2x1Gb PC8500 Dominator or 4x1Gb XMS2 PC6400 ?

[Moe_Szyslak]

Can anyone please tell me what will give me the best performance on my new gaming rig? I have a choice between 2x1Gb PC8500 Dominator CL5 or 4x1Gb XMS2 PC6400 CL5. You don't have to take overclocking into account because I wont start doing that untill necessary. I'll be using it with Vista home premium.

Thanks.

[AliG]

depends on what you want to do with it. If you are doing strict gaming, I would say the dominator, but why not just pull 4gb of this stuff? After the rebate, it's pretty darn cheap for performance memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148047

[Moe_Szyslak]

depends on what you want to do with it. If you are doing strict gaming, I would say the dominator, but why not just pull 4gb of this stuff? After the rebate, it's pretty darn cheap for performance memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148047

This pc will be for gaming. And I can't order from newegg. They don't deliver to the netherlands. And 2gb of the dominators is just as expensive as 4gb of the xms2 over here. I just need to know what would give me the highest fps.

Will 2x1Gb PC8500 be enough to last be a while? Games require an increasing amount of memory. How long could I last with 2Gb PC8500 before I need to buy more? I'm hoping I can last a year with this. I can't keep spending money on it every 6 months. And Vista uses more than XP aswell.

[Neon Biker]

I would go for the 4 gigs. If you're not looking to break SuperPi or 3DMark2001 records, there's not much point in spending money on high speed RAM. Well, unless you live in the States and are able to buy that stuff for pocket change. :D

[SoulsCollective]

Go for 4GB. It'll be fast enough, you can stick it on a divider so you won't really be restricting CPU OCs, and you'll be future-proofed for the next two years or so.

[Moe_Szyslak]

Go for 4GB. It'll be fast enough, you can stick it on a divider so you won't really be restricting CPU OCs, and you'll be future-proofed for the next two years or so.

I'll be using the 32 bits version of windows. Couldn't I just use PAE to force 4GB? I don't have any experience with using 4GB on a 32 bits OS. Right now im using 2GB and thats already being used up to 88% during gaming. But it's still PC3200. I'm upgrading to a Q6600, Asus Commando and I would really like to buy 4GB of memory. But I hear a lot of stories that that just can't be done. Does PAE really work?

[SoulsCollective]

I'll be using the 32 bits version of windows. Couldn't I just use PAE to force 4GB? I don't have any experience with using 4GB on a 32 bits OS. Right now im using 2GB and thats already being used up to 88% during gaming. But it's still PC3200. I'm upgrading to a Q6600, Asus Commando and I would really like to buy 4GB of memory. But I hear a lot of stories that that just can't be done. Does PAE really work?
AFAIK all PAE does is let the system recognise that it does in fact have 4GB installed, not 3.XGB, I don't think it allows you to actually use that 4GB. In any case, just buy a copy of Vista - don't let your old OS hold your hardware back.

[Moe_Szyslak]

AFAIK all PAE does is let the system recognise that it does in fact have 4GB installed, not 3.XGB, I don't think it allows you to actually use that 4GB. In any case, just buy a copy of Vista - don't let your old OS hold your hardware back.

I am buying Vista but Vista has the same problem. It's not windows thats at fault but the fact that its a 32 bits OS. Im definitely not going for the 64 bits version due to compatability issues. If only MS did it like Apple. Leopard is 64 bits standard. And fully compatible with their older 32 bit programs.

So is there no way to use 4GB on a 32 bit OS? If anyone can give me a clear answer to that, then I know what to buy.

[SoulsCollective]

I am buying Vista but Vista has the same problem. It's not windows thats at fault but the fact that its a 32 bits OS.
I do realise this. However, if you go buy a retail copy, you're entitled to a x64 version as well for no more than the cost of the postage, which is what I was referring to.

Im definitely not going for the 64 bits version due to compatability issues.
x64 really doesn't have that many issues. They only things that you can't get drivers for are obscure peripherals and some wireless NICs, and even then there are usually workarounds. Look up drivers for all your hardware, I'd be surprised if you had a mainstream system component without drivers.

If only MS did it like Apple. Leopard is 64 bits standard. And fully compatible with their older 32 bit programs.
So is Vista, or even XP for that matter. You can run 32-bit programs under either just fine, the only issue is drivers.

So is there no way to use 4GB on a 32 bit OS? If anyone can give me a clear answer to that, then I know what to buy.
No. You'll be able to use ~3.9GB minus your HDD cache and vid card memory, though, and even 3.2GB of PC6400 RAM will be better, IMHO, than 2GB of PC8500 for anything other than benchmarking.

[Neon Biker]

Usefull links:
1. The 3GB-not-4GB RAM problem (http://blogs.msdn.com/hiltonl/archive/2007/04/13/the-3gb-not-4gb-ram-problem.aspx)
2. Dude, Where's My 4 Gigabytes of RAM? (http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000811.html)
3. Memory Support and Windows Operating Systems (http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.mspx)
4. The system memory that is reported in the System Information dialog box in Windows Vista is less than you expect if 4 GB of RAM is installed (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605/en-us)

[tiro_uspsss]

if ur using 88% of 2GB with current games, guess what RAM usage would b like in 6 months time with Vista & games like Crysis etc etc... go for 4GB!!

read this page: http://www.anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=2917&p=3

they showed a big diff between 2GB & 3GB.. but who goes for 3GB - go 4GB!!

[Moe_Szyslak]

if ur using 88% of 2GB with current games, guess what RAM usage would b like in 6 months time with Vista & games like Crysis etc etc... go for 4GB!!

read this page: http://www.anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=2917&p=3

they showed a big diff between 2GB & 3GB.. but who goes for 3GB - go 4GB!!

I was kinda hoping that 88% usage was due to its low speed.;)

[Neon Biker]

No, speed has nothing to do with usage. If you have a program that needs 2GB, it will still need 2GB even if it's 1000MHz @2-2-2.

[Moe_Szyslak]

No, speed has nothing to do with usage. If you have a program that needs 2GB, it will still need 2GB even if it's 1000MHz @2-2-2.

Maybe I should just wing it and go for vista 64 bits and buy the 4GB of ram. Lets just hope I can get iTunes to work. And hope I don't run into any other problems.

btw, im buying an oem version. So I really have to make the right choice right now. Retail is way too expensive for an OS. It's rediculous. But that's a whole other discussion.

[Yellowbeard]

Also, you mentioned frames per second. FPS will be most dependent upon CPU speed and GPU. If you do not OC your CPU then you will see virtually no difference in FPS using PC8500 vs PC6400. In your case based on your options, I believe the 4gb of PC6400 and 64bit Vista are the best option. Regardless, I'd go with 4gb of memory over 2, even if you can only "see" about 3gb or so. This is still a 50% increase.

[Moe_Szyslak]

Also, you mentioned frames per second. FPS will be most dependent upon CPU speed and GPU. If you do not OC your CPU then you will see virtually no difference in FPS using PC8500 vs PC6400. In your case based on your options, I believe the 4gb of PC6400 and 64bit Vista are the best option. Regardless, I'd go with 4gb of memory over 2, even if you can only "see" about 3gb or so. This is still a 50% increase.

True, but it would be kind of a waste of money. You'd pay for 4GB but only use 2.7 - 3.2. Anyway, I've made up my mind. I'm going for 4GB on 64 bits. On another thread someone just told me exactly what I needed to know about Vista 64 bits. It's still a bit scary, the jump to 64 bits but I think it will pay off in the future.

Thanks for the replies guys :up: