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    Performance gain from 2gb to 4gb?

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by MAC5217, Nov 24, 2007.

  1. MAC5217

    MAC5217 Notebook Consultant

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    Is there a noticible performance gain in going from 2gb of ram to 4 gb of ram? Specifically in gaming? Will I see better FPS in games such as Crysis or COD 4? Is it worth spending the money (not from dell, but aftermarket)?

    Thanks
    MAC
     
    MAC5217, Nov 24, 2007
    #1
  2. sleey0

    sleey0 R.I.P. AW Side Topics

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    Unless your 2GB RAM is full when running the game you will not see any improvements going to 4GB.

    Your graphics card and it's VRAM is way more important to the fluidity of gameplay than system RAM.
     
    sleey0, Nov 24, 2007
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  3. bustabo

    bustabo Notebook Enthusiast

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    also depends on what kinda computer u have in general.

    if your video card sucks then it probably wont do too much like what sleeyo said
     
    bustabo, Nov 24, 2007
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  4. MegaBUD

    MegaBUD Notebook Evangelist

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    If you are on XP... 2 gig is enough... but vista usualy eat more ram...
     
    MegaBUD, Nov 24, 2007
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  5. Samuel613

    Samuel613 Notebook Evangelist

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    In general terms, I have seen a noticeable improvement under both XP and Vista from 2 GB to 4 GB, but especially under Vista. I suppose if you have a super-powerful graphics card that does not share any system RAM, and you're only doing IE/Firefox, 2 GB is plenty. Any more than that and I recommend 4 GB.
     
    Samuel613, Nov 24, 2007
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  6. PhoenixFx

    PhoenixFx Notebook Virtuoso

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    With the 32bit address limitation, you won’t be able to gain access to all 4GB of RAM under Windows 32bit; more like 3.2GB ~ 3.5GB out of 4GB depending on how much Video memory you have.

    If you don’t have a fast enough GPU like a 8600GT or faster, then no point in upgrading RAM over 2GB expecting performance gains in games like Crysis.
     
    PhoenixFx, Nov 24, 2007
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  7. MAC5217

    MAC5217 Notebook Consultant

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    I have a T7500, 256mb 8600 gt, 2gb ram, vista, 120 hdd (5400 rpm). Didn't6 know if it was worth spending over a hundred dollars for the 4gb if I won't see any gains. Thanks again!

    MAC
     
    MAC5217, Nov 25, 2007
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