1 or 2 GB RAM?

amaya_chan · June 2007

Hey guys, just looking for a bit more advice. After looking this up, I'm curious to know what you think.

I've seen many forums about 1 GB RAM vs 2. They were all so mixed up in opinion, I couldn't figure out a final answer towards my question. I suppose there really isn't one, but I'd appreciate a more clear idea.

I'm looking to invest in a new computer, since the one I have is a good 5-6 years old. It can't even run the free MMOs smothly. I get something ridiculous like 5-15FPS, if I'm lucky. (Based on Hero Online, it's pretty choppy gameplay)

My friend advised going with 2GB, but that does add up in cost, so I wondered how I would fair with 1GB? The minimum on some of these games says 512 to 2GB recommended. If you saw my first question, then you know already that I'm going for WoW or EQ2. It seems WoW uses a lot of RAM, but the issues for EQ2 are greater from what I have read. Some places I came across claimed that they had slow gameplay with 2 GBs, while other sites claim that 1GB and a good graphics card can run it well.

The specs I'm going for :

– Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 641 w/ HT Technology, 3.2GHz
– 1GB DDR2-667MHz SDRAM (2x512)
– nVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS 256MB
– 160GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive

So, I'd really love some opinions on this ^.^

Dracis · June 2007

Well, if you're buying a new computer from a company like Dell, Ibuypower, HP, etc you're probably going to end up with Vista in some form or another. If you get a new computer with Vista, I highly recommend getting at least 2 gigs of RAM. Even with just XP I'd suggest it, the more RAM the better.

ianubisi · June 2007

4GB would really be best moving forward. In my opinion, 2GB is minimum now.

xcryonicx · June 2007

4GB RAM using Windows XP 32bit is OVERKILL.

You're not going to need that much RAM unless you plan on running Vista x64 or running some type of server software.

I dual boot XP and Vista Home Premium with 2GB and both run quite fast (XP is better for gaming though).

Dracis · June 2007

Originally posted by ianubisi

4GB would really be best moving forward. In my opinion, 2GB is minimum now.

I agree, I've got 4gigs of RAM in the computer I'm typing on now. But if cost is an issue and you can only afford 2gigs, then go with 2gigs. Remember if you're buying a computer, make sure you get a decent video card too.

Ciredric · June 2007

As someone mentioned about, Vista is a memory hog, 1gb is not enough any more, you need 2gb. The next series of games will require more than 1gb. I have head that both War and Conan will recommend 2gb. Memory is cheap right now, I would not wait for prices to go back up.

amaya_chan · June 2007

Yeah, 4gigs would be quite a bit, not something I need. I admit I'm seeing it pop up a lot though.

The graphics card I bought seems to be decent enough. I wouldn't try for a geforce 8 series, those things are around what, $500? HP is trying to sell some horrible budget cards, if you claim to have one, you'll probably get laughed at.

128MB NVIDIA GeForce 7350LE

256MB NVIDIA GeForce 7500LE

I can't even find the latter on the NVIDIA site.

I've always liked XP, vista scares me. HP only offers vista sadly, I definitely plan on getting XP into the computer. So far it sounds like 2 is the way to go. Thanks!

Dracis · June 2007

Originally posted by amaya_chan

Yeah, 4gigs would be quite a bit, not something I need. I admit I'm seeing it pop up a lot though.

The graphics card I bought seems to be decent enough. I wouldn't try for a geforce 8 series, those things are around what, $500? HP is trying to sell some horrible budget cards, if you claim to have one, you'll probably get laughed at.

128MB NVIDIA GeForce 7350LE

256MB NVIDIA GeForce 7500LE

I can't even find the latter on the NVIDIA site.

I've always liked XP, vista scares me. HP only offers vista sadly, I definitely plan on getting XP into the computer. So far it sounds like 2 is the way to go. Thanks!

