Is 8 GB DDR3 ram enough for modern gaming?

[maxraj]

Hello everyone, I am happy with gaming in medium settings. So if I have Q9400, 4 GB DDR2 Ram, and my current Graphics card (cannot change now) and if it's not enough, how much memory should be ideal for today’s gaming? If the requirement is more than 4 GB DDR2, I need to take a G41 mobo to make it 8 GB DDR3 but even then if it is not enough, then which motherboard will be ideal and inexpensive for my PC to make a total of more than 8 GB DDR3 1333 MHz? A mobo containing 4 memory slots of DDR3 1333 MHz would be great.

I will take 4 GB DDR3 now but will increase in the future hopefully. Now, I can meet a budget for just a Q9400 processor which is really needed for modern gaming.

I had finished Ghosts, Advanced Warfare, and Watch Dogs (quite hard in FPS but it sure was playable with some tweaks) and almost done with Unity in low settings getting a very low FPS (suddenly unplayable after reaching sequence 8).

My PC Configuration is:
Motherboard: XFX X-G31
Processor: Core 2 Duo E7400 2.8GHz
RAM: 3GB DDR2 (Max 4GB in 2 slots)
GPU: Gigabyte HD 5770 1GB GDDR5
PSU: Corsair VS 450
Resolution: 1366x768

 

[gilbadon]

For almost everything yes. There have been some games rumored to use 12GB, but at really high resolutions. The video card is typically the bottleneck.

 

[VincentP]

Highest minimum settings at the moment is 6GB and a 64-bit operating system.
If you were building a high-end PC I would recommend 16GB to be future proof, but anything that needs more than 8GB of memory is unlikely to run on this processor and graphics card.
8GB should be fine.

 

[Ck1_13]

maybe this will help:

http://www.pcgamer.com/how-much-ram-do-you-really-need-for-gaming/

 

[maxraj]

For almost everything yes. There have been some games rumored to use 12GB, but at really high resolutions. The video card is typically the bottleneck.

So which motherboard can use 16 GB DDR3 1333 MHz in 2 slots or perhaps 4 slots?

 

[maxraj]

Thank you all for you reply!

Which DDR3 motherboard can use 16 GB ram of 1333 MHz in 2 slots or perhaps 4 slots (preferable)? Is the motherboard with the ability of using 4 slots of ram called a quad channel memory motherboard?

And how about the processor and both ram change? Let's say a Q9400 with 8 GB ram? Will it make a difference in newer cpu-intensive gaming with my HD 5770?

 

[VincentP]

The E7400 is an old socket 775 processor. I think you'll find all compatible motherboards support DDR2 rather than DDR3.
It doesn't really matter anyway, you have no reason to try and put even 8GB with this processor since it is well below the minimum spec for any game that requires more than 4GB of RAM.

 

[maxraj]

The E7400 is an old socket 775 processor. I think you'll find all compatible motherboards support DDR2 rather than DDR3.
It doesn't really matter anyway, you have no reason to try and put even 8GB with this processor since it is well below the minimum spec for any game that requires more than 4GB of RAM.

Hmm, but I am considering if I have Q9400, then will 8 GB or 16 GB ram help? And which motherboard supports up to 16 GB ram? Thanks

 

[VincentP]

The E7400 is an old socket 775 processor. I think you'll find all compatible motherboards support DDR2 rather than DDR3.
It doesn't really matter anyway, you have no reason to try and put even 8GB with this processor since it is well below the minimum spec for any game that requires more than 4GB of RAM.

Hmm, but I am considering if I have Q9400, then will 8 GB or 16 GB ram help? And which motherboard support upto 16 GB ram? Thanks

Adding RAM isn't going to help. This is still and LGA 775 processor.
Have a look where both these processors sit on the hierarchy:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

Buying a motherboard and RAM for this CPU to get a small performance improvement just isn't worth it.
You could look at a Core i3 4330 processor with a socket 1150 motherboard and 2 x 4GB DDR3-1600 as a good basic computer, or an FX-6300 processor with an AM3+ motherboard and 2 x 4GB DDR3-1866.
Turning graphics settings down doesn't help much with CPU performance.
If you really want to run these games well, look at a Core i5 4460 with a H97 socket 1150 motherboard and 2 x 4GB or DDR3-1600 memory.

 

[maxraj]

The E7400 is an old socket 775 processor. I think you'll find all compatible motherboards support DDR2 rather than DDR3.
It doesn't really matter anyway, you have no reason to try and put even 8GB with this processor since it is well below the minimum spec for any game that requires more than 4GB of RAM.

Hmm, but I am considering if I have Q9400, then will 8 GB or 16 GB ram help? And which motherboard support upto 16 GB ram? Thanks

Adding RAM isn't going to help. This is still and LGA 775 processor.
Have a look where both these processors sit on the hierarchy:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

Buying a motherboard and RAM for this CPU to get a small performance improvement just isn't worth it.
You could look at a Core i3 4330 processor with a socket 1150 motherboard and 2 x 4GB DDR3-1600 as a good basic computer, or an FX-6300 processor with an AM3+ motherboard and 2 x 4GB DDR3-1866.
Turning graphics settings down doesn't help much with CPU performance.
If you really want to run these games well, look at a Core i5 4460 with a H97 socket 1150 motherboard and 2 x 4GB or DDR3-1600 memory.

Thanks! I know that in gaming, it won't help much but now I am facing trouble in 2 core processors as newer games are requiring 4 cores and if I were to buy an i5 which is a quad processor, then it will be very expensive considering the amount I can manage so in that context, I should at least get a 4 core processors whichever sets in my motherboard in a very cost-effective manner and reaching the full potential in this old CPU I already have. If only graphics cards matter in gaming, then I might change my old GPU after I take a Q9400 or similar since 4 GB ram won't be an issue. But I don't know what's the difference in DDR2 ram and DDR3 ram in gaming? Let me know. Thanks

 

[Ck1_13]

More specifically, graphics cards matter 'more' than ram, but ram is needed as well, it ups your FPS. Why don't you try kijij for a used system, ya might get lucky , I just sold my quad-core for $120.

