Computer RAM

[Gselwizzle]

1024mb or 2048mb? is there a significant performance difference between these! if so what? should i pay extra for the extra RAM? or is 1024mb fine for the next couple of years, with regards to gaming!?

 

[Little Raven]

Civ IV runs fine for me with 1 gig. (1024mb) But I'm ordering another gig anyway. I hear it runs really nice with 2.

Seriously, it sounds like you're in the process of a fairly major upgrade. If I were in your shoes, I'd spring for 2 gigs. It'll probably cost only about 60-100 dollars more, and while 1 gig will handle most of today's games just fine, 2 gigs should give you plenty of room for growth over the next few years.

 

[CitizenCain]

1024mb or 2048mb? is there a significant performance difference between these! if so what? should i pay extra for the extra RAM? or is 1024mb fine for the next couple of years, with regards to gaming!?

Depends on your other computer specs... and the games you plan to play. However, in general, 1024 MB will be enough to last you for the next couple of years. However, I wouldn't expect it to be enough to pump out massive framerates on DOOM 5 (or whatever other ridiculous FPS we'll see in 2007)... I do expect that 1024 MB or RAM will be enough to run it, though.

 

[Gselwizzle]

Thanx, how easy would it be to upgrade in the future?

 

[Little Raven]

Thanx, how easy would it be to upgrade in the future?

That depends on what kind of motherboard and RAM you're getting. In an ideal situation, you'd simply do what I'm doing now: buy a couple more sticks of RAM and insert them into open slots on the motherboard. Pretty darn easy. But if you don't have any open slots, then you have to replace your old sticks with higher-capacity ones. Not really harder, but definately more expensive.

Are you buying a new computer, or upgrading an old one?

 

[archer75]

1gb is plenty for Civ 4.

 

[Gselwizzle]

My current computer is 512 ram, 2.7ghz intel celeron, 64mb Geforce FX5200 (this is the family machine). But ive jus orded myself a 3.0Ghz intel pentium 4, 1024mb ram, Geforce 6800. so a new 1

It wud be cool, to eventaully upgrade dis to a 2gb. But cant afford the extra £105 at the Mo....

 

[Little Raven]

You'll be able to upgrade it regardless. The worst case scenario is that you have to buy all new memory instead of simply adding to what you have.

I'm surprised a gig costs 105 pounds, though. Dang. I just bought a gig of memory for $80!

 

[Zukatah]

Runs fine for me at 1024 mb when I'm not playing on a huge map with more than 15 civs.... then it's a crash to desktop when I get in the 1900s (uses all the RAM, then 1.5gb of pagefile and crashes.... even though I have 4gb of pagefile available).

Otherwise it's plenty and that crash to desktop problem should be fixed in the upcoming patch. Honestly, it's not worth it right now and I expect prices to fall further (demand is always lower around March/April) so I'd wait before upgrading unless you absolutely need it...

 

[ceiph]

2 gigs will last forever, a few years ago you had to have 256, than 512, its only recently become 1024 is a new benchmark thatll last a few years, but 2 gigs will make u set for a long time

 

[zeeter]

I don't think that RAM is necessarily an issue. I was fine playing with 768 Megs. Well, relatively fine. It seemed to crash to the desktop every so often. I upgraded to 1 GB and it crashes just as much as before!

 

[ainwood]

Moderator Action: Moved to Computer Talk .

 

[VimesUK]

The only game that I am aware of that has some benefit from 2GB of memory is Battlefields 2. Every other game that I have played or read about has no benefit from going beyond 1GB.
IMO by the time that 2GB will be required I would suggest that the rest of the spec of the PC that you have installed it on will be 'outdated' in one form or another. It might be that when 2GB becomes the 'norm' it could be DDR2 or even a later memory type that could mean the 2GB of memory that you buy today will not work in a motherboard that supports the up and coming AMD M2 CPU, which requires DDR2 type, for example.
I would be as concerned about investing into too much memory as I would in going for an expensive AGP graphics card.

 

[CruddyLeper]

You'll be able to upgrade it regardless. The worst case scenario is that you have to buy all new memory instead of simply adding to what you have.

That isn't ALWAYS true - some older motherboards just won't take 2Gb of RAM. One example is the Asus A7V333.

I'm surprised a gig costs 105 pounds, though. Dang. I just bought a gig of memory for $80!

I don't think any makes memory chips for public sale within 1,000 miles of the UK. I understand there's a couple of smaller manufacturers in Sweden and Finland, everything else gets imported into Europe. UK is the land of the fee and home of the rave.

One game that DOES like 2Gb is FEAR.