Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Important RAM Question
Maximous621
Member Posts: 56
in Hardware
Hey everyone, I'm not exactly a pro when it comes to computers. Would it be bad if i ran my computer with 2 256mb sticks, 1 512mb stick, and 1 1gig stick? My comp came stock with the 2 256's and i added the 512, now i'd like to add the 1gig so i'll have 2. Also, would i need a new power supply if i had those sticks running as 2gigs and a new graphics card ( GeForce 7900GS). I have a HP Desktop... about 3 years old. I dunno what my current power supply is. Well, thanks in advance.
Comments
Um... there really shouldn't be any problems if you have 4 slots. Make sure to arrange them largest to smallest. There could be some problems, because upgrading computers is always fun and obnoxious that way.
In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own.
-Thomas Jefferson
I assume you are on budget. I would buy a cheap core 2 duo to replace your pentium4 (you got p4 right). new ram and a video card. $300-400 max. as for power supply- 450 watt is good for low end.
Getting the same type of ram size is far better for your system then mixing and matching. I would recommend getting 2 1024 sticks and take out the other sticks. The 1024 sticks of DDR2 only cost about $24 now. DDR is even less expensive. Also if you are getting a 7900GS I assume you have a PCI-e x16 slot. Instead of the 7900, I would recommend an ATI HD3850. They perform around the same but the 3850 is made with more modern shader technology and consumes less energy.
If your computer is an HP, the real question to think about is if it came with its own video card. If it did then you should have enough juice in it. if not then they probably stuck a poor effeciency 250~350w power supply in. If you do get a power supply I recommend atleast a 450w supply that has good energy effeciency and either a 25amp 12v rail or multiple 12v rails above 10 amps.
Ok, i checked and my power supply is a 300 watt max output. I am gonna get 3 more 512 sticks for 25 bucks on new egg so i'll be running 4 for 2gigs of RAM. I'm still clueless on the graphics card though. I want a good one that is cheap, is there such a thing? I'm looking to run Tabula Rasa and Age of Conan on the high or at least damn close to high. So if anyone has suggestions for a g-card under $150 please let me know... I'd really only like to spend 100-125 if at all possible. Thanks again.
Well if you have pci-x type of video card,newegg.com has a nice ati 3850 card for 105 bucks,would be good bang for your buck.
would that be good enough for high settings? sorry for all the questions, i'm clueless when it comes to this stuff.
depends on resolution. 1024x768 - probably.
Your mother board probably doesn't support 4 Gigs...a 3 year old HP system I'd be surprised if it supported 4 gigs of ram, much less if you have XP home edition which I know would just ignore its existance for the most part. See it may have 4 slots but if it doesn't support 4 gigs & your OS doesn't support 4 gigs it just ignores the additional memory...If your going to a new video card 300 Watts is not enough infact most cards require a minimum 350. You should check the video card's requirements it should tell you what the minimum recommended power supply wattage is.
You'd probably save far more money looking into 2 1 gig bars and tossing all the additional ones away unless you can find out if your motherboard will acknowledge 4 gigs. There's nothing wrong with having a Pentium 4 as long as its atleast 2.6ghz or higher.
I doubt you'll be able to run age of conan even with the upgrades on high. Medium perhaps at most. There's a couple of programs out there that'll benchmark your pc and let you know what you should do for upgrades. You should try and do that to see what you actually need to upgrade.
You might want to find out the specs of your computer so you know exactly what kind of memory, pci slots, etc etc. It helps to know exactly what you have and what your motherboard can support otherwise you end up blowing money for parts that aren't compatible.
Please Refer to Doom Cat with all conspiracies & evil corporation complaints. He'll give you the simple explination of..WE"RE ALL DOOMED!
The 3850 should be good enough, and in your price range, but get the 512mb version, not the 256mb.
D.
The 512 MB version uses GDDR2 instead of GDDR3. It will have a slower clock. I think AMD learned some lessons between the performance difference of an 8800 and a 2900. The AMD had the much much higher memory, but the slower clock speed. This was evident in most benchmarks. Most of the games coming out now will run at max while only using 256MB. However, 512MB is usually the safer amount to get.
thanks for all the help everyone. much appreciated!!!
You can overclock the bejesus out of the 512mb version and get near 3870 performance though :c)
D.
Most motherboards need ram that is exactly the same type!! Check in your motherboard manual (if you don't have it you can usually download the pdf of it online).
Will
Playing: Xsyon.
Played:
Tried: Ultima Online, Everquest 2, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, Flyff, Perfect World, Silkroad Online, EVE Online, Ryzom.