 

[VincentP]

Thanks! I know that in gaming, it won't help much but now I am facing trouble in 2 core processors as newer games are requiring 4 cores and if I were to buy an i5 which is a quad processor, then it will be very expensive considering the amount I can manage so in that context, I should at least get a 4 core processors whichever sets in my motherboard in a very cost-effective manner and reaching the full potential in this old CPU I already have. If only graphics cards matter in gaming, then I might change my old GPU after I take a Q9400 or similar since 4 GB ram won't be an issue. But I don't know what's the difference in DDR2 ram and DDR3 ram in gaming? Let me know. Thanks

Which ever processor + motherboard you choose, aim for 8GB of RAM.
If you can get these old quad core CPUs and a suitable motherboard and RAM cheap, then it should be a good improvement on your current system.
When looking at processors, cores are just one factor. Architecture and clock rate are also important.
A modern Intel Core i3 is a dual core processor with hyper-threading so that it appears like four cores in Windows.
A Core i3-4330 is much faster than a Q9400 or an AMD quad core processor.

Make sure you have a 64-bit version of Windows, otherwise you will only see 3.6GB of RAM even if you have 8GB installed.

DDR2 memory typically ranges from DDR2-400 to DDR2-1066, or 400 to 1066 MT/s. The largest dimm size is 4GB.
DDR3 memory typically ranges from DDR3-800 to DDR3-2133 or 800 to 2133 MT/s. The largest dimm size for most CPUs is 8GB.
The difference in speed is the number, so DDR2-1066 is the same speed as DDR3-1066.
What is most important is that you get the right type of memory for your motherboard.
Also make sure than any memory you buy is non-ECC. When looking for RAM online you may see ECC memory which is suitable for servers but not desktop CPUs and motherboards.

 

[maxraj]

Thanks! I know that in gaming, it won't help much but now I am facing trouble in 2 core processors as newer games are requiring 4 cores and if I were to buy an i5 which is a quad processor, then it will be very expensive considering the amount I can manage so in that context, I should at least get a 4 core processors whichever sets in my motherboard in a very cost-effective manner and reaching the full potential in this old CPU I already have. If only graphics cards matter in gaming, then I might change my old GPU after I take a Q9400 or similar since 4 GB ram won't be an issue. But I don't know what's the difference in DDR2 ram and DDR3 ram in gaming? Let me know. Thanks

Which ever processor + motherboard you choose, aim for 8GB of RAM.
If you can get these old quad core CPUs and a suitable motherboard and RAM cheap, then it should be a good improvement on your current system.
When looking at processors, cores are just one factor. Architecture and clock rate are also important.
A modern Intel Core i3 is a dual core processor with hyper-threading so that it appears like four cores in Windows.
A Core i3-4330 is much faster than a Q9400 or an AMD quad core processor.

Make sure you have a 64-bit version of Windows, otherwise you will only see 3.6GB of RAM even if you have 8GB installed.

DDR2 memory typically ranges from DDR2-400 to DDR2-1066, or 400 to 1066 MT/s. The largest dimm size is 4GB.
DDR3 memory typically ranges from DDR3-800 to DDR3-2133 or 800 to 2133 MT/s. The largest dimm size for most CPUs is 8GB.
The difference in speed is the number, so DDR2-1066 is the same speed as DDR3-1066.
What is most important is that you get the right type of memory for your motherboard.
Also make sure than any memory you buy is non-ECC. When looking for RAM online you may see ECC memory which is suitable for servers but not desktop CPUs and motherboards.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to advise me on this! I think I will only update the processor and stick 4 GB ram for now to save some money for the best entry-level graphics card even if it's HD 7850 or sth less that is around a $120 - the max I can spend on a graphics card. Here's another question though! What's the best graphics card I can get that will not bottleneck my Q9400?

If a Q9400 with a GTX 750 Ti or HD 6850 or 7850 work best even on 4 GB ram then I believe I will opt for this option, depending on budget. I hope my motherboard's life does not pass away. It's been a very long time now - maybe around 5 years.

 

[VincentP]

Don't worry about what processor you have when choosing a graphics card. A faster graphics card means you can have higher detail settings at the same frame rate, but these settings do not have much effect on CPU utilization.
You do have to consider your case and power supply if choosing a powerful graphics card because they are large and draw a lot of power.
The HD 5770 is rated at 108W.
In current model cards, the GeForce GTX 750 Ti or Radeon R7 260X would be a reasonable upgrade. Get a model with 2GB of memory.
The GeForce GTX 660 or Radeon HD 7850 are a little faster but I'm not sure if you can get them any more. Again, get a model with 2GB of memory.

 

[maxraj]

Don't worry about what processor you have when choosing a graphics card. A faster graphics card means you can have higher detail settings at the same frame rate, but these settings do not have much effect on CPU utilization.
You do have to consider your case and power supply if choosing a powerful graphics card because they are large and draw a lot of power.
The HD 5770 is rated at 108W.
In current model cards, the GeForce GTX 750 Ti or Radeon R7 260X would be a reasonable upgrade. Get a model with 2GB of memory.
The GeForce GTX 660 or Radeon HD 7850 are a little faster but I'm not sure if you can get them any more. Again, get a model with 2GB of memory.

Thanks! It greatly helped me! As soon as I manage some money, I will look for an MSI GTX 750 Ti or HD 7850.