Is this Ram upgrade worth it?

[hamourabi]

I currently have a well-functionning pc that I won't be upgrading until late 2006/early 2007. I'm wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade my pc's ram to 1GB, or if it would not do much of a difference because of other bottlenecks in my system.

I could an identical stick of ram as the on I already have for around 65$ (canadian). Are different brands of ram with the same specs compatible? If so, what would be the best course for a ram upgrade on this system?

Please note that I don't want to spend much more than that 65 canadian dollars on an upgrade, and that the ram is the only system component I am willing to upgrade, seeing how I will built a whole new system in around 9-12 months.

My system specs are as follow:

Asus A7V8X-X SocketA Motherboard
Athlon SocketA Sempron 2400+
ATI Radeon 9250 128MB AGP (Saphire)
DiamondMax Plus 9 120 GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache HD
Crucial 512MB DDR PC3200 CL3 SDRAM (Product ID CT6464Z40B)

This system runs W2000K Pro edition.

So would it be worth it to double the ram to 1GB to improve this is system, or would that just be a waste of time and money?

 

[DDay629]

Ok, I would HIGHLY recommend you get some more RAM. I doubt it will be less than $64 CAN. Its just not really feasible. In fact its not possible. You have to be willing to spend more then that if you want to upgrade.

DDay

 

[hamourabi]

The exact same stick of ram that is currently in my machine retails for 58-62 canadian dollars in 4-5 online stores I have checked tonight. Please note that I intend to keep the current 512MB stick and add another one.

 

[DDay629]

Well, if you can find it for that much including tax, then good luck. I would recommend it. It will definetly help your machine. 512 MB's just isn't enought to run anything anymore without serious lag as it writes info to your HDD in response.

DDay

 

[jaguarskx]

I would say that it depends on what you plan to upgrade to.

It will be worth while to buy another 512MB of DDR 400 RAM if you intend to upgrade to a S939 Athlon 64.

However, if you are considering socket AM2 Athlon 64 that are being released this month, or Intel's new CPU Conroe, then it may not be worth buying the extra RAM. That because AM2 & Conroe will both require DDR2 RAM and you will not be able to re-use your DDR 400 RAM.

 

[DDay629]

Well, its not like 512 is even going to help much if its not the right ram for the 939 you possibly upgrade to? I always so you should have at least 2 GB's.

Mabye its just cause I game and use Photoshop, but for me, anything less is not acceptable.


DDay

 

[JonathanDeane]

Hmmmm this is hard if you plan on upgradeing in 9 months then it may be worth it just to stick it out untill then to use the money at that time... but if you realy dread using your PC you do need more ram

 

[jaguarskx]

Look at the OP's specs.

I think a 512MB is adequate for his needs. Bumping it up to 1GB would be better, but I don't think spending more money on a system that is going to be replaced in 9 - 12 months is worth while if the RAM cannot be used in the next system.

 

[cisco]

Yes you will see an improvement going from 512 to 1gig. I would recommend it for sure.

 

[hashv2f16]

The more important question here is "what are you using your system for?". If it's only office applications and web browsing which I presume so, then don't waste your money on buying more RAM. If you are running only 3 programs (e.g. music player, web browser office programs) simultaneously, then what you have is fine.

If you plan to run for example, multiple adobe applications (adobe indesign, while editing pics in photoshop, and browsing the internet or playing videos or something then adding RAM could possibly help.

If you game with any relatively modern games, then adding RAM will help. But since you have a 9250 and a 2400+ sempron, i really doubt that having 1GB of RAM will give any performance that is worth spending the money.

 

[DDay629]

The more important question here is "what are you using your system for?". If it's only office applications and web browsing which I presume so, then don't waste your money on buying more RAM. If you are running only 3 programs (e.g. music player, web browser office programs) simultaneously, then what you have is fine.

Very good question. In fact, I should have asked this before I said anything. I assumed he played games, but that could easily not be true. So, please tell us.

DDay

 

[hamourabi]

I do play some games, but nothing very "modern". The most taxing ones I have are Civilization 4, Rome: Total War and Chessmaster 10, and they run decently at the lowest graphical levels, which is fine by me because eye candy is not a concern. I have a backlog of older games like Baldur's Gate 2, Age of Wonders 2 and others of that "period". I guess getting better performance in those two more recent game isn't a real concern, seeing how finishing those games will bring me to that 9-12 months or more.

My real objective would be to improve my system responsiveness and quickness in copying files, encoding mp3s and DVDs, and watching videos while browsing and listening to music. If spending around 70$ doesn't provide me with a noticeable performance gain, then I'd be quite content to leave the current system untouched and put that money in the one that will be built later on.

 

[bigsby]

Ok, I would HIGHLY recommend you get some more RAM. I doubt it will be less than $64 CAN. Its just not really feasible. In fact its not possible. You have to be willing to spend more then that if you want to upgrade.

DDay

Dash, you suck. http://www.canadaram.com/ddr.html You're the one who first showed this to me, and he only wants to upgrade to a gig from half a gig, only 1 stick, not 2 sticks of high end ddr4000 super tight timing corsair.

Anyhoo, go to canadaram, great prices. First place to check in canada for inexpensive ram. Their main base is in Victoria BC.

As for the ram, You'd notice a huge difference by upgrading your ram if you were using it for thigns like games and video/image editing but since the biggest thign you do is encode mp3s and dvds, your ram isn't being taxed much. Really what you need to make those faster is getting a new cpu, actually if/when you get a new computer, if you get an x1000 ATI card, the catalyst drivers come with this cool thing that uses your GPU to help encode video along with your cpu. Sadly I can't use this because I've only got the X600 but oh well.

