RAM Questions - Planning for the future

NiGHTSNiGHTS San Diego Icrontian
edited October 2005 in Hardware
Being that I'm such a forward thinker who doesn't like to buy things twice, I have a few questions I'm wondering about as far as memory goes.

Right now, I have an Athlon 2500+, NF7-Sv2, 2x256MB ram, and a R9800Pro. It works fine, I love it, but I'm starting to feel the effects ...ok not STARTING, but really feeling the effects of the RAM currently.

As it stands, I will be upgrading to 64-bit in the future, figure mabey 6 months from now.

My first question, should I upgrade to 1GB or 2GB's of RAM. Now before I get 300 people saying 2GB's because BF2 loves it, I'd really like to know if I can get away with 1GB. Is it worth the extra $100 now? Is this 2GB barrier the new standard? Even if it is, I can still get away with using 1GB of RAM and get reasonable, playable framerates in newer games, correct?

Next would be what speed should I be looking at to be useable in the 64-bit setup. Along with that, what type? (i.e. DDR3200, DDR4000, DDR2-1000000, etc.)

On a budget, looking at ValueRAM as it stands from both Corsair and OCZ (espically since Mak is available for any unforseen problems with the OCZ sticks), which seem to be cheapest, most reliable, and most importantly recommended by the great Primesuspect ;). I seriously doubt I will be overclocking, as gains were minimal with my current setup and the added noise from SFII's are annoying. :D

Thanks in advance, I appreciate it, guys.

Comments

  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited October 2005
    I personally think that 1GB of memory is enough to play 95% of today's games very well. It does seem to be the price/performance sweet spot. When I upgraded from 512MB to 1024MB, I noticed a LARGE performance improvement in just about every modern game I played. I doubt that the difference between 1GB and 2GB is that profound.

    Also, I'm not too sure how well your NF2 chipset is going to be able to handle 2048MB of ram. You may be forced to use 2T command timing, and single channel (which is not a big deal on that platform).

    PC3200 seems like the logical choice for the budget minded A64/Socket A buyer. AMD has announced intentions to begin adopting DDR2 in the new year, however you will not be able to use DDR2 in your current system. If you don't plan to overclock much, PC4000 and other memory types are not really worthwhile.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    I think thrax just upgraded his nf7sv2 to vx4000 1gb. That chipset loves tight timings @ 2-2-2-11. That's as much ram as I'd put in that system imo. Not even sure if it would support 1gb dimms tbh.
  • NiGHTSNiGHTS San Diego Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    I'd gladly set aside the other Gig module and just use the one stick in the current computer, but thanks for bringing that up, I didn't even think of it.

    So ultimately the only reason for getting a rated speed of more than 3200 is for overclocking your 64-bit processor?
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    NiGHTS wrote:
    I'd gladly set aside the other Gig module and just use the one stick in the current computer, but thanks for bringing that up, I didn't even think of it.

    So ultimately the only reason for getting a rated speed of more than 3200 is for overclocking your 64-bit processor?
    I'm not sure whether the nf7-s v2 will support the 1gb dimm or not. It may have to be registered/buffered but that is something worth looking into if you are interested.
    Ulimately I would say that anything over 3200 would be used for overclocking but there is also the option to use it in future proc updates which may require the higher speed.
    The other issues with that chipset are the facts that it loves tight timings as well as dual channel. 4 dimms in that board are ok but you'd have to sacrifice some performance and probably use the registered/buffered sticks ...which may depend on the speed size.
    Too many variables that I can't remember off the top of my skull ...all I'm certain about is the timings and dual channel.
  • ronboronbo Connecticut
    edited October 2005
    Unless you are doing a lot of graphic stuff, 3DSMax or cad ...ect, 2 gig might slow you up. I found out from the people in this forum that the "quality" of the ram is a lot more important than the quanity. I would not go with value ram. Quality ram is not that expensive any more. I do not over clock and might never over clock. I bought 1 gig of Patriot XBLK dual channel and I am very happy with it. When I play on line games with friends, as soon as the map loads, I am in the game. No free up time at all. The memory loads that quick. When they join it takes them a minute or two to free up before they can join. They bought cheap no name memory. :thumbsup:
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    My old NF7-S has three memory slots.
    It says that it will support 2x1GB at PC3200.

    Go for it man.
    http://anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2560
    These will all run 400DDR at 2-3-2-7.
  • NiGHTSNiGHTS San Diego Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    @ ronbo

    Yes, I know about the quality angle, that's why I'd be choosing Corsair/OCZ's ValueRAM lineups, not a no-name brand. :)

    @ csimon

    Thanks! From what I'm reading here (http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/reviews/motherboards/ABIT_NF7_v2.0_1.html) It shows that DDR400 should be supported up to 2Gigs, anything lesser (333) up to 3Gigs.

    I guess at this point the big question is this, being that the 1vs2Gig performance gain is somewhat lessened at this point in time, 2x512MB, or 1x1Gig.

    If I choose the 2x512, how many unforseen problems will I run into by adding a 1GB stick from the same manufacturer and speed later on down the line to make the full getup 1x1Gig + 2x512MB = 2GB? I know mixing and matching RAM isn't the best way to do it, and by that point I may have more than enough money to throw at a new 2x1Gig dual channel setup.

    Something to think about as well, by doing a 2x512MB and 1x1Gig, will I be loosing any type of performace from the 64Bit processor? Do they run better in dual channel mode as well?


    Thanks for taking the time, guys, I really appreciate it. :thumbsup:
  • ronboronbo Connecticut
    edited October 2005
    2x512...2x512....2x512 yes yes yes. This way if one stick goes you still will have 512 left to work with. A friend of mine bought a 1 gig stick of Kingston and when it started to go south he was left without a computer for a few weeks..untill he was able to get more memory. This is what I would do..others might not agree...up to you. I see you are getting good memory..OCZ/Corsair..good stuff....good luck with your upgrade.
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