Do i need more ram ?

[ottis]

my desktop has intel i3 530 2.93 GHz CPU, gigabyte h55m- usb3 mobo. Samsung 7200 rpm 32mb sata 2 1T HD .
currently i have 2x2 GB ram.
i think that my everyday applications are not so demanding, but when i open some game like the sims 3, it takes a lot of time until it is loaded ( it's not a very demanding game but it has o lot of content), during playing the game it looks like o.k.
and while the game is running, every simple act on the pc is very, very slow.
also, when doing regular multitasking it slow the pc.
i aware of the fact that the hard drive can be also one of the reasons to that.

do you think i need to add more ram?
the reason that i try to know it for sure in advance is because i read in some places, including here, that adding ram may cause more heat, and my p.c was build for max quietness and therefore as less possible working fans.
on the other hand if it'll improve those issues i mentioned I'm ready to do it.

 

[alvine]

sims 3 does take a long time to load since there is so much content
you dont need more ram

 

[RetiredChief]

1) what OS are you running, If 32 bit then 4 gigs is the max ram.

8 gigs seems to be the sweet spot for Ram these days, But REQUIRES a 64 Gig OS.

Your bottleneck may be more a function of 1) Horsepower of CPU (only 2 cores/4 threads which effect multitasking and 2) HDD vs a SSD.

quanity of ram will only be a major factor if swappin in and out of virtual memory. virtual memory is VERY slow as it is a function of HDD performance.

However you may run Windows task manager, performance tab and look at cpu usage and memory usage.
Access task manager - Cnt, alt, del

 

[ottis]

sims 3 does take a long time to load since there is so much content
you dont need more ram

so you sure it is not a matter of ram bottle neck ?

 

[ottis]

1) what OS are you running, If 32 bit then 4 gigs is the max ram.

8 gigs seems to be the sweet spot for Ram these days, But REQUIRES a 64 Gig OS.

Your bottleneck may be more a function of 1) Horsepower of CPU (only 2 cores/4 threads which effect multitasking and 2) HDD vs a SSD.

quanity of ram will only be a major factor if swappin in and out of virtual memory. virtual memory is VERY slow as it is a function of HDD performance.

However you may run Windows task manager, performance tab and look at cpu usage and memory usage.
Access task manager - Cnt, alt, del

i ran win7 ultimate 64 bit os .
can you give me an example of applications that "swappin in and out of virtual memory" ?

i checked the usage right now. i can say it's more or less in idle, and it shows 3-10 % for the cpu, and 2.27 GB for the ram .
when playing movie cpu is around 15 % and ram 2.65 gb.
do you recommend to check it on other situations , e/g like what ?

 

[ottis]

sims 3 does take a long time to load since there is so much content
you dont need more ram

p.s
but why , after the game was already loaded and while it running on background, even without playing, it slows the p.s dramatically ?

 

[RetiredChief]

Check ram/cpu usage under condition that you notice a slow down.

Swap file usage is not connected to a single program, it is Controlled by the OS. When requirements exceed availability, windows starts swapping in/out of real ram to HDD. when a program makes a request, If not in phyical ram, then windows fetches it from the HDD.

 

[ottis]

i did some checking with windows task manager performance.
looks like the sims 3 game is a big memory eater.
the cpu is most of the time on 5-20 % usage, depending what is running.
when running this game the memory usage is around 80 % , and after adding some more programs , like playing movie, Samsung allshare , browser , utorent , it comes to 95 %.
after closing the game the memory usage go down to 45% , without the movie to 40% and without allshare program to 34% .

looks like i don't understand something.
if the physical memory used almost fully , and it start to use virtual memory, isn't it means that if I'll add ram things will become better ?

 

[RetiredChief]

Yes, If you are using the swap file, then more memory will improve performance.
Another indicater of large swap file usage is higher than normal disk activity.

On the Other hand, i not a large usage of the swap file than adding more memory will not improve peformance.

bottom line: memory is cheap so go from 4 -> 8 Gigs.
ENJOY

 

[ottis]

sorry for asking again but how can i know if, and how much, it use the swap?

another question is if ill add one stick of 4 gb it will not work as dual Chanel , i thought adding two sticks of 4 gb each, then i'll have 12 gb and each pair will work at dual. what do you thunk about it ?

 

[smeezekitty]

If you are pushing 80+ then yes, you do need more RAM.
2 + 2 + 4 will not run in dual channel although it might work in flex mode.

 

[ottis]

i think i'll go for another 2x4 gb.
first i'll try to run 2+2/4+4, if it'll have some compatibility issue, i'll work with the 2x4 new ones.

 

[RetiredChief]

Sounds good to me.

 

[ottis]

installed the new 4+4 gb kit.
it's g.skill eco 1.35v cl: 7-7-7-21.
both kits work fine , in dual channel.
i had to make some tradeoff between voltage and timings.
decided to 'sacrifice' low voltage for timings, and the best combination i get is 1.55v and 7-7-7-21 timings.
i do fill improvement in the matters i suffered before.