Another RAM Question

NorCalRoach · 10-01-2007, 09:37 PM

This is may sound like a silly question to you, but I'm still learning the in's and out's of my computer. So here goes: does more RAM increase you game's frames per second? Or is that primarily the workload of your video card, mother board, and processor?

=Sarc= · 10-01-2007, 09:56 PM

After a certain point, more RAM doesn't help with performance. The main pillars of a gaming system would be video card and processor. The RAM helps with having enough data readily available to process instead of reading it from the harddrive. Go with 2GB to be safe. Games these days seem to be either 1GB or 2GB for the recommended specs.

I got 3 game boxes around me and none mention 2GB as a recommended spec. R6: Vegas is 1GB (no recommended given for RAM). World in Conflict is 1GB recommended (1.5GB for Vista users). Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts is 1GB recommended. This is my main reason that I think getting 4GB is a complete waste of money.

ChopStick · 10-01-2007, 10:12 PM

I am running Vista-64 and wish I had 4 gb.

=Sarc= · 10-01-2007, 10:48 PM

I'm running Vista 32-bit and don't wish I had 4GB. I'm at 50% RAM usage (~1GB used) while I have a browser open with 4 tabs, iTunes, MSN, TS, and several widgets on the sidebar.

Buckets · 10-02-2007, 12:57 AM

I am also running 64 bit Vista and I also wish I had 4 GB. I have to dual boot with XP in order to run Battlefield 2. Sarc is right in not wanting 4GB with 32 bit Vista because it can't access more than about 3.5GB, including video card RAM.

NorCalRoach · 10-03-2007, 03:24 AM

I guess I'm still a little confused. If you're running programs and using 50% of your ram with a total of 2GBs, why don't u just scale back to 1GB. Where does the benefit of the extra ram come into play? Even if you had only 3GBs max wouldn't their be similar benefits?

=Sarc= · 10-03-2007, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NorCalRoach

I guess I'm still a little confused. If you're running programs and using 50% of your ram with a total of 2GBs, why don't u just scale back to 1GB. Where does the benefit of the extra ram come into play? Even if you had only 3GBs max wouldn't their be similar benefits?

When I play games, it goes above 80% usage. Desktop apps don't really eat that much memory but having the extra does give me room to run heavier apps like games, Photoshop, video editing, etc.

NorCalRoach · 10-03-2007, 09:29 AM

I see...I happened to play Company of Heroes Opposing Fronts yesterday and saw that my RAM usage was at 85 to 90% (according to my G-15 keyboard system monitor- don't know how accurate that is). Thanks again Sarc.

Zoopy · 10-03-2007, 09:30 AM

If a game doesn't have enough RAM area to store, it'll have to load more from the hard drive. Accessing the hard drive will cause your game to stutter and kill your FPS for the time it is accessing.

Having a 64bit operating system with > 2GB of RAM will allow you to do more background stuff while gaming (like say decode/encode a movie).

So if you game, just get 2GB of RAM. I know Battlefield 2142 takes like 1.8GB of RAM when I am playing.

=Sarc= · 10-04-2007, 12:03 AM

My recommendation is to get 4GB RAM when games actually recommend it.

Buckets · 10-04-2007, 01:12 AM

I'd say that if you're getting 64 bit Vista, go for 4GB. I say this because BF2 is unplayable on my system running 2GB or RAM and 64 bit Vista so I had to wipe my beloved Ubuntu partition and dual boot with XP.

I have no problems with any other games but if you want to play Battlefield 2 on Vista 64, grab 4GB of RAM.

**marstein** · 10-04-2007, 01:45 AM

It's not really how much RAM you have, but how much RAM your currently running programs need.
What this means is that todays operating systems like Windows, MacOS and Linux allow you to run programs that need more memory than is installed in your computer. When the OS realizes that this is happening it takes 'pages' from some programs memory and stores them on the hard drive. If this happens while a program is running you notice it. When BF2 stutters for example it could be that your web browser running in the background became active again and needed to be brought back into memory. 1/100 of a second later BF2 required memory again and the OS swapped the browser out and BF2 back in.

That's why many people stop all background processes that are not essential while playing.

It is also the case that these background processes can be sitting on the harddisk, but they are not running at all. Then your task manager will report that your computer is using 3GB although you only have 2GB of physical RAM. What you need to watch is your harddisk activity and the "page faults" the task manager reports. If you have page faults and a lot of paging I/O going on then you need more RAM.

10-01-2007, 09:37 PM	#1 (permalink)
NorCalRoach Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: California, Bay Area Age: 33 Posts: 1,515	Another RAM Question This is may sound like a silly question to you, but I'm still learning the in's and out's of my computer. So here goes: does more RAM increase you game's frames per second? Or is that primarily the workload of your video card, mother board, and processor? __________________ .

