New maps and memory QUESTION

**TG_Blood** · 05-26-2008, 03:01 AM

Hey guys,

I have an older 2.8GHz P4 with a 9700 pro radeon with 1 GB of RAM (two Kingston ValueRAM 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) KVR400X64C3A/512 sticks). I think I have an ASUS mother board I still have to check. But it has four (4) 184 pin slots (dinn?). I am having problems with lag on the newer maps. I was thinking more RAM!

Now the question: is it faster to get two 1 GHZ stcks rather than four (4) 512 MB sticks? For compatibility I was just going to buy two more identical 512 sticks but the price of the 1GB sticks are almost the same.

I am also wondering how much RAM I can use. I was thinking I could go crazy and use two 2 GB stcks to form a total of 4 GB but I am not sure the mother board/processor can handle that. How does one know what the limiting factor is in RAM?

Anyone have any sugestions?

**Namebot** · 05-26-2008, 03:22 AM

There shouldn't be a significant difference in speed between 2/4 sticks.

For the max amount you can use you have to know the model of your motherboard and check the manufacturers website.

Also note that you can and probably should use all the sticks of RAM together, if they don't have issues with each other.

**TG_Blood** · 05-26-2008, 03:34 AM

Namebot you mean all the SAME sticks right? That is what I recalls works best as well.

**FBmantis** · 05-26-2008, 03:41 AM

Read this article: http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=1839

**TG_Blood** · 05-26-2008, 04:05 AM

Mantis,
Thanks for looking into this and giving me this informative link. It was a little over my head but this is what I got out of it. The 4 duel sided config of the same DIMM's was the fastest (below). I assume adding 2 more exact 512's to bring me to 2 GB will be best. What threw me was a comment at the beginign that warned of using 4 DIMMS on some mother boards as they some times dont play four at all or very well. Your thoughts>?

DDR400 (1:1) Performance DIMM Configuration Single-Channel or Dual-Channel
1 4 DS Dual Channel
2 2 DS or 4 SS Dual Channel
3 2 SS Dual Channel
4 4 SS/DS
Mixed Matched Pairs Dual Channel
5 Any DS Single Channel
6 Any SS Single Channel

MY Mother board is an ABIT IS7E
# USB Support: 2.x Compliant
# Error Detection Support: Non-ECC only
# Chipset: Intel 865PE
# Supported DRAM Types: DDR SDRAM only
# Module Types Supported: Unbuffered only
# Max Unbuffered DDR SDRAM: 4096MB
# Max Component Density: 512Mb
# 184-pin DIMM Banking: 4 (4 banks of 1)
# Graphics Support: AGP 8X

**FBmantis** · 05-26-2008, 04:26 AM

I don't really have a suggestion. I would imagine either way would work fine and the performance difference so small thats its not worth caring about but thats just speculation on my part. I just know I asked similar questions way back and remembered a few articles I read that helped. My PC is similar to yours....overclocked P4 2.8, Asus P4C800E Deluxe motherboard and 2gb(2 x 1) pc3700 ddr ram. Seeing the date on these old articles is pretty crazy...can't believe its been almost 5 years since I built this pc. I need a new one but I'm still holding out until I actually see myself playing something other than bf2.

**TG_Blood** · 05-26-2008, 04:58 AM

Thanks Mantis......

**khaerus** · 05-26-2008, 11:06 AM

First thing you need to do is google the model number of that Asus mobo and get proper specs- the thing might not even run your processor! Then you need to test it with the sticks you already have. After that:

2 gigs of ram vs. 1 will improve your BF2 game.

2 1-gig sticks will generally work better- you are correct that some boards do not like 4 sticks, and if you are overclocking (I am assuming that you are not, though) it becomes more relevant. If the cost is the same/nearly so then get 2 one gig sticks- this will almost certainly create a more stable system.

The important thing about memory (in almost any system) is to keep the sticks the same if possible, and the same specs if you can't find the same sticks. *** I do not have personal experience with that processor, but DDR sticks/Motherboard combos can be finicky.

As for your max memory, 2 gig is really all you need for your machine- chances are that your OS can't handle more than 3.4gig or so anyway (check into 32bit vs 64bit OS.)

Don't worry too much about the memory speeds of 4 vs. 2 and all that- you won't notice. Find your specs, see what hardware you have that works, and let us know. We'll point you better then.

**ThaGoat** · 05-26-2008, 11:31 AM

I'm like a bunch of you guys... I run an older system. Haven't really had the gumption to update yet. I'm not in the pretty graphic detail of the game. But, I have noticed a bit of lag on some of the new maps to. But, its workable for me. Yes its an emachine and please get a giggle. But it works very smooth 98% of the time with the graphics at the medium setting.

*System Model: W3400
*BIOS: Phoenix - Award BIOS v6.00PG
*Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.0GHz

*Memory: 766MB RAM DDR (<-----strange number huh, its 512+256 Frankenstein)

*Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 6600
*Manufacturer: NVIDIA
*Chip type: GeForce 6600
*DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
*Display Memory: 512.0 MB
*Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)

Originally the thing had 512 and I added a 256 stick just to see what it would do. It actually runs just fine and i've never had problems with any game. Used to play Eve Online and any of you that has ever payed/played that soul stealer will know the lag issues you can get in a large battle. I never had much of a prob at all.

I guess i'm a "Minimal Requirements Player" - lol

**micbur54** · 05-26-2008, 05:32 PM

Go here and run the program and it will tell you all about your memory on your mobo
http://www.crucial.com/

**Namebot** · 05-26-2008, 05:43 PM

Conclusion, buy the 2X 1 gigs if they are pretty much the same price as the 2X512.

Put them all in to see if they work together. If they don't pull the 512's. If it still doesn't work return the ram.

**Faust** · 05-27-2008, 07:49 AM

4 sticks is faster if they will run well on your board.

To find out if they will run better on your board - check out ABIT discussion boards, or google your board to see if folks have any issues with it.

I'm running an ABIT board on one of my home systems and it runs great, but I am running 2X2GB RAM on it too.

Your video card is another potential bottleneck for rendering BF2 maps, so keep your settings on low.

If you really like gaming though, think about a major upgrade of MoBo, CPU, Vid and RAM.

**Mr.McFeelme** · 05-27-2008, 11:37 AM

The ram may not be the source of the lag, though.

If it is a lack of ram, you should notice your hard drive activity light going crazy at the points you are lagging. If it isn't, it may not be a ram issue.

If you get lag when people are popping smoke, or you are in a particular area of a map, its probably video card related.

With my current setup, i'm cpu bound. My point is, you may do the upgrade and see no improvement. I'm not trying to be a downer, but don't expect miracles.