[SFOSOK]

I was wondering which is better, having 4x 512 stick or having 2x 1gb sticks.

I was just goin to get the 2x 512 OCZ PLat Rev 2 but I was informed that it will not be enough to run F.E.A.R. on absolute highest (with 1600x1200 res), even if the memory was pared up with an AMD 64 3700 and a 7800GTX.

[Asmoday]

I'd go for 2x1gb, in that way you'll know for sure that it will work in dual channel.(I assume you are getting a Dual channel kit) Either way you won't be able to overclock much (in sync) with 2gb anyway..

[ReDGuiTaR]

2 x 1 gb is the way to go, many motherboard are unstable or need you to run the memory at 333mhz when all the memory slot are full...

[CDsDontBurn]

Originally Posted by ReDGuiTaR

2 x 1 gb is the way to go, many motherboard are unstable or need you to run the memory at 333mhz when all the memory slot are full...

not if you have good ram. you can increase it to 400Mhz and upping the voltage a little bit . This is best done on good ram such as Corsair XMS/XMS XL, OCZ platinum, Crucial Ballistix, Mushkin Lv.1, etc. However, you will be running at 2T operation, which will affect your 3Dmark scores by about 100pts. or so, but games will run better . I know this because a couple of guys at work w/A64 set ups have already tried both ways, and they say that they get the best performance out of 4x512 sticks.

Besdies, who would want to run at 3-3-3-8 timings with 2x1Gb sticks, when you can run 2-2-2-5 with 4x512Mb sticks????

[Asmoday]

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

Besdies, who would want to run at 3-3-3-8 timings with 2x1Gb sticks, when you can run 2-2-2-5 with 4x512Mb sticks????

Uhm, theres 1gb sticks that'll do cas2 2-*-*, i beleive necrosis have a couple of OCZ's that do those timings...maybe not 2-2-2-5 but close..

[CDsDontBurn]

Originally Posted by Asmoday

Uhm, theres 1gb sticks that'll do cas2 2-*-*, i beleive necrosis have a couple of OCZ's that do those timings...maybe not 2-2-2-5 but close..

well yea. 1Gb sticks have increased in performance in that past few months. OCZ, Corsair, and i believe Crucial all have a set that does 2-3-2-5

[Lowfat]

The 1GB sticks that have the crucial basistix memory chips are know to do up to 250FSB with 2.5-3-3 timings with enough voltage. but you better have good ram cooling cause those mofo's get hot.

[SFOSOK]

Of course the cooling in my system will be more than substantial. I'm goin with OCZ though, and I'll look into how much (with kit) 2gb with 2x 1gb will cost all together. But I still really do not think F.E.A.R. Will require so much.

[Lowfat]

Originally Posted by SFOSOK

Of course the cooling in my system will be more than substantial. I'm goin with OCZ though, and I'll look into how much (with kit) 2gb with 2x 1gb will cost all together. But I still really do not think F.E.A.R. Will require so much.

The OCZ EL Platinum 2X1GB uses Crucial Ballistix memory chips I do believe.

[Zelig]

Originally Posted by Tulcakelume

The OCZ EL Platinum 2X1GB uses Crucial Ballistix memory chips I do believe.

Nope, it uses Infineon chips. The OCZ PC4000 Gold 2x1Gb uses the same chips as the Ballistix though.

It's pretty common for the Platinum to run 2-3-2-x up to 215 MHz, and 2.5-3-3-x up to 230 or so. My sticks are crippled by my Winchester's lame memory controller though, so with both sticks in dual channel, I can't get much better than 2.5-3-3-x at 220 MHz.

[H3X4D3C1M4L]

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

well yea. 1Gb sticks have increased in performance in that past few months. OCZ, Corsair, and i believe Crucial all have a set that does 2-3-2-5

And do a -100 HP per second hex spell on your wallet for 5 seconds

TBH 2 GB of ram doesn't make much of a difference even in BF2 (read the latest review on DH front page) and FEAR is still beta anyway. Once its final it should use less memory

[CDsDontBurn]

Originally Posted by H3X4D3C1M4L

And do a -100 HP per second hex spell on your wallet for 5 seconds

TBH 2 GB of ram doesn't make much of a difference even in BF2 (read the latest review on DH front page) and FEAR is still beta anyway. Once its final it should use less memory

umm....this would really only be true if you have a 512Mb gfx card. BF2 eats up video memory, goes to system ram, and then to virtual memory. That's if you have anything less than 256Mb video memory and 1Gb system memory. F.E.A.R. dunno yet since it's still demo, but i wouldn't doubt if it did the same.