For your purposes, 512 is fine since the games you play dont tax your ram much and you don't use any programs that would benefit greatly from the upgrade, although you may find a nice boost in responsiveness and such from your system and the occasional time where having the extra half gig is great but if you don't think it's worth the $68 plus tax & shipping it costs to get a half gig from canadaram then put it in the bank and save it for your new computer.

 

[Anoobis]

Yes, you should upgrade now.

Adding the additional stick will allow you to run the ram in Dual Channel and you will see a performance gain, even for a Socket A.

It's a relatively inexpensive upgrade and worth it.

 

[DDay629]

Pish posh Clay. That was the first place I checked, but as I said, I was only looking at 2 GB's. I know, I know, one track mind. Anyway I should have been looking at the 512's, so yes, you can get another 512 for that much, though for increases in what you want, it won't do much. I mean, it will increase some things. But not the music/vid encoding. As my DEAD(I mean Dear) friend Clay has told you, the only thing that really will help you with that is the CPU.

DDay

 

[hashv2f16]

Yes, you should upgrade now.

Adding the additional stick will allow you to run the ram in Dual Channel and you will see a performance gain, even for a Socket A.

It's a relatively inexpensive upgrade and worth it.

dude, what the heck are you smoking??! Socket A systems do not support dual channel, not even socket 754 systems were recent enough (or for whatever reason) to support dual channelling memory either!

 

[hashv2f16]

My real objective would be to improve my system responsiveness and quickness in copying files, encoding mp3s and DVDs, and watching videos while browsing and listening to music. If spending around 70$ doesn't provide me with a noticeable performance gain, then I'd be quite content to leave the current system untouched and put that money in the one that will be built later on.

You sound like you're describing the system I hope to upgrade to in 6 months.

 

[mdd1963]

Depends on what you do with the rig....

512mb is enough for general functioning, work, burning/encoding, etc., but is not really enough for most 3d games of today, but I'll assume gaming is not really a priority based on the Radeon 9250 video selection...

I'd stand pat, and wait for an entire new Conroe/DDR2/7900GT-based rig early this fall!

 

[mad_fitzy]

Depends on what your gonna upgrade to. If its gonna use DDRII dont bother due to the low end video and cpu you have.

 

[Anoobis]

Yes, you should upgrade now.

Adding the additional stick will allow you to run the ram in Dual Channel and you will see a performance gain, even for a Socket A.

It's a relatively inexpensive upgrade and worth it.

dude, what the heck are you smoking??! Socket A systems do not support dual channel, not even socket 754 systems were recent enough (or for whatever reason) to support dual channelling memory either!

Enlighten yourself.

But I will meet you halfway. His board uses the VIA KT400 and lacks Dual Channel Support. However, Socket A supported Dual Channeling all the way back to the original nForce 420D chipset.

 

[mas0n]

Yes, you should upgrade now.

Adding the additional stick will allow you to run the ram in Dual Channel and you will see a performance gain, even for a Socket A.

It's a relatively inexpensive upgrade and worth it.

dude, what the heck are you smoking??! Socket A systems do not support dual channel, not even socket 754 systems were recent enough (or for whatever reason) to support dual channelling memory either!

My socket A system runs dual channel. These forums are on the internet, the same place you can look to find correct information before you give out incorrect information. Slot A systems do not support dual channel, certain socket A (462) do. The Barton 3200+ and some 3000+ will support 400MHz FSB.

 

[MrsD]

I would buy another 512mb. Windows XP is a memory hog. It a minimum 256 they recommend right? Do it.
Once AMD switches to DDR2 (or 3) DDR wont be made anymore and it is going to start going up in price. In a year you will be able to sell it for most of what you paid for it. Keep the packaging and receipt for warranty. This will help when you go to sell it.

 

[hashv2f16]

ok my bad. i must say i was not aware of that at all. why was it not implemented on a lot more boards - was it seen as not effective enough to be worth the cost back then, or was it invented quite late in the life of s462? and why did they choose not to put dual channel support in the much more recent socket 754 systems??

 

[Anoobis]

I think it might have been a combination of the things you noted except it was around midway of Socket 462. It might have been that nVidia didn't want any other board manufacturers to get their hands on it right away. I do know that the Athlon XPs couldn't utilize all of the extra bandwidth that Dual Channel created, so maybe the other manufacturers figured it wasn't worth it. I think they called it Twin Bank Memory Architecture at the time. Also the fact that it was slated for use on an AMD and not an Intel processor could have had something to do with it. It's possible boards manufacturers didn't want to waste "resources" on the underdog AMD at the time.

My first K7 board was the K7N20Pro form MSI. It used the nVidia 420D Crush chipset and it had integrated graphics, if you could call it that. It was actually a full blown Geforce 2 3D chipset on it's own AGP bus on the board itself. Blew away any integrated graphics at the time and held its own compared to low-mid range cards of the time. Anyways, one of the reasons it worked so well was because it used up some of the excess bandwidth (not sure if it was 128-bit, but it would make sense) from the Dual Channel setup. Kinda cool.

It's also interesting to note another term listed on this particular board. It's noted as using a "Hyper Transport" interface to the MCP (Media Communications Processor) 800 mb/sec max. Probably just hype and buzz words, but you never know.

 

[oenomel]

I'm pretty certain that Nforce 2 chipsets were the first to implement dual channel (Thats why I bought one back in the day)

And yes.....if he adds another chip of the same speed he will notice an increase in performance. Before I upgraded my rig I upped the ram while playing civ 4 and it was MUCH nicer. Even if it's single channel.

65 bucks is worth it for a year.