Will over 1GB of RAM be useful for anything, or just bragging rights?

[mysubaruimp]

It has been my understanding for some time that very few applications can utilize over 1GB of RAM. I havent been paying attention to new technologies/programs coming out, so I dont know if it can be used yet. I would really like to speed up the time it takes programs like Photoshop or AutoCAD to open. I also do massive amounts of multitasking, and am constantly annoyed when switching programs because it takes so long.

Would a better upgrade be a faster processor, thinking a 3.4 OC'd to somewhere around 4Ghz. Or more RAM, thinking adding another gig of the same stuff I have now.

Another solution I havent really thought about too much is upgrading to two Raptor 74gig drives in a RAID-0 setup with my current drive as storage.

specs in sig.

[FyreDaug]

You could always get performance ram. But I'd say a gig is gonna be the new average fairly soon. Half life 2 takes quite a bit of memory to run

[Sentential]

Yea I see a big difference to be honest.Its more noticable when you have lots of programs open more than anything else

[N3buchan3zzar]

Right now I believe a gig is the new average...for example FarCry needs over 700Mb to run optimally and you talk of photoshop and multi-tasking then you definately need more Ram...most likely more than a gig but you may have to back off your OC for more Ram so it's a give and take thing.

[sean478]

the extra ram probibly wont help any thing excepr photoshop and maby auto cad (depending on wat u are doing in it) the best way to figure out if u need more ram is to use task manager if u use over the amount of ram in system ram (useing the page file) than i would get some more ram but if u dont go over 768 then there isnt any way it could help i would look at raid to speed things up to

[Paul1]

Personally, I see 1GB of RAM as a bare minimum for today's programs. If you want multi-tasking to be a breeze, 1.5GB to 2GB of RAM is essential. Many image editing programs such as Photoshop and DVD Authoring programs such as Adobe Encore require lots of RAM. Games also run better when your system has RAM to spare (to run programs in the background).

[brint]

I read a test where they tested if there was any difference if a laptop had less the 1024mb of ram or more then 1024mb of ram. The test showed that there only was a slight gain if the system had more then 1024mb of ram installed. The difference between 512 and 1024 was on the other had quite notable.
So why should this not also count in desktop systems...?
I believe that 1024mb is good enough for now, unless you like to use programs like Autodesk Inventor or other 3D animation and construction programs then a couple of gigs would be suitable.

[violineb]

heheheh. silly people and their new computers. Unless you really truly are using these higher end programs or gaming, and not just web browsing, emailing, Bit torrent, etc. then you don´t even NEED 512MB. I know I´m going off topic but I have been using really low end machines for a few months because I´m away from home and they all are old P3s with 192MB. Don´t get me wrong, 192 MB will get you nowhere if you game or photochop. I just wanted to make a point ;) As for 1GB or 2 I´m sure there´s a visible difference when using video editing, gfx editing, or really highend games as stated before. But right now I´d say your bottle neck is the hard drive unless you have it well paritioned or defraged and rearranged for speed.

[bk2005]

I use programs like Inventor, AutoCAD, Solidworks on a pretty regular basis. Sometimes I wish I have more than 1 gig of ram in my system while using these. 3D drawings are a serious drain on systems.

[darkknight187]

2+ gb if you want bragging rights but its not worth the performance hit going with a gig of good stuff with decent timings

[mysubaruimp]

heheheh. silly people and their new computers.

Yeah, that is certainly me, brandy new :rolleyes:

I do use AutoCAD quite a bit, not enough 3D modeling or any type of video work to notice if that dogs it down. In AutoCAD there are times when I do wish my system would go faster, but I am trying to work out the bottle neck.

I constantly have a page file going. Under normal working circumstances, I usually have about 500MB page file. It jumps up depending on what I am doing, the 500 is just to cover background apps. My CPU usage also spikes at times, usually running fairly low. If nothing is going on, and then averaging a 20% base if I am doing CAD.

I am thinking now that a Raptor setup would be the most beneficial. I hadnt looked into that option at all. I would really like to go with an SLI setup for better gaming, but it costs way too much for not that much of a performance gain of what I have now, for the amount of gaming I do. I play like 1 hour of CS:Source a week, if that.

[mysubaruimp]

I know I´m going off topic but I have been using really low end machines for a few months because I´m away from home and they all are old P3s with 192MB.

My second rig that I use occasionally has a P3 600Mhz proc with 384MB RAM. It is slow, but fast enough for web browsing, MS Word, and pretty much all the basic stuff. I would not want to use it for CAD or even touch it for gaming, but it gets its job done as a web browsing rig.

[rseven]

Everyone keeps mentioning photoshop and I have used it on my xp1800 system with 512mb of ram as well as my new rig in my sign running at 2.5 gigs and I really don't notice all that much difference. It's not like I'm waiting around for the slower rig to apply the edits to a picture. However, in video and larger audio files every bit of ram counts. The problem with A64 based sydtems is you need to use 2x1024 sticks and these are always slower and less overclockable than the 2x512.