10-01-2007, 09:56 PM	#2 (permalink)
=Sarc= Join Date: May 2003 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 4,600	Re: Another RAM Question After a certain point, more RAM doesn't help with performance. The main pillars of a gaming system would be video card and processor. The RAM helps with having enough data readily available to process instead of reading it from the harddrive. Go with 2GB to be safe. Games these days seem to be either 1GB or 2GB for the recommended specs. I got 3 game boxes around me and none mention 2GB as a recommended spec. R6: Vegas is 1GB (no recommended given for RAM). World in Conflict is 1GB recommended (1.5GB for Vista users). Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts is 1GB recommended. This is my main reason that I think getting 4GB is a complete waste of money. __________________ JO Guides & Tutorials Team Element - It's who you game with.

10-01-2007, 10:12 PM	#3 (permalink)
ChopStick Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Toronto Age: 21 Posts: 289	Re: Another RAM Question I am running Vista-64 and wish I had 4 gb.

10-01-2007, 10:48 PM	#4 (permalink)
=Sarc= Join Date: May 2003 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 4,600	Re: Another RAM Question I'm running Vista 32-bit and don't wish I had 4GB. I'm at 50% RAM usage (~1GB used) while I have a browser open with 4 tabs, iTunes, MSN, TS, and several widgets on the sidebar. __________________ JO Guides & Tutorials Team Element - It's who you game with.

10-02-2007, 12:57 AM	#5 (permalink)
Buckets Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Tucson, AZ Age: 27 Posts: 539	Re: Another RAM Question I am also running 64 bit Vista and I also wish I had 4 GB. I have to dual boot with XP in order to run Battlefield 2. Sarc is right in not wanting 4GB with 32 bit Vista because it can't access more than about 3.5GB, including video card RAM. __________________ The artist formerly known as "pecker"

10-03-2007, 03:24 AM	#6 (permalink)
NorCalRoach Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: California, Bay Area Age: 33 Posts: 1,515	Re: Another RAM Question I guess I'm still a little confused. If you're running programs and using 50% of your ram with a total of 2GBs, why don't u just scale back to 1GB. Where does the benefit of the extra ram come into play? Even if you had only 3GBs max wouldn't their be similar benefits?

10-03-2007, 09:29 AM	#8 (permalink)
NorCalRoach Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: California, Bay Area Age: 33 Posts: 1,515	Re: Another RAM Question I see...I happened to play Company of Heroes Opposing Fronts yesterday and saw that my RAM usage was at 85 to 90% (according to my G-15 keyboard system monitor- don't know how accurate that is). Thanks again Sarc. __________________ .

10-03-2007, 09:30 AM	#9 (permalink)
Zoopy Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 1,870	Re: Another RAM Question If a game doesn't have enough RAM area to store, it'll have to load more from the hard drive. Accessing the hard drive will cause your game to stutter and kill your FPS for the time it is accessing. Having a 64bit operating system with > 2GB of RAM will allow you to do more background stuff while gaming (like say decode/encode a movie). So if you game, just get 2GB of RAM. I know Battlefield 2142 takes like 1.8GB of RAM when I am playing.

10-04-2007, 12:03 AM	#10 (permalink)
=Sarc= Join Date: May 2003 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 4,600	Re: Another RAM Question My recommendation is to get 4GB RAM when games actually recommend it. __________________ JO Guides & Tutorials Team Element - It's who you game with.

10-04-2007, 01:12 AM	#11 (permalink)
Buckets Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Tucson, AZ Age: 27 Posts: 539	Re: Another RAM Question I'd say that if you're getting 64 bit Vista, go for 4GB. I say this because BF2 is unplayable on my system running 2GB or RAM and 64 bit Vista so I had to wipe my beloved Ubuntu partition and dual boot with XP. I have no problems with any other games but if you want to play Battlefield 2 on Vista 64, grab 4GB of RAM. __________________ The artist formerly known as "pecker"

10-04-2007, 01:45 AM	#12 (permalink)
marstein Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Half Moon Bay, CA, USA Age: 42 Posts: 838	Re: Another RAM Question It's not really how much RAM you have, but how much RAM your currently running programs need. What this means is that todays operating systems like Windows, MacOS and Linux allow you to run programs that need more memory than is installed in your computer. When the OS realizes that this is happening it takes 'pages' from some programs memory and stores them on the hard drive. If this happens while a program is running you notice it. When BF2 stutters for example it could be that your web browser running in the background became active again and needed to be brought back into memory. 1/100 of a second later BF2 required memory again and the OS swapped the browser out and BF2 back in. That's why many people stop all background processes that are not essential while playing. It is also the case that these background processes can be sitting on the harddisk, but they are not running at all. Then your task manager will report that your computer is using 3GB although you only have 2GB of physical RAM. What you need to watch is your harddisk activity and the "page faults" the task manager reports. If you have page faults and a lot of paging I/O going on then you need more RAM. __________________ Gigabyte P35-DS3R, 2GB, 8800GTS 640MB, Core2Duo E8400

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