How much is too much RAM?


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I have now DDR 512 MB in one stick. My mobo accepts one gig, and I am thinking about getting another 512 stick. The question: Is this going to do a REAL difference or is a waste of money? I deal hard with Photoshop and with games.

What's the big advantage of having one gig of RAM?

Thanks a lot for your help.

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get it. there is no such thing as too much ram. ram allows the programs to be run in it, which makes it faster than accessing off the hard drive. if you use ps and play games, it will help.

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If you work with Photoshop, GET IT!.

I once tried to scan something (only 256 MB :() and the result file had 500 MB or so...Well my keyboard didn't like the idea...:devious:

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Photoshop is a resource monster m8... definetly get it... And if u find it slow after that... or crave more performance think about getting a dual Athlon MP setup... the watch the fireworks fly! (sos thats Macromedia!lol)

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Originally posted by dan

Photoshop is a resource monster m8... definetly get it... And if u find it slow after that... or crave more performance think about getting a dual Athlon MP setup... the watch the fireworks fly! (sos thats Macromedia!lol)

It depends on teh size and scope of the images in Photoshop. If you're only making little things like skins or something. You won't really need a gig. But if you're using massive, high res, high dpi images; maybe for print, then a gig would be good.

It won't make a difference with games.

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Originally posted by BroChaos

get it. there is no such thing as too much ram. ram allows the programs to be run in it, which makes it faster than accessing off the hard drive. if you use ps and play games, it will help.

Just because I'm feeling like a smartass this morning there IS such a thing as too much RAM. Try putting in over 4 gigs of RAM on a standard motherboard today and see what happens.

4 gigs is pretty much the limit due to addressing restraints.

But honestly you'll see diminishing returns past 512 on a 2000/XP system. It becomes more of a cost/benefit analysis at that point (unless you're running a heavy duty server which of course the more the merrier).

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I have 256MB DDR ram that came with my system, and i am mainly a gamer, but whenever i run large programs i notice that almost all my ram is always used up.. i was also thinking about getting a 512 strip,. my question is this: on pricewatch i can get a "house brand" 512 stick for like $76 but if i want a name brand with all their guaranteess, and standards it is way more expensive... is it really worth it to get the "name" brand over the "generic"... what do you think?

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Originally posted by mick0142

I have 256MB DDR ram that came with my system, and i am mainly a gamer, but whenever i run large programs i notice that almost all my ram is always used up.. i was also thinking about getting a 512 strip,. my question is this: on pricewatch i can get a "house brand" 512 stick for like $76 but if i want a name brand with all their guaranteess, and standards it is way more expensive... is it really worth it to get the "name" brand over the "generic"... what do you think?

Your odds for problems multiply quickly with 'generic' RAM. It's like the old saying goes, "You get what you pay for." I've been a Mushkin follower for as long as I've been building systems. It doesn't get any better than what they have. Crucial and Corsair are close seconds. Don't skimp when it comes to RAM.

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Originally posted by pinky

Just because I'm feeling like a smartass this morning there IS such a thing as too much RAM. Try putting in over 4 gigs of RAM on a standard motherboard today and see what happens.

4 gigs is pretty much the limit due to addressing restraints.

But honestly you'll see diminishing returns past 512 on a 2000/XP system. It becomes more of a cost/benefit analysis at that point (unless you're running a heavy duty server which of course the more the merrier).

heh, i wasn't really talking about that, but yeah, technically you are correct :p

yeah, get good ram. it will save you lots of trouble (and downtime on your system) in the long run.

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It won't make much difference, wait until RAM gets cheaper - it was cheap midway through last year, but its relatively expensive now. :ermm:

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i regularly use 900+ megs (don't ask, edonkey has some major issues with ram)

i dunno what version of ps you guys are running but mines pertty lite on ram.

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Hey Montane, what are your system specs?

Hey Dazzla, thats a total lie "It won't make a difference with games." I went from 256mb Crucial PC2100 to a 1gb PC2100 and it games my games run smoother.

