best performance.Sure you may not need exactly 2GB for XP but RAM is so cheap that's why people just buy in 1GB or even 2GB sticks.

And you NEED 3GB for vista.My RAM usage while playing crysis in vista is 2.5GB!

RAM IS THE ABSOLUTE LAST THING ANY SERIOUS PC GAMER WOULD WANT HIS PC TO BE BOTTLENECKED BY

Screw this. You win. Happy?Angry_Bosmer

Your ram usage is hitting 2.5GB? I have never seen Crysis use more than 800MB so what do you have running in the background that needs so much ram? If you are using vista it is probably still using superfetch since you have more ram. It's not really doing anything for you though. i didn't see any difference with 4GB in my PC. I have another 2GB sitting around but i only keep 2GB in the PC since I have no intention of using 64bit. Deihmos

So what if you dont have 64-bit?You will get to use 3.25Gb so I dont see the issue.

4 GIGS MAKES A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE.

Just for the doubters I have to make this clear.

Especially if you have Vista, you will absolutely feel the difference using more than 2 gigs.

[QUOTE="Deihmos"]Your ram usage is hitting 2.5GB? I have never seen Crysis use more than 800MB so what do you have running in the background that needs so much ram? If you are using vista it is probably still using superfetch since you have more ram. It's not really doing anything for you though. i didn't see any difference with 4GB in my PC. I have another 2GB sitting around but i only keep 2GB in the PC since I have no intention of using 64bit. Spybot_9

So what if you dont have 64-bit?You will get to use 3.25Gb so I dont see the issue.

You see the 64bit version will always use more memory. I use Vista 32bit have never seen Crysis memory usage go above 700 - 800MB. Sometimes it is as low as 400MB. I took the ram out because it's not the same brand and it does nothing. When playing Crysis ram usage is like 1.2GB total and most of it is shareable. I have all the Vista features turned on inlcusing Aero and a few programs in the background.

I run a dual monitor setup.

I often play my games with the Task Manager running on the 2nd monitor. Provided you play your games on relatively high settings, its not unusual for various games to take up atleast 1.8 GB for themselves.

Still a newbie but... I play the Sims 2 with a ton of downloads and lots of neighbors, roomies etc. With 1G RAM, it bluescreened, with 2G RAM it played fine. (XP32bit) My new build (waiting on a replacement motherboard so haven't gotten to use it yet), is 2x2G Crucial Dominator on Vista 64bit that cost around $100 and I'm thinking it will be great. I do a lot of multi-tasking, having a lot of different things going at one time, including a TV tuner, so it seemed like a safe - and fairly inexpensive, bet.

I think it depends on what you intend to use your computer for and, with games that have a lot of "stuff," it seems that more RAM can't hurt.

I currently have 1 GB of RAM and was deciding whether to buy two 512's or two 1GB sticks.

My friend tells me that I can get 3 GB but my comp will only use 2 GB. Is this true, what should I do?

fiendless7

It's kinda, sorta true if you're using a 32-bit version of Windows.

By default, 32-bit versions of Windows divide the 4GB address space in half, with 2GB allocated to user address space and 2GB allocated to kernel / shared address space. This limits the maximum amount of memory any single application can use to 2GB. Although, most applications will run into problems around the 1.5GB - 1.75GB mark due to page file usage.

This doesn't mean you're computer will only use 2GB of memory, though. Even with a program that can use 2GB of memory, the operating system, antivirus software, firewall, etc can and will use memory from the kernel / shared address space, pushing memory usage over 2GB.

If you're using a 64-bit operating system this 2GB limitation doesn't apply.

Even with a 32-bit operating system, this 2GB limitation, and the "lost" memory used by MMIO, memory is so cheap now I'd go with 4GB.

I have noticed that I couldn't play high resolution video with 2 gigs because it was choppy, but was able to with 4 gigs in vista. Don't know why though. I have 64 bit.- Name Censored -

BTW, more memory definitely helps for Crysis, especially in 64-bit mode. I've noted personally that it still suffers (even at v1.2) a bit of a memory leak problem, forcing me to quit and restart on occasion.

PS. To whoever wrote the above, might it be possible to change your username, as it's impossible to quote your name (it fails decency checks)?

I run a dual monitor setup.

I often play my games with the Task Manager running on the 2nd monitor. Provided you play your games on relatively high settings, its not unusual for various games to take up atleast 1.8 GB for themselves.

XaosII

I have herd that between a good pc and more ram that sc should run better and that this game is a ram hogger. Is this true and if it is should I buy 2x 1gb ram of ddr wich I have currently.

Down the road like closer to the end of the year I plan on building my self a pc and plan on putting in ddr2 ram instead of ddr and I plan to stick with xp 32 bit I believe. What ever home edition is.

You never need 3gigs of RAM on any game. Not Crysis, I run on 1.5. Not Oblivion. Not Galciv 2. Needs 1 full gig to run, I never seen higher.

Your mobo has like 4 ram slots. Don't fill em up with dual RAMs. If you need the slot you need to take out both RAMs because they can't run by themselves.

Remenber, RAM is overrated, you don't need as much as the ads tell you.

Angry_Bosmer

I have 6GB DDR2 and Vista x64 and I have hit 2.6GB memory usage while playing Crysis. So...

This is my desktop with Gears of war, fraps, nod32, msn messenger, dreamweaver, Windows sidebar etc running and according to task manager I am using 700MB. The OS caches memory and some people interpret it to memeory usage but it's not.If you really want to see how much memory is actually being used you need to look at the resource monitor. It will tell you what is working, shareable and private.