What ever you do, don't buy an HP. I used to work as a contractor doing warranty work for all the major companies for on site repair and replacement. Now this was back when Dell was really bad, Alienware wasn't even a company, and HP and Compaq were still horrible. Look at some of the newer companies like Ibuypower and all those others in the back of nearly every gaming/computer magazine.

turnipz · June 2007

Was your company called stream by any chance?

gpett · June 2007

RAM is so cheap right now. There is no reason to not have 2GB of ram. You can get a 2X1GB dual channel DDR2 800 kit of memory for under $80.

Yes, games like WoW and EQ2 can benefit from more than 1GB of RAM.

A separate issue, most OSs that people use cannot utilize more than 3GB of memory. So if you put 4GB of memory in your rig you will only be able to use 3GB of it. 64bit OSs are the exception. You can utilize more than 3GB of memory in a 64bit OS. Here is a good explanation of the 3GB limit for 32bit OSs.

Dracis · June 2007

Originally posted by turnipz

Was your company called stream by any chance?

No, it wasn't. I was a contractor for the contractor. Literally the company that was hired by Dell, HP, etc would and I'm sure still does, would hire out people in local areas for warranty work. I just happened to know someone who worked for a local computer building company and they knew of a job listing and I applied. You could earn alot of money if you could do it full time, but they don't give you alot of time to do everything and I had alot of area to cover. I also worked a full time job as well.

Soraellion · June 2007

These days 1GB isn't that much really, but it'll do you well for gaming, however if you're the type who has 15 zillion programs running in the background, likes to switch from game to desktop/other program and/or have some bittorrent working while playing 1GB isn't a whole lot. If you'll be running Vista you'll need 2GB, it's a simple as that.

Also, you have to look ahead a bit; the next game you're going to buy will probably NEED 1GB, so when you want to play that one you'll NEED to upgrade, so for you it all depends on what's the easiest/cheapest to do; get 2GB now or upgrade to it later. In general memory gets cheaper over time but 2-3 month's isn't going to make a huge difference in price so you might as well take it right now. If you're buying a brand computer I'd urge you to upgrade right away, availability and prices on brand computer components for some reason need to be out of whack (it's one of the reasons I really can't understand why people buy a Dell, HP, Compaq or anything similar). If it's a home built PC then you'll be using generic components which makes upgrading much easier.

And lastly, apart from the obvious memory increase there's another performance gain if you use 2 strips of memory instead of just 1. So ideally getting 2x1GB is the best way to go, just make sure you have 2 more free losts to be able to upgrade later.

It all depends on the quality of your components, the type of videocard, how neatly windows is installed, how much useless rubbish you have installed and if you clean up windows at times. No quad core, 4GB ram, 8800GTX, raptor PC can save a windows that's ridden with viruses, spyware, all kind of 'neat' addons, windows blinds and other useless crap. The computer you described isn't at all a top of the range machine, you're best off to give it a 'saving grace' by having 2GB.

DruNk_DwArF2 · June 2007

I really WOULD NOT buy a computer built from one of the big companies,you will see your self getting ripped off left and right,if it really comes down to it and you cannot build it under any circumstances..then that is the only time you should buy a pre-built from dell,hp etc. they will charge you twice the cost of what you could build with that try using www.newegg.com cheap prices,can build you're self a 500 dollar PC that will surpass the $1,000 dells,hp etc.

DruNk_DwArF2 · June 2007

and uhh 2gigs for 80bucks if you're using DDR2 for your now comp http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231098

nubbins · June 2007

in 2008 the NEED for 2048mb ram will be a real concern.

until quake wars , UT 2007 etc come out however 1024mb will do adequately.

i personally plan on tossing in an additional 2x 512mb dual channel sticks once i get my hands on WAR.

montin · June 2007

8 gig go for 8 gig

But to answer your question with something that may resemble usefulness. I was running 2 gb in a machine specced about 2 years old. I found WoW (amongst others) ran fine and I was able to alt-tab out of the tab and have firefox also running without a problem. I recently built a new computer and was wondering myself if 2 gb was really needed. So the new pc, couple of months old fairly high spec apart from only having 1 gb of ram (cant be bothered to give exact details as it's not really needed). I found it still ran WoW totally fine without any noticeable degradation in the game. However the pc was using this ram to run the game and hence alt-tab to do something else really lagged the whole machine. Also it's worth remembering that its a faster processor, better graphic card etc. So I took 1 gb out of the old machine and it struggled a bit with WoW.