[swimtech]

The latest news (just out this past week from here and one other site I read - that was linked from here in the news...) concerning ram usage with BF2 and F.E.A.R. mentions that although you don't see a big FPS increase statistically, the smoothness during gameplay is much improved, making the games truly enjoyable. I can surmise that the lower the ram on your video card the bigger the difference adding to system ram will make in smoothness during gameplay in those games - as CD implies...

[CDsDontBurn]

Originally Posted by swimtech

The latest news (just out this past week from here and one other site I read - that was linked from here in the news...) concerning ram usage with BF2 and F.E.A.R. mentions that although you don't see a big FPS increase statistically, the smoothness during gameplay is much improved, making the games truly enjoyable. I can surmise that the lower the ram on your video card the bigger the difference adding to system ram will make in smoothness during gameplay in those games - as CD implies...

The other thing i forgot to mention is that, upgrading to 2Gb of ram also helps out in load time for the game and for the levels. By having the extra memory, the game textures are loaded much more quickly, therefore load times are lowered.

[ReDGuiTaR]

Originally Posted by H3X4D3C1M4L

And do a -100 HP per second hex spell on your wallet for 5 seconds

TBH 2 GB of ram doesn't make much of a difference even in BF2 (read the latest review on DH front page) and FEAR is still beta anyway. Once its final it should use less memory

You re wrong on this ... 2GB really improve smothness and really lower loading and quitting time ... with 1GB it take around 1-2 min to quit before you can run another app on windows ... less than 40 sec with 2GB ...

[dipstick]

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

Besdies, who would want to run at 3-3-3-8 timings with 2x1Gb sticks, when you can run 2-2-2-5 with 4x512Mb sticks????

I would take 3-3-3-8-1T over 2-2-2-5-2T any day. The 1T/2T setting makes more difference than all other memory settings combined!

Originally Posted by H3X4D3C1M4L

TBH 2 GB of ram doesn't make much of a difference even in BF2 (read the latest review on DH front page) and FEAR is still beta anyway. Once its final it should use less memory

I'm guessing you haven't played BF2 at high rez/high IQ settings? 2GB makes a HUGE difference. Also FEAR is just a month away
Definitely go for 2x1GB if you are in the market for ram

[Necrosis]

I'm always late to the party.

I'm agree with what Dipstick said. My OCZ sticks are tough little bastards!

[Dark Lord]

ive been thinking about droping another gig in my system, but theres something i cant remember.

do A64, S754, Clawhammer core, even allow use of 2 gigs of ram at pc3200? i seem to remember reading some place when they first came out that they had some problems with 2gig. i know im 100% possitive that they can run dual channel.

[CDsDontBurn]

Originally Posted by another-user

ive been thinking about droping another gig in my system, but theres something i cant remember.

do A64, S754, Clawhammer core, even allow use of 2 gigs of ram at pc3200? i seem to remember reading some place when they first came out that they had some problems with 2gig. i know im 100% possitive that they can run dual channel.

sorry to burst your bubble there, but all s754 A64 chips cannot run dual channel mode. the memory controller is restricted on that w/the 754s. I know that they can run 2Gb of memory, but they will not run in dual channel mode.

[Dark Lord]

and this is what happens when i dont proof my own writing.... misplace a damn T and the whole sentence changes meaning.

anyways, i just couldnt remember if the S754s could run 2 gig or not.

[CDsDontBurn]

Originally Posted by dipstick

I would take 3-3-3-8-1T over 2-2-2-5-2T any day. The 1T/2T setting makes more difference than all other memory settings combined!

That's the one advantage that Intel has over AMD as far as memory controller goes. 1T vs. 2T timing when running all four dimms. The p4 will still run the 1T timing w/the low latency clocks even with all dimms being used up. Though, TBH man, 1T vs. 2T won't make a significant difference when playing games that I would care about. I prefer tighter timings instead of a better command

[H3X4D3C1M4L]

Originally Posted by ReDGuiTaR

You re wrong on this ... 2GB really improve smothness and really lower loading and quitting time ... with 1GB it take around 1-2 min to quit before you can run another app on windows ... less than 40 sec with 2GB ...

So going back to desktop faster is worth the extra $200 for you?

I'm not saying not to I'm only saying in terms of FPS levels you won't see a gain, and for most people thats the be all end all.

Besides arguably getting a faster hard drive is the better solution to reduce load times.

And you can always move your page file to a separate physical disk and see load time decreases, not as much as adding more ram but if you have a 2nd disk anyway its free

[ReDGuiTaR]

So going back to desktop faster is worth the extra $200 for you?

Hey ! the loading time is a bonus ! general smoothness increase worth 200$ though and it is " futureproof " .. common we all know that it will be essential soon ...