Deihmos

[QUOTE="Angry_Bosmer"]

You never need 3gigs of RAM on any game. Not Crysis, I run on 1.5. Not Oblivion. Not Galciv 2. Needs 1 full gig to run, I never seen higher.

Your mobo has like 4 ram slots. Don't fill em up with dual RAMs. If you need the slot you need to take out both RAMs because they can't run by themselves.

Remenber, RAM is overrated, you don't need as much as the ads tell you.

threepac81

I have 6GB DDR2 and Vista x64 and I have hit 2.6GB memory usage while playing Crysis. So...

Thats with Vista, I never used Vista but I know you need a lot of RAM

The highest I ever got on XP was 1.29.

Before I unwillingly made this a heated RAM debat. I asked friendless if he had Vista or XP?

Whats the resorce monitor?Angry_Bosmer

Go to the start menu and type performance. It shows how much is commited, working, and shareable for each application. I don't bother with memory usage.

Private KB is actual usage. Copy and paste it to something like Excel to get a total if you care to know memory in use.

I don't think thats on XP.Angry_Bosmer

No it's not. XP handles memory different to Vista.

SEE!!! :D

I've personally got 2Gb (2 x 1Gb in dual channel) - I noticed an improvement it lots of things when I upgraded to that from 1Gb (2 x 512 dual channel) and I'm going to upgrade to 4Gb soon (that means my system will only utilise about 3Gb etc.) - so I guess I'll see the difference for myself - I certainly don;t expect it to run any worse ;-)

I've seen posts from people playing STALKER and ARMA saying that upgrading to 3Gb from 2Gb made noticeable improvement - especially in ARMA....

The current sweetspot for RAM is still 2 gig, and you won't see much load-time etc, difference for going above that.

Never-the-less, more ram does help, for running more programs at once, it also allows Vista to cache more, so you'll see a boost with that as well.

I currently have 1 GB of RAM and was deciding whether to buy two 512's or two 1GB sticks.

My friend tells me that I can get 3 GB but my comp will only use 2 GB. Is this true, what should I do?

fiendless7

RAM is there to cache/store needed and valuable data for the system, and is much faster than the paging file on the hard drive (This is where it WILL affect a game. RAM can only hold so much data before the system will resort to the paging file, where when it's accessed, the game will choke for a small amount of time while new data/textures are loaded).

Less RAM = more paging file use (no matter what % ram is being shown as used, the paging file is always being used, regardless (unless you disable it)) = slower performance on loading, multitasking, switching between applications that use larger amounts of ram.

Don't hate, appreciate, and take some time to read and actually learn something

I'm trying to tell people not to bother wasting your money on like 4 gigs of RAM. Come on 4 GIGS!!!Angry_Bosmer

Waste of money? The stuff practically comes in cereal boxes nowadays..and it can make a minor difference in certain titles over a system with 2GB, and a significant performance difference if you're a heavy multitasker. If you have Vista x64, it certainly doesn't hurt to have plenty of RAM if you utilize Superfetch.

But if you have a 32-bit operating system: no, don't bother.

[QUOTE="fiendless7"]

I currently have 1 GB of RAM and was deciding whether to buy two 512's or two 1GB sticks.

My friend tells me that I can get 3 GB but my comp will only use 2 GB. Is this true, what should I do?

SEANMCAD

FYI...Windows Vista 32bit (and maybe XP) can see at min 3ram (I think up to 3.5ram but not sure on that).

64bit can see much more but I forget the total, something like 16ram.

Not always, on my gaming PC at home (with 4 gig of ram), on 32bit XP, Server 2003 (and I'm presuming Vista, as it was built on the 2003 codebase) I can only see 2gig of ram.

If I turn PAE on, I can see 4gig however, and Vista 64bit can see 4gig.

Also, the amount of memory that Vista x64 can see depends on the version that you buy, Ultimate can see 128+, and the rest of the version scale back from that. However the actual physical cap for 64bit is 16 terabytes if I remember correctly (I might be wrong on that though).

[QUOTE="SEANMCAD"][QUOTE="fiendless7"]

I currently have 1 GB of RAM and was deciding whether to buy two 512's or two 1GB sticks.

My friend tells me that I can get 3 GB but my comp will only use 2 GB. Is this true, what should I do?

G013M

FYI...Windows Vista 32bit (and maybe XP) can see at min 3ram (I think up to 3.5ram but not sure on that).

64bit can see much more but I forget the total, something like 16ram.

Not always, on my gaming PC at home (with 4 gig of ram), on 32bit XP, Server 2003 (and I'm presuming Vista, as it was built on the 2003 codebase) I can only see 2gig of ram.

If I turn PAE on, I can see 4gig however, and Vista 64bit can see 4gig.

Also, the amount of memory that Vista x64 can see depends on the version that you buy, Ultimate can see 128+, and the rest of the version scale back from that. However the actual physical cap for 64bit is 16 terabytes if I remember correctly (I might be wrong on that though).

Just as an FYI - I've got a CPU/RAM gauge in the Windows Sidebar and, while the RAM usage generally runs around 40%, I'm surfing the web and watching WinTV and my usage is up to 54%.

I have Vista Home Prem 64bit, Intel Q6700 and 2x2G Crucial Ballistix - and I'm so glad to have spent the few extra bucks for 4G and not having to max out my RAM! Even at 40% I want a bigger cushion.