So basically if your getting a new dual core, decent graphic carded pc then 1 gb will work ok providing you dont want to multi task (god I hate that term). My advice is get 2 gb. If possible dual 1 gb sticks then assuming your have a decent motherboard you can upgrade it a bit later with another dual 1 gb's to run the machine at 4gb which really would be good.

quaiky · June 2007

for a new computer that you want to use for gaming i would definitely go for at least 2gb, ram is cheap now and if you don't have enough ram you will run into issues with stuttering whenever your game has to access data from harddisks. (or windows decideds that it has to swap some things in your virtual memory).

There is not much use in getting more than 2gb with a 32bit windows cause the os cannot really use more than 2-3gb. if you are runnning vista 64 bit then 4gb or more could be an investmemnt into the future, but i personally think for the next 1-2 years you should still be ok with 2gb, you should not need more than that until game companies are switching over fully to vista (and i guess most companies won't do that before most of their userbase has switched os).

Loben · June 2007

Both WoW and EQ2 run great with 1 gig of RAM. If you want to boost your performance, it's likely you'd get better results out of spending more on your video card. Ideally, you'd get a motherboard that's capable of holding more ram sticks. Then if you run into a game in the future that needs more, you can get it then. However, as others have said memory is cheap now.....and 2gigs is better than 1 if the price difference isn't a major factor (and may be vital if you plan to run Vista).

If you can avoid Vista (which in almost all benchmarks degrades your system performance), 1 gig is plenty.....for now. The majority of your game performance is video card though.

Devony · June 2007

Egads, why would you buy that processor when you can get the new Intel E2160's for so cheap.. which can be overclocked to E6700 speeds.

and, you'd be really silly not to get 2 gig of ram right now, since its pretty much the cheapest it has ever been in history.

Also, I wouldn't go with the 7600 card.. save up and go with a DX10 card at least, the 8800GTS 320mb's are so cheap right now it'd be a shame to waste your money on a 7600

Do some more research before you spew out your cash

Blabendishen · June 2007

One gig is the minimum for an mmo nowadays and it's never a good idea to go for the minimum spec if your investing on a computer that will last you for a long time. I'd say go for the 2 gigs and never look back. You won't be sorry.

Windows Vista only downgrades your performances by a small margin on most games(5%) and the video drivers are not fully optimised yet. I wouldn't try to avoid vista since the next gen of games will use DX10, wink wink Age of Conan.

Has for the rest, I would seriously consider a core 2 duo for cpu. They are going cheaper and cheaper and more software are using multiple cores in their logic. Games are also starting to use the dual cores and even some are already starting to require them. i.e. Supreme Commander.

Like mentioned, don't go for a 7600. It's really a bad time to buy a video card. NVIDIA and ATI are offering their new generation of cards with all their bugs and unoptimised drivers so its very hard to predict which one will come out at the top. (although nvidia has a strong lead) I'd expect in december they will release their revised edition of their cards with and increase in gpu clocking. Also we will finally be able to compare their performances on DX10 games, since now it's only DX9. Might be very interesting to play the waiting game abit more. I know I am.

Hope it helps.

pkim96 · June 2007

Originally posted by DruNk_DwArF2

I really WOULD NOT buy a computer built from one of the big companies,you will see your self getting ripped off left and right,if it really comes down to it and you cannot build it under any circumstances..then that is the only time you should buy a pre-built from dell,hp etc. they will charge you twice the cost of what you could build with that try using www.newegg.com cheap prices,can build you're self a 500 dollar PC that will surpass the $1,000 dells,hp etc.

Sorry, but that's total crap.

