3gb vs 4gb (Ram)

Hello, I have recently purchased 4gb of DDR2 PC2 5300 667 MHz ram. I am wondering if anyone is aware of the peformance difference between 3gb and 4gb. I am installing this memory in a Vostro 1500 (currently running 1gb of ram) with a 8600m GT video card, will there be a performance difference between 3gb/4gb when running games such as Supreme Commander?

Thanks

 

Probably not much difference between 3GB and 4GB. You are aware that you will only be able to use 3.2GB of that RAM unless you're running a 64-bit operating system?

Grand Admiral

 

I would leave the 4GB in anyway, as you will gain the small advantage of running the ram in dual-channel.....

 

Since you only have 1gb which is 2x512 sticks, you will need to purchase 1 1gb stick and 1 2gb stick for 3gb ram which will cost as much as getting a 4gb kit.

 

See, but I have a buddy who is willing to buy a 2gb stick for 25 bucks, in exchange for one of his 1gb sticks. I am just wondering if it is worth it, of if there is a somewhat noticiable difference between 3 and 4 gigs.

 

It would likely only be really noticeable in benchmark tests. Dual-channel aside, 512MB of useable ram is not much of an upgrade in 32-bit Vista (from what I've noticed).........

 

You will need a 64bit OS to utilize all 4gb as 32bit can only address up to 3gb RAMM

So going from 3gb RAM to 4gb RAM is switching from 32bit to 64bit. Its the only way you can use all 4gb of RAM. No you wont really notice much of a difference.

Switching from 1 or 2 gb to 3gb you will definately notice a big difference

 

I thought windows could see 3.2GB, but the rest of the ram is used for hardware?

 

32bit can only read around 3gb max. Thats the only ram the system can use.

64bit can read all 4gb and make use of it all

 

Will run in "Dual Channel" with 3GB's, the difference in bandwidth benchmarks will likely be about 3% difference vs matching sticks and I don't think you will see a real world difference between 3GB and 4GB. 3% bandwidth is nothing on many applications 20% is nothing. With 4GB you might at most get an extra .25GB of RAM, once again I don't think enough to matter. If you bought the 4GB for $40 then $25 + 1GB is a good deal for you. Make sure it is as fast as what you bought otherwise all your RAM will downclock to the slowest sticks speed. More detailed explanation of how 3GB can run in Dual Channel. Dual Channel RAM Guide, it is a sticky in the Hardware section.

 

20% seems like it would be significant. Would the 4GB make a difference for gaming?
I'm looking to buy a Dell XPS M1530 and i recently saw its windows perfomance benchmarchs.
T9300 CPU -------5.4
8600M GT GPU ----5.4-5.9(Aero)
200G 7200rpm HD--5.4
3GB RAM----------5.0

It seems that RAM is the bottleneck and so I'm wondering if 4GB of RAM could raise that 5.0 score at least somewhat.

 

WEI isnt accurate enough for benchmarking. There was a few posts before that lowered the wei score when upgraded to higher RAM

 

If you pick 3GB you can stick with 32-bit OS. Going for 4GB and 64-bit OS is a bad move. You won't gain anything, the simple fact that all addies are 64 bit long will kill any performance enhancement you would be expecting.