Should I add another GB?

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yetyhunter

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I have an Asus P5N-D ,2 GB of ram kingston 800 MHZ,E8400 .I'm using vista 32 bit. How much will another GB will help?Sometimes when playing crysis I can see it's usnig 1.6 Gb of ram.There's not too much left for the system to run.Sometimes I get bad stuttering too .
 
Onus

Onus

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Add a pair of sticks so you can operate in dual channel mode. If you install another pair of 1GB sticks, the excess won't get used, but it will not cause problems either; Windows will just see 3.2-3.5GB. You might re-use a pair of 1GB sticks some day, but 512MB sticks would have little future use.
 
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dagger

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major53

major53

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jtt283 as cheap as ram is getting now I would just get 2 more gig of the same ram you already have.and yes it will help.hope this helps you out.
 
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yetyhunter

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there is no use in ading another 2 GB because vista 32 reads only 3 GB. 2 sticks of 512 should be better. How can I find out if my mobo supports this configuration?
 
Onus

Onus

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I'm not the one adding RAM, Major.
Vista32 can deal with a total of 4GB, but that includes all system memory, like video RAM. You'll therefor see only 3.2-3.5GB of usable RAM. Another 200-500MB isn't a big deal, but as Major pointed out, 1GB sticks are really cheap now.
My own system has a pair of 2GB sticks, and I'm only seeing around 3.3GB if I remember correctly.
 
1haplo

1haplo

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They do not have to be the same brand. I have 2 1G sticks of PQI and 2 512 sticks of Micron in a dell XPS 400 running in dual channel.

If you get RAM try to get the same timings. The pair with the higher timing numbers will determine the timings. IE if pair 1 has a timing of 5-5-5-15 and pair 2 has a timing of 5-6-6-18 all RAM will run at 5-6-6-18.

Speed is the same as timings, the slower RAM will determine the speed. IE if you install DDR2-667 and DDR2-800 will both run at 667.

1Haplo

 
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Aragorn

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The dual channel will work best if you have 4 identical (or at least identically spec'd) sticks. There fore you will get better results using 2 more 1GB sticks and the money isn't much. Even though windows won't see all of it, it is worth putting the 2 1GB sticks in rather than 2 512MB sticks.
 
geofelt

geofelt

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Some motherboards are very sensitive to ram specs. Try to get another pair of modules that are exactly the same as what you have now. In particular, the default voltages should be the same. Ram is sold in "kits" because there is no guarantee that two sets of the same ram from different lots will perform the same.
 
ZOldDude

ZOldDude

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Right now your showing that the system in game is using up 1.6GB?

Get a copy of XP and reformat and use XP (do not try to dual boot).
With XP and 2GB of ram and a fixed size Page File of 2GB my systems can run 4 security programs,6 torrents and play Fronlines:FoW and it only uses 49% of the RAM (just under 1GB).
It is Vista that is using your RAM.
 
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yetyhunter

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I have 1 8800 GTS 512 OC'ed 740 core ,1050 mem,1850 shaders.Soon to be SLi. Tomorow I can' wait :)
 
notherdude

notherdude

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Vista loads frequently used code into ram, this is called superfetch, you should not assume that you are 'running out' of ram just because vista reports that a lot of it is 'in use'. Superfetch releases ram as needed.

I'm just surfing the web right now and Vista is using 3.7 gig of my 8 gig total. This is NOT Vista bloat, it is superfetch and it means a lot of stuff I regularly use will start instantly.

Having said all that more ram is better and with ram so cheap why not. Get 2 more 1 gig sticks for sure, not 512, you will end up with slightly more usable ram this way (probably, depending mostly on how much video ram you gfx card has) and if you ever upgrade to 64 bit, which is highly likely at some point, you will have 4 gig.

Get ram that is speced the same, particularlyy the voltage - you can adjust timings as needed since ram with fast timings can be relaxed but you need to get all 4 sticks running the same voltage, maybe give or take .1v.
 
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dagger

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A lot. It'll be the difference between running out of ram and not running out. Page files from hdd is slow and lags down the system. Assuming it works.

It's only a $15 difference, you should really get 1gb modules. Some motherboards do not react well to uneven setup. Even if it works, timing differences/latency of 512mb vs 1gb modules are not ideal. The potential headaches are not worth the $15.
 
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BustedSony

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The point others have been trying to make is that 2 gigs cost just about as much a 1 gig or 2 X 512, and getting a matched set will provide better performance for that new video card, be more stable on the system, and be more future-proof.
 
notherdude

notherdude

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Probably depends on how much stuff you keep open at the same time. 2 gig is enough for most situations but lots of us like to keep more stuff running than your usual home user. . . the extra ram also gives superfetch more to play with. You should notice something , just don't expect to be blown away, it will be subtle.
 
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megamanx00

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Really you should just add 2GB of RAM considering that the price difference from 512x2 and 1GBx2 sets of DDR2 RAM is so small. Also consider that eventually you will need to have a 64-bit OS, in which case you will get to use all 4GB instead of just having 3GB.
 
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joudheus

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man i got 4gb (2x2gb) of ddr2 800mhz ocz sli ready for $90 (so i bought 8gb cause why the **** not). you should be able to find a good price.
 
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