I built my last six computers myself, and I did a cost analyses each time. It's actually really hard to match prices with computers from Dell. If you even bothered to look at their component list, many are name brand.

Dell buys components at such a huge discount that there is absolutely no way for a normal customer to even come within the same ballpark.

Once you factor in the amount of time required for a typical person to build a computer, and the risk of screwing up, the Dell looks pretty good.

chilliking · June 2007

i would go for 4 gb of ram and a intel core 2duo ^^

DruNk_DwArF2 · June 2007

Originally posted by pkim96

Sorry, but that's total crap.

I built my last six computers myself, and I did a cost analyses each time. It's actually really hard to match prices with computers from Dell. If you even bothered to look at their component list, many are name brand.

Dell buys components at such a huge discount that there is absolutely no way for a normal customer to even come within the same ballpark.

Once you factor in the amount of time required for a typical person to build a computer, and the risk of screwing up, the Dell looks pretty good.

What i said is not total crap,i really don't know what website you build your computers on,dell computers come with crappy PSU's crappy motherboard and sometimes crappy ram,so i don't know how you come to the conclusion that its hard to match,cause i really have to LOL at that,if you buy a dell and upgrade it you will find yourself buying a new PSU immediately to support your new graphics card if you purchase one which you will find your self doing because it comes with budget trash..and the ram it comes with is most of the time is total trash along with the motherboard.so overall you will be buying a new videocard,PSU,and ram..So i think your the wrong one here.Think you need to look @ where you build your PC from

Obraik · June 2007

Don't go for less then 2gb. In big games like SWG, EQ2 and probably WoW, you'll notice a big difference in populated areas.

pkim96 · June 2007

Originally posted by DruNk_DwArF2

What i said is not total crap,i really don't know what website you build your computers on,dell computers come with crappy PSU's crappy motherboard and sometimes crappy ram,so i don't know how you come to the conclusion that its hard to match,cause i really have to LOL at that,if you buy a dell and upgrade it you will find yourself buying a new PSU immediately to support your new graphics card if you purchase one which you will find your self doing because it comes with budget trash..and the ram it comes with is most of the time is total trash along with the motherboard.so overall you will be buying a new videocard,PSU,and ram..So i think your the wrong one here.Think you need to look @ where you build your PC from

Ah, there is a core difference in upgrade philosophy here. I usually don't upgrade anything on my computer other than add more memory or storage space. If I get to the point where I need a new graphics card, that probably means the rest of the computer is obsolete too. So I'll build a new one.

Same thing from Dell. Other than memory or storage, like you said, it's not really upgrade friendly. Toss it or use it as a fileserver or something and buy a brand new one.

It doesn't matter if the PSU or MB or ram is crap. It runs fine at default speeds and I'll bet it's more stable than most customer built computers.

(I usually buy from zipzoomfly. I live in a state with a newegg distribution center (i.e. have to pay sales tax)).

DruNk_DwArF2 · June 2007

Originally posted by pkim96

Ah, there is a core difference in upgrade philosophy here. I usually don't upgrade anything on my computer other than add more memory or storage space. If I get to the point where I need a new graphics card, that probably means the rest of the computer is obsolete too. So I'll build a new one.

Same thing from Dell. Other than memory or storage, like you said, it's not really upgrade friendly. Toss it or use it as a fileserver or something and buy a brand new one.

It doesn't matter if the PSU or MB or ram is crap. It runs fine at default speeds and I'll bet it's more stable than most customer built computers.

(I usually buy from zipzoomfly. I live in a state with a newegg distribution center (i.e. have to pay sales tax)).

Well i don't think you are an enthusiast like i am then,i live in NY just like you and i use newegg.com the motherboard/ram is a huge factor for me,as i said it doesn't seem like you are an enthusiast as i am..i just don't think buying a dell etc. would be a good idea unless you really couldn't build it your self as a last resort.you will save money in the long run..cause when the time does to upgrade again you find yourself buying a new computer when if you built custom all you have to do is get a new video card or ram which ever is lacking.Not buy an entire new system.

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