How much boost will be provided by increasing the RAM?

1423 Views 15 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Demigod, Sep 26, 2001

Prafull

Discussion Starter · Sep 26, 2001

Ok I admit, my system is almost as good as crap but still it has been doing okay dokay job for me.

I am not ready for an immediate large upgrade but I want a few more fps in my games.So how much help will it be if I upgrade from 64 mb to 128mb or 196mb or even more(will it make a considerable difference?)

My computer specs are---celeron 500,intel 810 based chipset ,grafix and audio integrated,64 mb ram,windows me,seagate 10 gb harddisk

I am also thinking about increasing the processor speed(say to about celeron 800).Will it help a lot?I mean this will be worth an upgrade or should I wait a little longer(when I can afford more money).

Thanks in advance.

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Xeven

· #2 · Sep 26, 2001 (Edited)

Well depending on the OS, for the win9x, if i remember correctly upgrading from 64MB to 128MB will result in a theoretical increase of 8%, while around 10% for the NT based ones... (im not completely sure bout the numbers, i read it from somwhere). Anyway, having some spare RAM is always ok, but the type of the chip used also matters (i.e. CAS 2 vs CAS3), so you should consider that also.

The actual performance impact of upgrading RAM depends on what type of applications you are running. For example Office applications such as WORD, dont really need a lot of RAM. But simultaneously running Word,Excel,Powerpoint,Photoshop,Winamp,MSdev... etc while also say, compressing sumthing on the side, will definitely take their toll on the amount of RAM that you have and as well as the CPU type, mainly because of too much swapfile usage. There are things you could do to save memory, like limiting your disk cache (i.e. using a utility like cacheman), removing unnecessary startup programs, automatically unloading dll's from memory(i.e. cacheman?), stuff like that.

Finally, my suggestion is add 128MB/64MB to your system now(cost difference between the two is not much <$5), don't upgrade to celeron 800, it wont make much difference. Save you money, then upgrade at a later time, and get a cool rig.

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Xeven

· #3 · Sep 26, 2001

Ok so i've checked that article, (its a year old), seems i was a little bit off with the performance figures, but they're close enough i guess. Anyway you might want to check this article out, its old, but it outlines what you should be considering when looking for an upgrade as well as the impact of upgrading the components of your system.

It's Time For An Upgrade... But What's Best?

Prafull

Discussion Starter · #4 · Sep 26, 2001

Thanks Xeven,useful link.

I would most probably go for including 128 mb RAM more.I hope it gets me atleast 10 fps more.

Hey, how about disabling my onboard graphics card and putting in a brand new and powerful graphics card in the only slot thats vacant on my Intel 810 chipset?

Any comments on that?

404

· #5 · Sep 26, 2001 (Edited)

Most MoBo that I've ever experiment with (with Sound and GfxCard onboard) disabled the onboard features automatically when you plug a brand new Sound/Gfx Card.

But some MoBo have this disable feature thru their Bios.
I dunno about i810. I played with Sis and Via MoBo mostly

128+ (256...) MB Ram Works best with Win2000/NT 4

Even a system with 1GB Ram won't do any good if you place it with a Windows98. Windows 98 doesn't have the ability to utilize that many Ram.

Xeven

· #6 · Sep 26, 2001 (Edited)

Dont know if you'll get that 10 fps by upgrading the memory alone, it will ease or totally remove some of the choppiness associated with lack of RAM, but not always improve the fps count.

Is that a PCI or an AGP? For one thing most onboard GPU's dont perform very well, intel sucks at GPU's. So you'll have more chance of getting that extra 10 fps or more by getting a new card. If you're gonna run your games at 640x480 most of the time, the mx200 should suffice (is there a PCI version for this anybody?), plus its also cheap. With your current setup, your GPU is the bottleneck, putting on a better card, will lead you closer to realizing the potential peak of your current system. And finally since its a celeron, have you ever considered overclocking?

Prafull

Discussion Starter · #7 · Sep 26, 2001

Originally posted by 404
Even a system with 1GB Ram won't do any good if you place it with a Windows98. Windows 98 doesn't have the ability to utilize that many Ram.

Hey I have Windows Me. Does it helps?

Xeven

· #8 · Sep 26, 2001 (Edited)

Originally posted by prafull

Hey I have Windows Me. Does it helps?

Windows me has a lower theoretical bench performance rating vs 98SE, especially with games. I don't really know if it can be attributed to "old" 98 drivers though...

Prafull

Discussion Starter · #9 · Sep 26, 2001

Originally posted by Xeven
Is that a PCI or an AGP? If you're gonna run your games at 640x480 most of the time, the mx200 should suffice (is there a PCI version for this anybody?), plus its also cheap. And finally since its a celeron, have you ever considered overclocking?

I guess most probably its a PCI slot(I think there arent any good PCI cards living,may be that mx200 is).

I think the onboard graphics card is most probably an intel i740(it behaves like the one).

Overclocking?Now thats what I have been considering from a long time.Is it really useful enough to get my hands dirty and may be evn risking the processor?

G

· #10 · Sep 26, 2001

ooh...an intel i740

works good on the 2d part but it's 3d performance is kinda weak...

as for the extra ram...dunno if it gives that much fps increase but it DOES provide a lot faster loading times. And ram is cheap nowadays (sdram I assume?)

Prafull

Discussion Starter · #11 · Sep 26, 2001

Originally posted by Samor
And ram is cheap nowadays (sdram I assume?)

Ya SDRAM is cheapest ever here in India these days.Make it about 10$ for 64 mb and 14-15$ for 128 mb.

Xeven

· #12 · Sep 26, 2001

yeah here too, the one's with ECC and CAS2 one's cost a little bit more tho.. (<$5 difference).

Betamax

· #13 · Sep 26, 2001

Originally posted by 404

Even a system with 1GB Ram won't do any good if you place it with a Windows98. Windows 98 doesn't have the ability to utilize that many Ram.

Well If I recall correctly win 9x can access up to 2 gb of ram (as it's a 32bit os) whether or not having that much is useful well....

Betamax

· #14 · Sep 26, 2001

Originally posted by prafull

Ya SDRAM is cheapest ever here in India these days.Make it about 10$ for 64 mb and 14-15$ for 128 mb.

yep memory prices are daft at the mom. Over here 256mb costs £30 ($44) whereas a 128mb cost £35 ($51). Go figure.

Xeven

· #15 · Sep 26, 2001

must be the type of chips used as well as the CAS latency.. infineon chips usually cost more... also the one's with error catch ram...

Demigod

· #16 · Sep 26, 2001

Well, performance depends on what programs you run. I mean a program like Maya takes up over 100 MB of RAM just idling. For the most part 128 MB should be enough for anything, unless you run huge numbers of apps at once. Still, RAM's pretty cheap now so it would be wise to get some now and secure your comp for the future.

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