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Computer RAM Question

Blogs > soybomb
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soybomb
Profile Blog Joined April 2006
92 Posts
March 01 2009 04:30 GMT
#1
I currently have an AMD 2000+ processor with 512MB RAM and an ATI 9600XT video card. My question: Is it more worth it to double my RAM, or to get a new video card?
I don't really want to deal with upgrading/changing my processor so I figured either more RAM or a better video card would be the right choice. Or maybe both, I just don't want my processor to be bottlenecking my computer.

Divinek
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
Canada4045 Posts
March 01 2009 04:42 GMT
#2
Depends what you want to do. But with ram like that it'd be very worth it to double it.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
Oh goodness me, FOX tv where do you get your sight? Can't you keep track, the puck is black. That's why the ice is white.
Cpt.Cocaine
Profile Joined June 2008
Canada299 Posts
March 01 2009 04:42 GMT
#3
I'd go with the ram, because it's easier to tranfer to a new board when you want to upgrade again. Either way I don't think changing just one part will give you any significant boost in performance with specs this ancient. If I were you I'd save for an overall upgrade.
Osmoses
Profile Blog Joined October 2008
Sweden5302 Posts
March 01 2009 04:42 GMT
#4
Seeing as how RAM is dirt cheap compared to a new video card I'd go for that first, and 512 is really low for today's standards. The processor is fine I think.
Excuse me hun, but what is your name? Vivian? I woke up next to you naked and, uh, did we, um?
Carnivorous Sheep
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
Baa?21242 Posts
March 01 2009 04:42 GMT
#5
This might help you:

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=33498
TranslatorBaa!
jimminy_kriket
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
Canada5501 Posts
March 01 2009 04:45 GMT
#6
Yeah depends on what you want to do really, any newish video card will almost certainly be bottlenecked by your processor but ram would still probably increase the general speed of the comp a decent amount.
life of lively to live to life of full life thx to shield battery
LxRogue
Profile Blog Joined March 2007
United States1415 Posts
March 01 2009 04:51 GMT
#7
I would go with more ram. You could probably swap out your 512 and get a couple 1 GB chips fairly cheaply. I did that recently to my laptop for like $40.
Racenilatr
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
United States2756 Posts
March 01 2009 05:03 GMT
#8
double ram....definitly
Mastermind
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Canada7096 Posts
March 01 2009 05:36 GMT
#9
512 ram is kinda lol. doubling it might not be enough.
Ziph
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Netherlands970 Posts
March 01 2009 06:09 GMT
#10
ugh just get 2gig for 29$ ;_; ram is cheap as shit at the moment.
Starcraft 2 - Beta
blabber
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States4448 Posts
March 01 2009 06:28 GMT
#11
DDR RAM is pretty expensive though
blabberrrrr
Ziph
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Netherlands970 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-03-01 06:41:34
March 01 2009 06:40 GMT
#12
On March 01 2009 15:28 blabber wrote:
DDR RAM is pretty expensive though

It is.?
Starcraft 2 - Beta
IzzyCraft
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States4487 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-03-01 06:50:45
March 01 2009 06:44 GMT
#13
On March 01 2009 15:40 Ziph wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 01 2009 15:28 blabber wrote:
DDR RAM is pretty expensive though

It is.?

It's rare haha because it's not used anymore it's price stays high for higher density models 1gig or higher. It's not a horrible price but expect 50-80 bucks depends on the ram etc (im talking about 1 gig+ the only worth while upgrade). imo buy 2gigs and just toss the old stick. You wont find the dirt cheap 2 gig ram for 20 bucks because no innovations are put to DDR but it's not so bad.
I have ass for brains so,
even when I shit I'm droping knowledge.
fight_or_flight
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States3988 Posts
March 01 2009 06:49 GMT
#14
Yea you probably want all your ram to be uniform. Find which speed you mobo can support.
Do you really want chat rooms?
soybomb
Profile Blog Joined April 2006
92 Posts
March 01 2009 13:23 GMT
#15
More RAM it is. Thanks for the quick replies!
KingofHearts
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Japan562 Posts
March 01 2009 14:02 GMT
#16
just go download more ram.
moshi moshi~
Scorch
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Austria3371 Posts
March 01 2009 17:28 GMT
#17
You probably don't have a PCIe slot in that ancient computer, so you shouldn't buy a new graphics card that you can't transfer to another computer. RAM should be very cheap and will probably give you the greatest boost at a low price.
Honestly though, what do you think you can do with a minor upgrade that you can't do now? Your PC is far too slow to play any modern games either way, and it's fast enough for simple office work already. You will have to invest in a new computer to get any enjoyment out of it.
gusbear
Profile Blog Joined September 2004
333 Posts
March 01 2009 18:31 GMT
#18
On March 01 2009 15:44 IzzyCraft wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 01 2009 15:40 Ziph wrote:
On March 01 2009 15:28 blabber wrote:
DDR RAM is pretty expensive though