[Eckz]

2GB Is really noticable if you play any higher end MMORPG's. I had a gig going into building the rig i have now, and ended up getting a second gig for the dual channel. You wouldn't believe how much smoother the game runs now. Trust me, in this aspect, it IS noticable. Oh, forgot to add which game i was reffering to.. EverQuest2.. :)

[C0oLl2iCef0o]

Of course, programs in the future will be a lot of demanding

[FyreDaug]

All this talk about multitasking and gaming, they are 2 different worlds and if people used half their brain they wouldnt multi-task and game together. Personally I wouldnt own more than a gig, I think its wasteful right now. Why spend $X now for something I will barely utilize when I can spend $X/2 on that ram later when I do think I need it? Not saying by the time I need it it will neccesarily be half the cost, but it will be cheaper later. Plus with advancements of ddr2 Im not buying anymore ddr until I see more of ddr2 progressivly failing. But I think once they get the hang of ddr2 and make a cpu that can use it effectively then that will be the new standard. Technology is rapidly moving, more so than say 5 years ago. Its a gamble if anything I think.

[paupton]

I had 4 x 512 in an Asus a8n sli deluxe one video card. I played HL2, Tribes Veng. Doom3 and Farcry with the 2 gigs. I sold 2 x 512 to get the money to upgrade to 2 x 1024. I was in the middle of these games and could not believe the slowdown in play I experienced. I upgraded from a 6600GT to a 6800NU and still had slowdown. I bought the new ram OCZ 2 x 1024 pc 3200 and put it in. Wow what a big difference. I went from 2 gig to 1 gig and back to 2 gig in a day. This was not my imagination. There is a performance diffence with 2 gigs.

[deathstar13]

i personally am out of the OC scene per-se.
i do oc and maximize everything i own,BUT im only gonna buy what i need and put money into that.i cant afford to waste $$$

i use photoshop,surf,and various other apps.
now im useing a p3 933 512mb rig.
i badly needed more ram but speed wasnt an issue.and ram in the 512mb pc133 flavour isnt cheap.so i just upgraded as ill spend the same amount of $$$.

i bought a socket 754 sempron 2800 and 754 mobo used here and 1 gig of pc3200 for $78 at newegg.

i feel this will saisfy me for a small while.but eventually i want a hyper-threading cpu or a dual core cpu.i doubt they will be cheap so i doubt that ill get one anytime soon on the dual core.

but once i do get either cpu ill need 1.5-2gb imo.
i dont so much need speed but i do need massive load handling.

the way i judge this issue now is if i need to reboot my system anytime during the day i need more ram. i hate inconviences.

i can do 2GB in this new 754 cpu/mobo setup but i doubt the cpu could handle the load and give out before the ram would at 1GB.

ok so back to your questions.
no,2 GB can be usefull depending on what you do.
i eventually want 1.5-2gb myself and im ONLY buying as cheap as possible parts i need.

ram is so cheap anymore and you can sell it for little loss anyhow its never a bad investment to me.but this is if you useing it.
but as others have said ocing doesnt like major amounts of ram for high fsb speeds.just depends on the user and his needs i guess.

[JackCarver]

You can confirm memory usage by doing your thing, then checking task manager and see the peak commitcharge. FarCry is hitting 800MB for me, and MoH and CoD both break the 1G barrier. Next go-round of games will break past the 1G barrier.

Other applicatins needing alot of ram are Software development, using VirtualPC running multiple virtual machines to test stuff out, etc.

The boards have 4 slots in them, mize-well fillem up... esp with VX-type stuff running $53/512M stick on NewEgg right now!!!!

[rseven]

4x512 on an A64 system means 333mhjz at 2t. This is due to the memory controller limitations. This will negate any performance gains from the 2 gigs of ram. The best way to go is 2x1024.

[Falkentyne]

Sigh.....if this keeps up, in a few months, we will be seeing "is 2 GB enough for gaming"?, with people posting that you need *4 GB* of RAM to do anything useful. Of course, forget that there's no such thing as a 2 GB module, and forget that using 1x4GB of anything is going to throw your overclocking down the drain.....

I just got 2 GB, but still....it's like people simply push up the system requirements just to justify their purchase and "nudge" everyone else along.

How many gamers edit videos and audio? Sure, professionals and some hobbyists do, but I don't know a single person who does this stuff (Unless they are the authors of some software.....)

And EQ2 is a complete system hog, period. It WANTS A 512 MB video card, 2 GB of RAM, a 5 ghz CPU, and a 30" HDTV monitor. Completely absurd. When about 1% of the people who use computers have such specs.....

But Forgotten Hope (a BF1942 mod) is much nicer with 2 GB. It RUNS and FITS completely within 1 GB, but FH + the file cache allocation (about 200,000K) immediately causes everything else to hit the swapfile on bigger maps (though there is no lag in FH with 1 GB as long as you dont have 20 things open). But with 2 GB, you have about 900,000K free when running FH on its biggest maps, nothing is swapped to RAM, and alt tabbing back to windows is instant, no swapping on huge maps.

Please note: Far Cry (and Painkiller) use nowhere NEAR the amount of RAM Forgotten Hope uses....

If you're a gamer, don't get 2 GB yet unless you can afford to spend the $$. And for you 512x4 prospectors, keep in mind the limitations of running 4 dimms and losing things like PAT, FSB, HTT, T and main timings, etc. Unless you are hitting the swapfile (more than 100,000K (100 MB)), then simply wait for 1 GB dimms to drop in price and increase in timings, and then upgrade when you really need to. 2x1 GB of PC3200 RAM at decent timings will cost you more than the original releases of 2x512 PC4000 RAM ever cost, almost 2 years ago....

I have no problem with 1 GB. But 2 GB is gravy for now--not essential unless you're a professional doing heavy work.

1 GB is like your basic dinner and water. 2 GB is like a nice dessert. For now....