If you are playing a game that is based on the Quake 3 engine, you can go into the console and tell it to use more memory. By default, it uses like 54mb :s. But when I use the "com_hunkmegs" command in the console, I tell it to use 600mb of my 1gb. Trust me, your games will be more stable and run smoother.

Check Mushkin on Monday nights, because they have a special with some really good deals. You can also check the big computer shows. When I upgraded and bought my 2 Crucial 512mb PC2100 chips, I got them for $113 a piece. The EXACT same chips on Crucial.com were $170 a piece.

Mushkin has a 512mb PC2100 chip for $88 btw.

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jago6498:

My specs:

Board: ECS K7S5A

Proc : AMD Atlon XP 2000+ (1.67 GHz)

RAM : Samsung 1 stick 512 MB PC2100 DDR

OS : Windows XP Pro

Grap : ABIT Siluro GeForce 3 Ti 200

---------------------------------------------------------

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I say it depends a lot on your OS... When I had win98, I tried to go over 256 and foud that my computer was actually slower... Now with XP, I'm at 512 ant it runs fine....

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Originally posted by jago6498

Hey Montane, what are your system specs?

Hey Dazzla, thats a total lie "It won't make a difference with games." I went from 256mb Crucial PC2100 to a 1gb PC2100 and it games my games run smoother.

If you are playing a game that is based on the Quake 3 engine, you can go into the console and tell it to use more memory. By default, it uses like 54mb :s. But when I use the "com_hunkmegs" command in the console, I tell it to use 600mb of my 1gb. Trust me, your games will be more stable and run smoother.

Check Mushkin on Monday nights, because they have a special with some really good deals. You can also check the big computer shows. When I upgraded and bought my 2 Crucial 512mb PC2100 chips, I got them for $113 a piece. The EXACT same chips on Crucial.com were $170 a piece.

Mushkin has a 512mb PC2100 chip for $88 btw.

256 upped to 512 = noticable difference.

512 upped to 1 gig = won't notice much difference.

Everyone and anyone who's covered this topic in every comp. magazine, webpage and newsgroup virtually unanimously agrees that you will get diminishing returns once you go above 512 megs.

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Originally posted by chrisnelis

640k should be more than enough for anyone

omg lol.. i was hoping someone would say that!

i have a gig of ram in every one of my comptuers.. yes even my sisters.. after 512mb u won't notice THAT MUCH in games but for servers and everynow and then stuff.. u'll feel it.

when i got from 256mb .my gateway.. to 1 gig .. anything else i feel the power lol :p

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theres no such thing as too much ram so get as much as u want ;), i was planning on getting 512 megs of ram with my new puter when i get it, and thinking of a gig, but ppl are like "just get 2-256 meg stix of ram cuz that will do fine" but u kno lol

i've seen boards that hold up to 4 gigs so anythings possible ;)

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i'd say that 768 is the sweet spot for 2k/xp

thats what i've been running the last year or two and i've never come into a situation where i've needed more ram, although i do now have a gig of ram (upgraded my friends pc to ddr) i havent noticed a single bit of difference

btw, i find that the page file works best if its on a seperate drive from the os (even if its a slower drive it seems to run faster) and i'd reccommend setting it so it adds with your ram to total 2gig (2048meg, so with 768 ram, the page file is 1280 fixed)

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I have 1Gb in my dell.

I use 200mb as a ram drive for unziping winzip files and **** to and testing things

I used to save all this crap on the desktop and it would get messy.

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I run 1.2 Gb PC133...I never have problems with anything. No performance lag, no lock ups...and hunkmegs makes all the difference in the world when it comes to Q3A. Do it...get the ram, you'll thank us.

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Originally posted by jago6498

Hey Dazzla, thats a total lie "It won't make a difference with games." I went from 256mb Crucial PC2100 to a 1gb PC2100 and it games my games run smoother.

Because you were only on 256. Jumping from 512 to 1gb isn't going to make any real difference for games. 256mb isn't a lot you know.

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Somebody told me that when you have mega-RAM (1 G, for example) you can desable the page file and that will result in faster access and less fragmentation. Is that true?

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