It is.?

It's rare haha because it's not used anymore it's price stays high for higher density models 1gig or higher. It's not a horrible price but expect 50-80 bucks depends on the ram etc (im talking about 1 gig+ the only worth while upgrade). imo buy 2gigs and just toss the old stick. You wont find the dirt cheap 2 gig ram for 20 bucks because no innovations are put to DDR but it's not so bad.


ddr2 is dirt cheap. 184pin ddr which is what he needs is comparatively expensive.
soybomb
Profile Blog Joined April 2006
92 Posts
March 01 2009 21:35 GMT
#19
On March 02 2009 02:28 Scorch wrote:
You probably don't have a PCIe slot in that ancient computer, so you shouldn't buy a new graphics card that you can't transfer to another computer. RAM should be very cheap and will probably give you the greatest boost at a low price.
Honestly though, what do you think you can do with a minor upgrade that you can't do now? Your PC is far too slow to play any modern games either way, and it's fast enough for simple office work already. You will have to invest in a new computer to get any enjoyment out of it.

Very good points and you're right, I should just invest in a new computer. However, I'm unemployed currently so I'm just going to double my RAM for around $35 and wait to buy a new system when I am back on my feet.
Racenilatr
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
United States2756 Posts
March 01 2009 22:11 GMT
#20
ya 512 ram is just way too little to do anything effectively
soybomb
Profile Blog Joined April 2006
92 Posts
March 02 2009 00:02 GMT
#21
New question:
If I have 2 sticks of 256MB RAM, can I just add a stick of 512MB RAM? Or must the RAM all be the same amount?
Raithed
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
China7078 Posts
March 02 2009 00:06 GMT
#22
get more ram. 512mb sucks like shit nowadays. honestly. i feel 2gb to be slow as fuck anyway.
Raithed
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
China7078 Posts
March 02 2009 00:08 GMT
#23
On March 02 2009 09:02 soybomb wrote:
New question:
If I have 2 sticks of 256MB RAM, can I just add a stick of 512MB RAM? Or must the RAM all be the same amount?

this depends, how many slots do you have?
some mobos have 2 slots allowing: 2 512, 2 256, 2 1gb, 2 2gb etc. it depends on the max ram of your computer.
soybomb
Profile Blog Joined April 2006
92 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-03-02 00:21:10
March 02 2009 00:16 GMT
#24
On March 02 2009 09:08 Raithed wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 02 2009 09:02 soybomb wrote:
New question:
If I have 2 sticks of 256MB RAM, can I just add a stick of 512MB RAM? Or must the RAM all be the same amount?

this depends, how many slots do you have?
some mobos have 2 slots allowing: 2 512, 2 256, 2 1gb, 2 2gb etc. it depends on the max ram of your computer.

My motherboard manual states:
-Supports up to three DDR333 double-sided memory modules with a total capacity of 3GB
-Supports up to two DDR400 double-sided memory modules with a total capacity of 2GB

Edit: OK, so I read more in the manual and it states to equally distribute RAM across the 3 slots. So if I already have 2 sticks of 256, then I can add a 512 to the third slot. It just says the 512 stick should be 16-chip, while the 256's are 8-chip. Hm, I'll have to check that out.
feathers
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States236 Posts
March 02 2009 01:42 GMT
#25
ram has nothing to do with your computers actually speed.
soybomb
Profile Blog Joined April 2006
92 Posts
March 02 2009 18:06 GMT
#26
On March 02 2009 10:42 feathers wrote:
ram has nothing to do with your computers actually speed.

