I have a pretty good computer, specs at the bottom... I am a senior admin for my clan and mostly play COD UO. Being an admin it is fairly frequent that I will have 4 or 5 IE windows open, server controls, forums, ban progrms, message programs, stats programs, etc etc, open at the same time I have my game open, so I can test settings and such while I am in game. I am also always moving from game to desktop and back again.

Recently I noticed that while I have 1gig of ram, when I have all this stuff open I am using all but about 100megs of ram(lots of times under 50megs), and 650-700megs of pagefile and sometimes more. While I dont really notice a slowdown or lag or anything like that, the amount of page file being used bothers me a bit.

I'm trying to decide if I should get another gig of ram for my box.(4x512). I have the san diego core cpu so if I put 4 dimms in my computer it will all run at PC3200(unlike other cores that will run 4 at pc2700), but it will run at T2 instead of T1 timings.

I'm looking for advice on getting this ram... Is it worth it? will the T2 timings slow down my computer? will it even be noticable? or will it help speed things up?

Thanks in advance!
Chris

specs...
amd64 4000+, 2.4ghz, San diego core
Zaleman heatsink/fan
1gig corsair xms pc3200LL 2-3-2-6
Gigabyte k8nsc-939 mobo
2 raptors in RAID0
BFG 6800gtOC agp

those are the main componants, let me know if you need more info.

Increasing your RAM amount won't necessarily cut back on use of the swapfile, but you could try optimizing it so that it's faster & more efficient:

http://www.petri.co.il/pagefile_optimization.htm

ASUS A7N8X-X
Athlon XP 1800+
8.5 x 200MHz
1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro SP1

If you don't notice a slow down or lag, then why do you want extra ram? It sounds to me you have no problem from that sentence.
Possibly try Firefox instead of IE? Tabbed browsing.

AMD Barton 3200
1024mb PC3200 Ram
Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb
A7N8X-E Deluxe

How about a KVM switch and a second even not very fast computer on which you could do your admin tasks?

Heck, a P2 should be able to do your admin tasks without much problem.

"Republicans in Congress are moving to ratify a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, thus ending the Iraq insurgency."

well... its not so much a problem with all those things slowing down my computer, but more or less optomizing it to get the best possible performance(I'm a constant tweaker). I do have a laptop I occasionally run as a second computer, but I have actully found it easier for a variety of reasons to just use my dual monitor setup.

What I was thinking was that if windows only uses a certain amoutn of page file to work, then I could set the pagefile to the lowest windows needs and move all the other stuff out of page file onto my ram to make things a bit quicker. Most of the places I do research at say not to do this b/c it will bog down your ram, but these places also recommend 512mb of ram overall for best performance. They dont mention if it would help or hurt when running large amounts of ram(2-4gigs).

More or less I have about $200 I am looking to spend on my computer right now Ram is one of the few things that I can think of to upgrade that will only be a $200 upgrade as I just rebuilt my computer with pretty top quality gear. But I dont want to upgrade if it is going to have no effect, or a negative effect. Other suggestions are welcomed :)

Thanks again!
Chris

"What I was thinking was that if windows only uses a certain amoutn of page file to work, then I could set the pagefile to the lowest windows needs and move all the other stuff out of page file onto my ram to make things a bit quicker."

That isn't a good idea. However, you could do a few other things that will help.

1. Make your min and max of page file for each drive the same. Total amount should be 1.5x your RAM generally.

2. Get another hard drive, and split the total page file between your current array and that one.

3. If you do add the extra RAM, be sure to edit your boot.ini by adding /3GB to the line referencing your OS.

"Republicans in Congress are moving to ratify a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, thus ending the Iraq insurgency."

Thanks for the replies!

ok... so I am hearing the general consensus for more ram is on negative side...

So is it because it will just not have much of an effect at all? or will it slow down my computer in some way?

Any other ideas on how to spend $200? :)

It shouldn't hurt your performance, but I doubt you'll see much gain out of it.

However, you MAY see some issues running 4 sticks of memory which may force you to loosen your RAM timings.

Other ways to spend $200...since you're running RAID0, got an external hard drive to back your system up?

Using onboard sound? Could buy that new Creative soundcard coming out soon.

http://www.soundblaster.com/products/x-fi/technology/

Save up for a phat dual core since you're doing so much multitasking? :-/

I'm also accepting donations for the Heropsycho Needs a New Home Theater Receiver Fund. Donations are even non-tax deductible!

"Republicans in Congress are moving to ratify a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, thus ending the Iraq insurgency."

