howie
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-08
Little Falls, NJ
1 edit | reply to Duchess44
Re: Windows Vista and RAm
It's totally FALSe... you DO NOT need to upgrade to 64 bit with 4GB. I have no idea where people hear this stuff. |
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Duchess44
Premium
join:2001-10-24
Chattanooga, TN
 ·Comcast
| reply to howie
said by howie  :Vista will see about 3.5GB of 4GB installed in a 32-bit OS. I use 2-2048MB sticks with Vista 32-bit. » www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···20145184It was less than $50 for 4GB of PC6400 DDR2 800Mhz. RAM. If and when I install Vista or Win 7 64-bit, It'll use all 4GB. At some point, I'll probably add 4GB (2-2GB sticks) when I switch to a 64 bit OS. If I were you, I'd just buy a kit with 2-2GB modules. [EDIT] I don't know if your system can use 2GB modules. Hopefully someone here does.... Right. That's what I am trying to figure out. I believe it can only do 1gig. It has 4 slots, total of 4gig of memory can be installed on it. So I would guess that it would be 1 gig sticks. |
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longstreet
join:2004-11-14
Plano, TX
1 edit | reply to Duchess44
said by Duchess44 :said by longstreet :You have a graphics card right? 512 mb? If you have 512mb graphics and 4 gig of ram . . . 500 gets addressed from the video and 3 gig of main memory gets addressed on top of that. Totally addressed memory? == ~ 3.5 gig You're wasting the last gig. If you were using all of it, you'd see 4.5 gig addressed. Yes, I do have a card like that. So you are saying I should just the the 3 gig ram? If you don't want to upgrade to a 64 bit OS, then stick with 3 gig of ram. You can't benefit by putting more in.
If you do want to upgrade to a 64 bit OS, then you will benefit from putting MORE than 3 gig in the machine.
Whether or not you want to is up to you.
If you play wow, you don't need 4 gig. Q6600 + 512 video + 3 gig ram is more than enough. |
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howie
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-08
Little Falls, NJ
| reply to Duchess44
I just wanted to make it clear that you don't need to use a 64-bit OS if you use 4GB. Yes, not all of it's used but it is perfectly alright to do so. Sorry for any confusion but I thought some might think that you can't use Vista 32 with 4GB, period. |
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Duchess44
Premium
join:2001-10-24
Chattanooga, TN
·Comcast
| reply to longstreet
said by longstreet :said by Duchess44 :said by longstreet :You have a graphics card right? 512 mb? If you have 512mb graphics and 4 gig of ram . . . 500 gets addressed from the video and 3 gig of main memory gets addressed on top of that. Totally addressed memory? == ~ 3.5 gig You're wasting the last gig. If you were using all of it, you'd see 4.5 gig addressed. Yes, I do have a card like that. So you are saying I should just the the 3 gig ram? If you don't want to upgrade to a 64 bit OS, then stick with 3 gig of ram. You can't benefit by putting more in. If you do want to upgrade to a 64 bit OS, then you will benefit from putting MORE than 3 gig in the machine. Whether or not you want to is up to you. If you play wow, you don't need 4 gig. Q6600 + 512 video + 3 gig ram is more than enough. K got it. Thank you for clearing it up. I will never use Vista 64. No use for it. What I have now works fine. I just want to be able to play WoW and get a decent FPS. And it has blown into this whole deal about memory and graphics cards and OS's (is that the correct term?) |
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longstreet
join:2004-11-14
Plano, TX
4 edits | If you want better fps you can always upgrade your graphics. Games these days are more video card dependant.
If you do get a bigger video card (greater than 512 mb), windows will address that additional memory up to 1gig, so you'll actually loose addressable main memory, making the switch to 64 bit at that point VERY sensible.
In fact, upgrading to 64 bit, slapping a 1 gig card in, and upgrading to 4 gig ram. .will probably net you serious fps improvements. |
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howie
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-08
Little Falls, NJ
| reply to Duchess44
I'm using this card and I'm completely happy with it (scores a 5.9 on Vista's WEI)...
