512mb vs. 1gb

will i notice a huge difference from 1gb to 512 ???

i will be running some faster ram and lower timings but will that make up for the amount ??

1Gb.... pwns 512. For an example, I had my Kingmax PC4000 (512 x 1) and I had 1gb of Kingston Value Ram PC3200 (512 x 2). My 1Gb owned my 512, so, this is when I clocked it higher to make up for clock speeds. 1Gb for sure. I noticed a huge difference from going to 512 to 1Gb...

.. i figured 1gb rocks but wasnt sure if it just hammers 512 ... going to be doing some gaming and video editing.. so im going from pc 2700 (Oc'ed to 440 2.5, 3, 3, 7) to 512mb pc4500 (566mhz).. gonna be getting a mobile too of course ..

i guess i should have been more clear ..

moving from locked barton 2500 and 1gb ram @ 440 fsb 2.5, 3, 3, 7 2.7v

to mobile 2600 and 512 pc 4500 (566) ....

would the increase in fsb be worth the drop in 512 mb ram ??

1gb completly owns 512mb, hell 1gb is even pushing the limits now i some gaes, Like massiv multiplayer games like Planetside, and Doom3 and Farcry they all use almost 1gb of memory.

And no even if it is a 50fsb loss the gains from 1gb will outweigh that.

Btw getting pc4500 ram is pointless if youre Barton or mobo cant run @ those speed's then dont buy that ram, You should get like pc4000 or pc3500 instead

As far as I know, games don't really come close to using even 512 MB worth of memory (in contradiction to what CandymanCan is saying). I might be wrong on this (maybe we should find some benchmarks ), but from what I've seen/read, even brand fangled new games like Doom3 and Farcry are just starting to push 512 MB. Where you might see a difference in games is load times but I don't think that your in-game performance will suffer much if any at all.

That being said, if you multitask at all, it's probably a good idea to have 1 GB anyway. Having several programs open at once is a boon to productivity and keeps your system from slowing down as you compute. I usually have around 10-15 windows open (5 instances of Explorer/Firefox; iTunes; MS Word; notepad; Winamp; 3dFtp; Photochop) - and let's not forget all the other crap we'll have open that we're not actively using (anti-virus, firewalls, spyware software, etc.). If you're good about using only one program at a time and close your Windows all the time, I guess you could get away with "only" 512... but you really can't beat the flexibility of 1 GB. Hell, if I had the money, I would even consider more.

playing doom 3 my task manager said something about 860 mb ram usage...at that moment i only had 512^^and yes-it was a huge upgrade,getting that second stick

well instaed of 512 pc4500 i will go for 1gb pc4000.. i just wanted good fast memory for future upgrades ..

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-141-138&depa=1

i'll be lab rat for these i guess..

I don't think that your in-game performance will suffer much if any at all.

Click to expand...

pretty much the opposite of what you said... 512mb cripples almost every single new game...especially vietnam/doom3 with high detail

I would consider purchasing RAM that is better suited for the platform.

PQI PC3200 2-2-2-5 is a good example of RAM that is flexible, and performs well with both Athlon XP, and higher FSB CPU's such as the P4.

It's based on Samsung TCCD modules (which are designed for DDR500 operation), but operates at low FSB w/ awesome timings. Many have gotten this RAM to 300fsb stable at decent (2.5-3-3-7 timings), which is a definate bonus in case of future upgrades.

Most PC4000 RAM like you mention are more suited for P4 platforms that can handle extremely high FSB's, and don't loose much with relaxed timings. You'll be forced to run this at lower FSB's (due to the XP's inabilities), but you won't gain much in the way of timings.

Most (if not all) PC4000 RAM is designed to run at 3-4-4-8 timings, which would create a serious bottleneck on an Athlon XP system. I never had much luck getting much over 200fsb using PC4000 modules when I used Socket 462.

Xtreme Barton said:

will i notice a huge difference from 1gb to 512 ???

i will be running some faster ram and lower timings but will that make up for the amount ??

Click to expand...

Hmmm, you haven't played Doom3 yet, huh. On Very High detail settings, the game is programmed for future video cards with 500 MB ram. I've played it on a 6800 Ultra at 1600x1200x32, 4xFSAA, 16xAniso, Very High detail, and it needs all the damn ram it can get - from anywhere: video card, physical ram, on-board cache, whatever. Going to 2 GB from 1 GB made a difference. Otherwise, you gotta lower the detail settings.

On most the older games, even as recent as SS2nd Encounter and IL-2 Sturmovik, I didn't notice much diff between 512 and 1 GB. But the newer games like Far Cry and Doom3 cause stuttering and freezes in certain points during the game, unless you have at least 1 GB.

It helps to run something like 250, 1:1, 2-2-2-5 with BH-5, but getting 4x512 MB sticks to do that ain't a piece of cake . I'm working on a 2 GB gaming rig, and I think my best shot is 4x512 MB Ballistix PC3200 at 2.5-2-2-5 . I'm looking for a good 3.40C so if I don't make 250 fsb (4.2 gig), no big deal. At least I got one that does 236 fsb or 4 gig on mild water, and that will do. My Ballistix should do that 2.5-2-2-5 easy, even 4x512s.

method().man said:

As far as I know, games don't really come close to using even 512 MB worth of memory (in contradiction to what CandymanCan is saying). I might be wrong on this (maybe we should find some benchmarks ), but from what I've seen/read, even brand fangled new games like Doom3 and Farcry are just starting to push 512 MB. Where you might see a difference in games is load times but I don't think that your in-game performance will suffer much if any at all.

That being said, if you multitask at all, it's probably a good idea to have 1 GB anyway. Having several programs open at once is a boon to productivity and keeps your system from slowing down as you compute. I usually have around 10-15 windows open (5 instances of Explorer/Firefox; iTunes; MS Word; notepad; Winamp; 3dFtp; Photochop) - and let's not forget all the other crap we'll have open that we're not actively using (anti-virus, firewalls, spyware software, etc.). If you're good about using only one program at a time and close your Windows all the time, I guess you could get away with "only" 512... but you really can't beat the flexibility of 1 GB. Hell, if I had the money, I would even consider more.

Click to expand...

Old games like BF1942 have been using over 512mb for a long time now. Games like Doom3 and Farcry or MMORPG games like Planetside and Star wars, will use alot of memory, D3 and Farcry will use less memory if you have the graphics down to med or low, when you change things to high or highest or ultra high, it will use alot of memory.

Thier is a command in Doom3 i forgot what it was that alot of people tried including me and whe ni wasp laying @ 1600x1200 Ultra high graphics with 4xAA 8xAF, my ram usage was over 1000mb, this isnt including the pagefile. HardOCP tried 2GB over 1gb and they noticed a slight improovment in the game speed over 1gb this shows that games today and in the future will use 1gb or more.

Heck Ut2004 uses more then 512mb, bf1942 uses around 400mb, the mod for bf1942 Desert combat uses over 600mb.

Xtreme Barton said:

well instaed of 512 pc4500 i will go for 1gb pc4000.. i just wanted good fast memory for future upgrades ..

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-141-138&depa=1

i'll be lab rat for these i guess..

Click to expand...

You can buy the 512mb and then buy another stick later if you dont mind waiting, but the other option of going to 1gb of pc4000 would be better if you dont like waiting or cant afford another stick for a long time.

Personally. I would get the 512mb pc4500, then buy another stick later. Thats what i did, i got a 512mb pc4200 stick then a month later i got another 512mb stick.

got some pqi 1gb kit .. pc 4000 at 2.5 4 4 7 ..