Gaming PC - Same old question

[Powerslave]

is 2 gigs really the standard? ive read that 1gig is the standard and 2 is going overboard.. guess i was wrong

no, your right.

Everyone is so obsessed with getting 2 gigs of ram when it is TOTALLY unnecessary. 1 gig is completely fine for todays games and you won't need 2 gigs for 2-5 months. I don't understand why people say you have to have 2 gigs standard, it's just not needed, it's a luxury not a necessity.

 

[biggjoee5790]

no, your right.

Everyone is so obsessed with getting 2 gigs of ram when it is TOTALLY unnecessary. 1 gig is completely fine for todays games and you won't need 2 gigs for 2-5 months. I don't understand why people say you have to have 2 gigs standard, it's just not needed, it's a luxury not a necessity.

yea thats what i thought..thanks for confirming.. i was getting nervous that the 2 512's i ordered wouldnt be enough

 

[HAVOC]

no, your right.

Everyone is so obsessed with getting 2 gigs of ram when it is TOTALLY unnecessary. 1 gig is completely fine for todays games and you won't need 2 gigs for 2-5 months. I don't understand why people say you have to have 2 gigs standard, it's just not needed, it's a luxury not a necessity.

I'm not trying to start a debate here, but i'm going to have to go ahead and disagree. I believe 2 GIG's is absolutely needed in some systems.

Like mine for instance. I have 2GIG's and at desktop my system uses about 35% of my total RAM. I've got a ton of "Stardock Programs, like window blinds, object dock, high-res wallpaper, Desktop-X, system metrics and many others. Not to mention my Internet security suite and tons of other applications running in the background. Windows task manager usually shows about 70 to 75 processes.

Now, should I play a game like BF2, FEAR or HL2, my system will now use close to 75+ % of my system memory.

I've actually experimented with my system, by removing a GIG. The performance across the board was absolutely horrible.

Now granted, "IF" I format and reinstall windows, drivers and other necessary applications. Then install one game. I won't need 2GIGs.

But the amount of software that i have installed and running, 2 GIG's is a must,

 

[thebleakness]

persianxballer's system would be very nice if you saved up some more money and bought a 3700+. You should probably look into a dvd burner or reader because games might or are (correct me if im wrong) coming out on dvd discs and then you would need one. Like what was stated earlier, 1gb of ram is perfect for gaming now adays and 2gb will offer you slightly better performance and keep you ahead of the game for alittle longer. Its all really a matter of your budget and how you would like your computer to perform.

 

[Tyler1989]

64 bit technology uses more ram and Vista uses more features that better use ram to speed up your system.

I use 20% of my 2 gigs of RAM on a new build when idle on Windows XP x64 Edition I will tell you how much I use when I install Vista 5070 x64 Tonight. The December CTP is said to be "feature complete" so it should have the ram utilization. Now play a high end game or use Visual Studio and your ram ussage soars. It is not overboard and can easilly be used efficiently.

 

[Ridlyn]

If you do wait until you get the $1500 you can build a very nice computer

AMD Athlon X2 3800+ or 4200+ $325/$400
2x1GB Corsair Value Select Dual channel $170
MSI K8N Neo-4 $81.50
eVGA Geforce 7800GT $300
Thermaltake Soprano $79

3800 Build= $995.50
4200 Build= $1030.50

The rest will cost you around $300, depending whether you get a sound card or not.

By going to the $1500, you can get the dual core processor which is a big step over the single core, engines will soon be optimized to run on dual core processors so buy spending the extra money you're basically future proofing you're machine, also when the Unreal 3 Engine(next year), that will be optimized for dual core, and if you want to run that real well, your gonna have to buy a Ageia PhysX Card, incase if you didnt know what that was it takes all of the physics calculations of your cpu, and puts them on this cards greatly increasing for fps.

 

[BColes]

Well I see a difference in my 2 gigs over one. You who think 1 is enough stick with that, i'll stick with 2 and enjoy the benefits.

I'll add this, yes 1 gig is 'enough' and will run fine but i'm going to wager a guess and say everyone who says you'll be fine with 1 gig doesn't use 2 gigs on a daily basis.

 

[Nyper]

Wow. Lot's of replies. Thanks for all of the help.
For me, 2g will be the minimum. Like somebody else said, I have a lot of crap running on my laptop. It has 1g of RAM and could use a little more (im not adding more because the processor could be the bottleneck). I appreciate everyone's help. The above systems look good. Only thing I am considering differently is adding two WD 10k RPM drives. I think you can get 74g for about $150? Two of those would be nice..

 

[BandwidthHogg]

If you like to run as few processes as possible, which means not using Windowblinds/StyleXP or other "desktop enhancement" programs that hog memory, 1GB will be alright. 2GB allows you to use those programs and not lose gaming performance.

 

[BColes]

If you like to run as few processes as possible, which means not using Windowblinds/StyleXP or other "desktop enhancement" programs that hog memory, 1GB will be alright. 2GB allows you to use those programs and not lose gaming performance.

You should try thinking about something other than "right now" and even "right now" you will see performance boosts with 2 gigs over 1. Think about 6 months from now. 99% of people want a computer to perform well for as long as possible, not just "right now".