Is more RAM is worth it?

ezdmanx

Just lookin for some advice on wether more RAM is worth it?.

I have a 5 year old Dell

Dimension 8200
Pentium 4 1.8ghz
640mb RAM
GEforce 6600GT Graphics card (recent upgrade).

I can run Games like say Doom, and AOE3 on medium settings fine, but it gets choppy if there are a good few units or enemys on screen at once.
Just wondering if more ram would improve the situation much to be worth it?, or is it my graphics card or processor thats holding me back?
The Ram is that awful Rambus stuff so its expensive. It would cost me say €100 for secondhand 512mb (2x256), and €250 for 1gb(2x512) new. Id have to discard 2 64mb modules to fit the new ones too.

Thing is I had a Geforce 2 GTS Pro that somehow actually managed to run Doom 3 on low settings with a bit of choppyness, so after I upgraded the graphics card I assumed id be sorted.

projectmayhem

for new games generally the rule of thumb is to have over 1gig of RAM. i had an awful time with battlefield2 and upgraded with an extra gig and it was plain sailing from there-on-in

TerrorFirmer

Unfortunately the processor is going to hold you back no matter how much ram you throw in it. The ram is not ideal but is not too bad either and matches 1.8ghz pretty well to be honest - any game that works optimally on a 1.8ghz should be generally fine with 640mb ram. The Gfx is also decent. It's just most games now recommend 2.5ghz or so for gaming, or in some very recent cases, even more. 1.8 is a bit behind.....you could try upgrading the cpu though.

That said, those specs should run Doom 3 and AOEIII fine - provided you know your systems limits and leave the settings at medium where they will provide smooth gameplay. Unfortunately in this case you are definately going to have to sacrifice looks over gameplay when attempting to play anything recent

uberpixie

ezdmanx wrote:

Just lookin for some advice on wether more RAM is worth it?.

I have a 5 year old Dell

Dimension 8200
Pentium 4 1.8ghz
640mb RAM
GEforce 6600GT Graphics card (recent upgrade).

I can run Games like say Doom, and AOE3 on medium settings fine, but it gets choppy if there are a good few units or enemys on screen at once.
Just wondering if more ram would improve the situation much to be worth it?, or is it my graphics card or processor thats holding me back?
The Ram is that awful Rambus stuff so its expensive. It would cost me say €100 for secondhand 512mb (2x256), and €250 for 1gb(2x512) new. Id have to discard 2 64mb modules to fit the new ones too.

Thing is I had a Geforce 2 GTS Pro that somehow actually managed to run Doom 3 on low settings with a bit of choppyness, so after I upgraded the graphics card I assumed id be sorted.

You might be better off putting that money towards a new pc.

Then again if an extra 512mb is only 100 euro it might tie you over for a little while.

A gig of ram will make a difference in games, but what really will let you down on your system is your cpu.

Thats the real bottle neck.

Even after you put the new ram in you still wont be playing games much higher than low to medium settings @ 1074x768.

Games will be smoother though.

It's time really to start saving for a new pc though.

Your rig after you put the ram in, will be upgraded as much as it can be.

You are socket 423 most likely: the highest socket 423 was a 2ghz.

Putting in a better gfx card than you already have will be a waste: it will be bottle necked by the cpu.

steveland?

If you're willing to go spending €250 on a gig of RAM I'd recommend just saving a little bit more (won't even take that much more) and sitting on FS Comp Hardware all week pressing refresh every ten minutes and building up a newer base unit... Keep your GFX and monitor.

I built my PC for €305 last year with stuff from boards and that included an Athlon XP 2800+, 1GB RAM, DVD+-RW etc... I bought a GeForce FX5200 because I don't play games so didn't need a hefty GFX so for around €250 I'd say you'd be able to scavange a good little rig sans GFX and monitor

chipper

maplins sale at the moment, athlon 64 3200, motherboard and geforce 6100 going for €329 also 1 gig pc2700 ddr ram at €131.99 your graphics card is fine though so you should get a sempron and mb for around €200

leche solara

I recently bought an extra Gig of RAM for my Dell Dimension 4600 to bring it up to 1.5GB. I've processor speed of 2.92GHz.
To be honest I cant really see any difference with the trebled RAM.

jpfahy

I agree, CPU is holding you back. Those early P4s were slower than later P3s

SouperComputer

jpfahy wrote:

I agree, CPU is holding you back. Those early P4s were slower than later P3s

Emm, yea the ones on RAMBUS with socket 423 setup.

Im pretty sure a good northwood 1.8 is faster than a 1.4 tutalin, with a lower voltage too!

@ OP: Your CPU is holding you back. You could try and get a decent mobo and overclock. I have a 1.8 @ 2.6 stable on air with 1.5V. Do you know what stepping you have?

ezdmanx

Recon it would be way to much hassel to change the mobo on it. I hear with Dell cases it can be very hard to replace the motherboard, if possible at all.

I'll prob hold out for another few months and get a new computer altogether. Regret having bought the New graphics card tho as its AGP, and prob no use to me after.

Anywayheers for the advice.