Uh...what?
gusbear
Profile Blog Joined September 2004
333 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-03-02 18:48:48
March 02 2009 18:47 GMT
#27
what is the purpose of upgrading? you know you still won't be able to play any of the newer games until u upgrade your whole system right?

getting more ram will allow you to have more stuff open. typically when you run out of physical ram it will start paging to disk and your pc will bog down. go to the task manager (cntrl-alt-del) and check the performance tab --> Physical Memory available should be more than 50,000 or so when you are at max usage.

512mb is pretty much the minimum to run XP on so I'd expect that you are actually running out of ram, as you suspected.

if your pc was fine before but you are finding it bogging down recently, its probably cos you have lots of useless stuff running that you collected over time. So check the processes tab, and look at mem usage, you probably have lots of junk running that you don't need so close them.

For more details try http://pcwizkid.blogspot.com/2008/07/windows-task-manager.html
i googled that in 2 secs but theres probably better guides out there to help you understand what ram is for and if you need more
soybomb
Profile Blog Joined April 2006
92 Posts
March 02 2009 20:08 GMT
#28
+ Show Spoiler +
On March 03 2009 03:47 gusbear wrote:
what is the purpose of upgrading? you know you still won't be able to play any of the newer games until u upgrade your whole system right?

getting more ram will allow you to have more stuff open. typically when you run out of physical ram it will start paging to disk and your pc will bog down. go to the task manager (cntrl-alt-del) and check the performance tab --> Physical Memory available should be more than 50,000 or so when you are at max usage.

512mb is pretty much the minimum to run XP on so I'd expect that you are actually running out of ram, as you suspected.

if your pc was fine before but you are finding it bogging down recently, its probably cos you have lots of useless stuff running that you collected over time. So check the processes tab, and look at mem usage, you probably have lots of junk running that you don't need so close them.

For more details try http://pcwizkid.blogspot.com/2008/07/windows-task-manager.html
i googled that in 2 secs but theres probably better guides out there to help you understand what ram is for and if you need more

My purpose with getting more RAM isn't to play newer games, it's so I have less lag while playing the games I play currently and to lessen lag in photoshop. I already run msconfig and disable everything.
Divinek
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
Canada4045 Posts
March 02 2009 23:03 GMT
#29
On March 02 2009 10:42 feathers wrote:
ram has nothing to do with your computers actually speed.


If you even know what ram stands for I'm sure you wouldn't be saying that.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
Oh goodness me, FOX tv where do you get your sight? Can't you keep track, the puck is black. That's why the ice is white.
gusbear
Profile Blog Joined September 2004
333 Posts
March 02 2009 23:22 GMT
#30
oh in that case, yea go ahead and get more ram. if you intend to use this setup for some time, maybe get 2 sticks of 1 gig each instead.

ur mobo only supports ddr333 when u have 3 sticks so that means if you buy ddr400 memory (the most common), it will be forced to run underclocked. This is fine if your current memory is ddr333, however if it is currently ddr400 and you make it ddr333 when you add another stick of ram, you will need to go in bios and change your ratios so that you don't force the cpu to run slower.

I would recommend 2 sticks of 1 gig instead, its about $50 from newegg. Also, if your mobo supports dual channel, might as well take advantage of it.

Theres tons of people getting rid of their old PCs too so you could prolly get used DDR ram for cheap.

Also maybe your hard drive is slowing you down, they are really cheap now and much faster, and you can never have enough space.
feathers
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States236 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-03-03 03:04:06
March 03 2009 03:01 GMT
#31
On March 03 2009 08:03 Divinek wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 02 2009 10:42 feathers wrote:
ram has nothing to do with your computers actually speed.


If you even know what ram stands for I'm sure you wouldn't be saying that.


random access memory,

and long as you have enough ram so your cpu won't be taking data from your Page file. you won't seen any real performance increase. most computer users don't need any more then 2gs of ram. you will not see any performance increase in games if you just upgrade your memory.
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