RAM & gaming

I've just posted the *Installing RAM* thread & since then have been thinking, if I play a game that requires 512Mb of RAM, will having 1 Gb of RAM on my PC make the game any different to play compared 2 having 4Gb of RAM?

 

It all depends on how much ram the game is taking.

So what you should do keep the task manager open as you game, and while in the middle alt-tab back to the desktop and see how much ram is being used by the game. If you're close to maxing out your 1gb of ram, then you can be sure more ram will help. So while 4 will be overkill, 2gb will definitely help.

 

In a nutshell, no it won't make a difference, UNLESS for example:
- game takes 512MB memory
- system has 1GB memory
- Windows uses >512MB memory
- which would mean 512+>512 = >1024 and therefore Windows would use the swap file, slowing your game down incredibly. I hope this makes sense, if not, say and I'll see if I can clarify this some more.

 

windows does not use more than 512 meg though... my xp and all firewalls ect use 190mb total

 

That's not really accurate.
The game might release a lot of memory the moment you tab out.

There is a much simpler approach though. Listen to your harddrive. Does it work a lot while you're playing your game? If so, then you need more RAM.

(Alternatively, you could mess with Windows' Performance viewer, but that might be a bit too much effort.)

In general though, having more than 1GB of RAM tends to be a good idea, especially if you play games. Going from 1 to 2GB makes quite a difference in most cases.

 

Well yes, but task manager has a history chart. Thus when you alt-tab it, memory gets released, but the history chart still shows what the exact memory usage was a couple second/a minute ago.

Or another way is to play in a windowed mode while watching the TM in the background. That way you have the game fully running and still be able to see what's happening to your memory.

 

Ah right, yeah I think I understand now, so going from 1Gb to 2Gb will make a difference, its not like I'm a hardcore gamer or anything, it's just if I decide to play a game, I want it to be good. Another question, the memory on graphics cards, what does having different amounts of memory allow them to do, just let you play the game on higher settings?

Also how do you play a game in windowed mode? Is it one of the F buttons on the top of the keyboard? I would test it out, but I don't want to try all different buttons in case I mess my computer up!

Thanks for all of your posts BTW

 

Usually in the graphic options of the game there should be an option to play in fullscreen or not.

 

In my opinion, you can never have enough RAM. Considering its the cheapest way to give a considerable boost in performance to your PC, if you have the money for it, your computer can support it, and are willing to spend, go for it. In most cases, you will see considerable increase in performance. at the very least, you'll notice your computer can handle a lot more open windows and programs (not nessesarilly multitasking) than before without slowdown.


~Poseign