RAM Upgrade

Lago

I've been considering upgrading my PC's memory for a few days now. I usually play games like Crusader Kings II and Mount & Blade: Warband and they've been getting pretty slow lately. The RAM seems to be the only thing holding them back (I've got 2x2GB and my GPU takes up 1.8GB already).

I'm fairly sure I have everything covered I just wanted to get some backup before I committed to €130 worth of RAM.

This is my Motherboard: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3375#ov

This is the RAM I was looking at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0033BTACM/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computers

And this is my current RAM: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMX4GX3M2B1600C9-Performance-Desktop-Memory/dp/B004K2SD4E

I was just wanted to confirm that everything was compatible and that the 4x4GB was worth while and I wouldn't just be wasting too much RAM when I could upgrade with more of what I have.

Cheers in advance!

Sparks43

http://geizhals.de/eu/corsair-vengeance-schwarz-dimm-kit-16gb-cmz16gx3m4a1600c9-a590596.html

Is one i would pick

http://geizhals.de/eu/?cat=ramddr3&xf=4282_1600~254_1600~1454_16384~1454_4096~256_4x#xf_top

Other options here

Lago

Yeah I was looking at that first one but decided against it because a few people said in the reviews that it was hard to fit them in because of their size and the fact they're right beside the CPU cooler.

TerrorFirmer

Those are not resource heavy games and 4GB of ram would be OK for them. In fact there are very few games require more than 4GB ram, even the latest and greatest hardware intensive games mostly get by. Can't stress enough that lack of ram is not what is wrong in this instance.

Getting 16GB of ram is not the answer at all to your problem.

What CPU and GPU do you have?

How is your card taking up 1.8Gb of usable memory? I assume you're using a 64-bit OS given that you were about to buy 16Gb ram!

Lago

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Those are not resource heavy games and 4GB of ram would be OK for them. In fact there are very few games require more than 4GB ram, even the latest and greatest hardware intensive games mostly get by. Can't stress enough that lack of ram is not what is wrong in this instance.

Getting 16GB of ram is not the answer at all to your problem.

What CPU and GPU do you have?

How is your card taking up 1.8Gb of usable memory? I assume you're using a 64-bit OS given that you were about to buy 16Gb ram!

This came after asking around the Crusader Kings II forum and getting advice from the technical moderator who asked for and reviewed my specs, temperatures and drivers and was sure that the main problem was RAM in this instance (although he advised 8GB or even 6GB, I'm just being extravagant and wondering if that's a waste). However, external links aren't allowed on that forum so I said this was the best place to come for advice.

I can play the games, there is no problem there but they tend to run slow so I'm looking to solve that.

My GPU is an Radeon HD 6800 Series and my CPU is a AMD Phenom II x955 and yes, I'm running the 64-bit version of Windows 7.

Again, I'm not trying to reach the minimum requirements so I can play the games. I can already play them, I'm just looking for far better performance.

Lu Tze

If you are on 1080p monitor its your graphics card that is likely to be limiting you (HD6850 is probably the minimum in modern games at 1080p resolution)

Lago

Not sure what my monitor is but I'm almost certain it's not 1080p

Edit: This is it: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00603940&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&product=1822299

TerrorFirmer

I don't play Crusader Kings II but I know a lot of those guys game are buggy.

A quick google shows tons of other people having performance issues on decent computers as well as well as a variety of fixes and ideas.

Going to 8GB ram is fine in general anyway, doesn't hurt for the future, but 16GB is a total waste.

Lago

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

I don't play Crusader Kings II but I know a lot of those guys game are buggy.

A quick google shows tons of other people having performance issues on decent computers as well as well as a variety of fixes and ideas.

Going to 8GB ram is fine in general anyway, doesn't hurt for the future, but 16GB is a total waste.

I don't think it's that bad really. The performance speed has dropped a bit with one of the recent patches but it's because so much was added (that's actually what happened to me) but it's general runs well for most people. The save games tend to get very big though because of all the records that need to be saved and for modding purposes.

Ok thanks a million man! I just wasn't sure and didn't want to go off and buy a whole new set of RAM and waste €100 when there wasn't a big enough benefit of 16GB over 8GB. As you can probably tell, I don't fully understand the benefits and effects of RAM.

TerrorFirmer

If you don't already have an SSD you could look at getting a small one for your OS and certain games like that, should help as well with the huge save files and loading.

Lago

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

If you don't already have an SSD you could look at getting a small one for your OS and certain games like that, should help as well with the huge save files and loading.

Yeah, I though the same but it seems that SSD only effect the loading up time of the game whereas I'm looking for in-game performance which I was told is mainly effected by the GPU followed by the RAM.

Although a small SSD for the OS and just some games is a fairly good idea so I might have a serious consideration on that as well. Any suggestions? I was looking at the Samsung Evo 840 before, any thoughts on that?

Sparks43

http://www.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=101090&agid=1145&pvid=4ogzx3sgm_hs4jwqo0&ref=13

120gb ssd for less then 60 euro

Lago

Sparks43 wrote: »

http://www.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=101090&agid=1145&pvid=4ogzx3sgm_hs4jwqo0&ref=13

120gb ssd for less then 60 euro

Interesting, I'm assuming I'd have to buy a tray to place it in though and a new sata cable. Also, I'm wondering would it be worth paying a little extra to get better performance. I see the Samsung Evo 840 is only about €15 extra.