Will I notice the difference?

W

WhiteGuardian

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 15, 2008
Messages
421
I was just wondering, if you're running vista 32 bit and you have 2 gigs of ram lets say running at 800 mhz, will you notice much difference in gaming if you had 4 gigs at 800 mhz? Is it worth the upgrade?

Also, which is better?
4 gig 800 mhz
or
2 gig 1066 mhz
 
WhiteGuardian said:
I was just wondering, if you're running vista 32 bit and you have 2 gigs of ram lets say running at 800 mhz, will you notice much difference in gaming if you had 4 gigs at 800 mhz? Is it worth the upgrade?

Also, which is better?
4 gig 800 mhz
or
2 gig 1066 mhz
Click to expand...

In benchmark, you may notice performance increase or decrease a little here or there, but in game play or real world use, I don't think you will notice any difference. At least not to the naked eyes anyway.
 
these are questions I myself was just going to ask

I read here on this forum that only a 64 bit OS can utilize 4 gigs of RAM
 
Yes only 64bit OS can utilize full 4gb of RAM (and more), in 32bit OS you will see anywhere from 3gb to 3,5gb max depending on your hardware (the biggest factor is the amout of RAM on the graphics card).

During the actual playing of a game you probably won't notice a difference. But there can be quite a difference in OS smoothness. For example when loading a game or quitting a game since with 2gb of RAM there is quite some disk swapping going on. So specially with Vista I would buy another 2gb.
 
Well 3,5gb or there about is still a lot better than 2gb even in 32bit OS. So there is still some value in getting 4gb in 32bit OS and the value gets bigger when multitasking a lot.

But!

There is little reason to install 64bit OS just to get full 4gb instead of 3,5gb but it makes sense with even more memory. With 4gb you gain about 0,5gb with 64bit OS but you also lose some of it again since even the 64bit Windows alone is using more memory than the 32bit Windows. So if you draw the line you gain only a few mb of memory but you can also have more problems with 64bit OS (problems with device drivers and some programs).
This is a great article about this: http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/15/vista_workshop/page5.html
 
Actually 32-bit OS's CAN use > 4G of ram in 4G pages.

Pretty much any linux or freebsd for years now can do this with "large memory" support in the kernel.

Windows however cannot, except for the 32-bit server versions (IIRC enterprise).
 
you WONT notice a difference.. i bought 4 gigs of ballistix ddr2 800, tried all 4, and then 2, in all my games and 3dmark06 and got the same exact score.. now the other 2 gigs are just chillin in my closet lol
 
Warr|oR said:
you WONT notice a difference.. i bought 4 gigs of ballistix ddr2 800, tried all 4, and then 2, in all my games and 3dmark06 and got the same exact score.. now the other 2 gigs are just chillin in my closet lol
Click to expand...

Why wouldn't you put them in your computer?
 
I'd agree that you won't notice a difference. I've yet to go over 1.5GB (2GB in my system) on my Vista 32-bit and that with MANY applications open including watching a Blu-Ray movie.
 
The only game to benefit from more than 2 GBs I can think of is Witcher.
But at current prices you can just as well throw 4 gigs of DDR2 into system.
 
Go with 4GB if you use or plan to use a 64bit operating system as these kits are relatively cheap right now. Speed plays no role if you are running them at the same speed (800 vs 800) so if you plan on overclocking, I'd go with the higher rated 2GB kit if you are using a 32bit operating system. Otheriwse, 4gb > 2gb even if you won't use it all, its nice to have the peace of mind that you have so much to give to your ram hungry applications.
 
So what about 800 vs.1600? I'm building a HTPC with an AMD Phenom and I may be editing some video I shoot on it as well as watching BluRay movies and playing Guitar Hero. I know the Phenom has a bus that can use the added speed but does it make a difference? All Ive read so far says no.
 
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