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···14102719
I'm sure there are several other good recommendations.  |
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Duchess44
Premium
join:2001-10-24
Chattanooga, TN
·Comcast
| Yea I think right now I am just going to tackle one thing at a time. Right now I am going to worry about the memory. I believe, thanks' to everyone here, I will just get 3 gig. Just trying to figure out which to get...seeing as the price is SO different between Newegg and Crucial. Crucial was way cheaper. If it was the same memory, which it should be. |
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PeteC2
Got Mouse?
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-20
Bristol, CT
clubs:
 ·AT&T Yahoo
| Well, I see no compelling reason for you to upgrade your ram...2gb is just fine for what you want to run, and do. Is there anything "wrong" with going to 3gb or 4gb? No, but I suspect that you will be hard-pressed to tell the difference.
Funny thing is, if you do want to upgrade your ram, then I would recommend going to 4gb, rather than 3gb. The reason is that at 3gb you will not be running your memory in dual channel mode, and while that is not a huge issue, you will lose a small amount of performance over running in dual channel.
--
Deeds, not words |
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dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
| reply to Duchess44
said by Duchess44 :Strange that's exactly how mine looked when I took it. Only it was 1.37 instead of 1.35. BTW..is that with or without WoW running? And, where do I look on here to see what Memory I need to purchase? Without.
Don't do WoW.
I have a bunch of other crap though.
This is with Flatout 2 running ontop of everything else(see pic)
Crucial has a scanner that should see what you got and what it can hold:
»www.crucial.com/
--
Think outside the Fox... Opera |
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dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
| reply to Duchess44
WoW? |
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howie
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-08
Little Falls, NJ
| Cool tool, dadkins ! |
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Duchess44
Premium
join:2001-10-24
Chattanooga, TN
·Comcast
| reply to dadkins
Sorry, guess I should have been more specific. The latest expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, is a much more graphic-intense game and a little harder on systems than the original.
Try that one and see if there is any difference |
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howie
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-08
Little Falls, NJ
| Not too bad... |
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Duchess44
Premium
join:2001-10-24
Chattanooga, TN
·Comcast
| How did it do on the recommended specs? That's what your first test showed.
Here's mine...(sorry, my screen isn't so big |
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Keizer
I'M Your Huckleberry
Premium,MVM
join:2003-01-20
1 edit | reply to Duchess44
If you are a gamer, then 2 gigs of RAM is bare bones minimum with Vista. I have 8 gigs running Vista 64, and some games use 28% of my 8 gigs of RAM at times.
By the way, that "Can you run it" test does not read video RAM correctly. |
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djrobx
join:2000-05-31
Valencia, CA
 ·PHONE POWER
 ·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T CallVantage
·Time Warner VOIP
·RoadRunner Cable
1 edit | reply to Duchess44
2GB should be OK. If you use Aero and have a large high resolution monitor or dual displays, you really need more. Aero uses a tremendous amount of RAM when you have a large desktop.
--
AT&T U-Hearse
Your funeral. Delivered.
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idlewillkill
Go Blue
Premium
join:2005-09-28
North York, ON
| reply to Duchess44
You mentioned you're not terribly happy with the performance you're getting right now.
Have you turned the shadow detail down?
It carries a HUGE performance penalty. I have mine down to medium. My video card isn't a beast, but faster than yours, and high shadow detail made it cry. |
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idlewillkill
Go Blue
Premium
join:2005-09-28
North York, ON
| reply to Duchess44
FYI, this is what I'm running to get ~60 FPS, on a Q6600 OC to 3.2 ghz, 4 gigs RAM, and a slightly overclocked 9800GT. Resolution is 1680 x 1050, so you wouldn't need as much to hit decent framerates at a lower resolution. |
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elios
join:2005-11-15
Springfield, MO
·Mediacom
2 edits | reply to Duchess44
DDR2 is cheaper then air no point and not upgrading to 4GB
wile some will SAY you need 64bit windows this is not totally true
you can run it just fine some of the ram will not be used becouse some hardware uses the address range space
but dont let that stop you
in the mean time if you really want to use it all Windows 7 Beta is great and free for the next year and gives you time to save up and buy a copy just get the 64bit ver
oh Running WoW maxed out but shadows one noch back
~60FPS all the time on a OCed E7200 @ 3.8Ghz Dual core and a GTX260
4GB of ram on Vista x64 |
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