Yeah I'd save your $$$ for a new PC in the distant future.
I wouldn't even buy an external HD, just back your files onto your Laptop every month or so. That's what I do, but I am quite cheap :D

AMD Barton 3200
1024mb PC3200 Ram
Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb
A7N8X-E Deluxe

The link I posted explains the how's & why's of setting the XP swapfile for optimal peformance

ASUS A7N8X-X
Athlon XP 1800+
8.5 x 200MHz
1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro SP1

Buy an x-box, set up linux on it and run that as a constant monitoring station? just throwing out ideas =D

Thanks for the suggestions... I think I'll hold off on the RAM. No point in spending $200 for 0% performance gain and no other benifits other than bragging rights. As far as Pagefile, I have actully seen that link before and have done alot of the suggestions on there... I think will try some more of them though.

Thanks for the suggestions on how to spend my money... So far no-joy though... I already have back up harddrive(internal). I'm running the Audigy 2 ZS platinum for a sould card which is about all I need. I'll be getting the dual core cpu(probabbly x2 4600+) in a few months and the money has already been set aside for that(half off neweggs price:) And lastly... I gave at the office! :)

Here are my full specs if people have more suggestions on anything I should/can get... I'm out of ideas...

--amd64 4000+, 2.4ghz, San diego core
--Zaleman heatsink/fan
--500W ultra modular power supply
--1gig corsair xms pc3200LL 2-3-2-6
--Gigabyte k8nsc-939 mobo
--2 10000rpm raptors in RAID0 w/harddrive cooler
--1 80gig WD 7200RPM backup drive
--1/DVD, 1/DVD-RW, 1 CD-RW(all fast)
--Temp sensors on CPU,RAM,Case,HDDs
--BFG 6800gtOC agp w/Silencer 5 Revision 2
--Soundblaster audigy2 ZS platinum
--TV Tuner Card
--heavily modified Aspire X-superalien case with 5 fans and fan controls(case system cpu)
--2 19in CRT monitors
--400W 4.1 Altec speakers, great speakers would not trade them for anything.
--Dual stick saitek joysticks
--Logitech Lazer mouse
--Saitek gaming keyboard

The only thing I really need to do is upgrade to pciexpress, but I'm going to wait untill I get the x2 to do that. I've alocated $200 this month to spend on my box, but cant think of anything to get. I'm open to suggestions, hopefully things with a performance gain, or if no gain, at least useful in some way or another...

Thanks again!
Chris

Not sure why you're pushing to go PCI-e. If your motherboard can handle a dual core, why change the motherboard out? PCI-e and AGP twins perform just as well as the other. You also do realize that games won't perform any better with dual core. I only mentioned it because you're doing a boatload of multitasking.

But you and I are very different in our spending habits. I'd rather have two good systems than one slamming system, and I probably spent half the money doing so.

"Republicans in Congress are moving to ratify a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, thus ending the Iraq insurgency."

well, I'm pushing PCI-express b/c the 6800 is the last line of AGP cards(or so I have been told)... I'll want a 512mb video card when they are readily available, and I am guessing I'll be hard pressed to find one for agp.

As for the X2, it really wont cost that much to upgrade. I get cpus for half of what newegg charges... So in a few months I'll get an X2 for like 350-$400(reg price $800approx) and sell the 4000 which I got for half off, for like 275-$300 more or less depending on who I sell it to.

I'm aware that the X2 will not give me any advantage in gaming... yet... But it will as soon as they come out with some games that are optimized for them and I want to be ready. I dont know how long I will have this hookup so its better to do it now then later when I might have to pay full price.

I definatly dont have the average spending habits. I would much rather have one kicking computer than two. I upgrade frequently, but my upgrades dont usually end up costing too much b/c of my friends. Now I just need a hookup at ati or nvidea and I'll be set! :)

Dude, an X2 4600 will perform worse than your current CPU in games that aren't optimized for dual core, which right now means every game! Doesn't sound like a good inventment to me!

"Republicans in Congress are moving to ratify a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning, thus ending the Iraq insurgency."

I have heard as well that the x2 will underperform my current cpu in games, but take a look at toms harware's benchmarks. They compare the X2 4800(2.4ghz) to the AMD64 4000+(2.4ghz). The X2 4800 is the one I will probabbly get in a few months and it will cost me about 400-$450, and after I sell my current cpu it will cost me a total of about $150 all said and done.

In the benchmark results, the X2 4800 beat the amd64 4000 in every bench, some benches not by much, and some by alot. most of the games and such the x2 beat the 4000 by only a fraction, but in encoding, multitasking, and things like that, it blew the 4000 out of the water, alot of time halfing the time it took to encode audio and video.

So, Since I do alot of multitasking while my games are running, combined with the fact that I'll get better performance, slightly in some places to huge gains in others. Along with the facts that it will only cost me a net of $150 and peice of mind that I will be able to play games optomized for the X2 when they comes out, it sounds like a no-brainer.

Now if I hade to pay full price for the cpu($900-$1000) then it would be a totally differnt story. Even if I went with the X2 4600, the performance loss would be minimal in game. I mean when I am already getting 200-300fps in CODUO, what is a drop of 10fps really going to do to me?