RAM upgrade from 1gig to 2gig: what can i expect?

[s1rrah]

currently, i'm using a 1 gig (2x512) kit of mushkin XP2-6400 (#996522):

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/directron_1930_99741902

[more specs here] (http://www.mushkin.com/doc/products/memory_detail.asp?id=349)

...

stock timings are 4-4-3-10.

so far, the ram has been amazing ... it's been fine overclocked to well past 1.1ghz ... but for the most part, i run it around 900mhz for my 24/7 overclock of 3.6 to 3.7ghz on an E6400.

what i am wondering is this:

what sort of benefit would i see if i decided to drop the additional 180 bucks or so for another dual kit thereby bringing my system up to a total of 2 gig instead of 1 gig.

would this help games? would it affect overall system performance? would it be a worthwhile investment to ensure preparedness for future, higher performance application/games?

tax time is here and i'm trying to figure out how to best spend my money. everything else, system-wise is fine but i've always wondered if i'd be better off with 2 gig of ram instead of 1 gig.

[niko084]

The added gig of ram would really compliment your video card when gaming. Don't know how much performance you may see, depends on the games you play, but if you play anything pretty new and that wants some higher level graphics it will be used nicely.

So all in all, I would say looking at your system that is probably the best performance upgrade.

[s1rrah]

Bump

[DaMulta]

It depends on the game and how much memory it wants to eat. FEAR and BF2 will for example run a lot better with more memory. It will run the same if the game doesn't use the extra memory.

With windows it also depends on this, with Vista it will help greatly on overall smoothness of the O/s compared to XP.

[prime95]

let me put it this way, back, even when all i had was an x700 pro agp --- once i had 2 gigs of ram ( over a year ago was my first time) I NEVER BUILT A PC FOR MYSELF WITHOUT IT. sold that x700 rig, sold my x800gto rig, sold my x1800gto rig -- all had 2gigs o ram -- current rig - x1950xt -- 2 gigs of ram -- my baby. you'll love it. i dont even have to get into the hardware side of this IMO to convince you.

[s1rrah]

let me put it this way, back, even when all i had was an x700 pro agp --- once i had 2 gigs of ram ( over a year ago was my first time) I NEVER BUILT A PC FOR MYSELF WITHOUT IT. sold that x700 rig, sold my x800gto rig, sold my x1800gto rig -- all had 2gigs o ram -- current rig - x1950xt -- 2 gigs of ram -- my baby. you'll love it. i dont even have to get into the hardware side of this IMO to convince you.

thanks ...

that considered ... what do you think of the difference between running 2 gig in a 4x512k config vs. a 2x1gig configuration?

thanks again ..

[prime95]

2x1gb is the only way i would run it - i think most everyone on tpu would agree.

[demonbrawn]

Yeah, I learned that 4x512 will run in 2T, whearas 2x1GB will run in 1T, which will bring better performance. At the same time, that makes me sad because I can't afford to switch to 2 sticks of 1GB. Generally costs more than 4X512.

[niko084]

Yeah, I learned that 4x512 will run in 2T, whearas 2x1GB will run in 1T, which will bring better performance. At the same time, that makes me sad because I can't afford to switch to 2 sticks of 1GB. Generally costs more than 4X512.

Thats about it 512x4 is still better than 512x2 but yes the less dimms required to make your 2 gigs the better.

A noticeable difference unlikely if you are using good ram.