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My system is setup with 2x512MB. I recently bought 2x1GB stick of Kingston because I need to pair them. Before I crack open my case and open the RAM I was wondering if I should just stick with the 1GB or return the 2 Gigs I just bought and get 2 512's.
Also worth noting: The Gigs I bought are Kingstons that I bought from Newegg for $69 a piece. Seemed like a sweet deal to me so I pounced.
i would sell one of your 1gb sticks, so your'e left with 2gb ram, that would be nessacary for your system for optimum performance. 3gb is too much if your using it for general use or gaming
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ Skt.939
1gb Ram
2x 250gb Maxtor HDD
XFX Geforce 7300Le PCi-e
Asus A8V-VM SE
Win TV
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I have PC2-5300 2x512 in my system right now. I bought 2x1GB PC2-5300 from Newegg. I ran Memtest86 on my machine over night and there are no reported probs with my current RAM. I would have bought just one of the 1Gig sticks but my system needs pairs according to Crucial.
I guess I could sell the 2 512's I have and use a 2GB setup, but I don't think I'd get a worth while price for used RAM. Might as well keep it?
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You'll have no problem running 3GB. However, you probably wouldn't see any performance difference between 2GB & 3GB...& may not see a significant performance boost over 1GB. It all depends on what you use your system for. Since you're posting in the gaming forum, my guess is you want better gaming performance. What video card do you have?
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I have an ATI x1300Pro. 256MB. I think the GPU is either 500 or 600MHz.
I've been having a lot of problems running CS: Source lately. Mostly due to a glitchy sound codec it appears so i disabled the sound. The other error is apparently a Direct3d problem; the error "IDirect3DDevice9::Present()" pops up. Steam Support has apparently been getting these error reports lately and they're investigating the issue.
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Addition:
I already downloaded the lastest drivers for the GFX card and have DX9.c
I checked for updated drivers for my sound setup and they were all up to date.
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At least part of the problem is your weak video card. Have a look at this chart...in blue you'll see your card vs a 7600GT. The 7600GT is a decent mid range card that sells for about $100:
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Wow, nice visual comparison. Hmmm, so maybe for now I should just return the RAM, stick with my 1024MB PC2-5300 (which run very well), and spend the $140 on a new gfx card. Since 1GB is pretty decent still, I could wait until RAM prices drop even more??
And b*tch to Dell about they're crappy soundcard. =P
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2gb of ram is the best you can do with 32bit OSes anything beyond that is a waste. However if you are running 64bit OS 4gb of ram and above is ideal.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ OC 2.7ghz
2GB Dual Channel DDR 3200
Nvidia 7900GT
SATA II 2x 300gig 7200rpm 16mb cache RAID-0+1
Gigabyte Nforce 4 SLI
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Sooo, would you recommend doing what I considered in Response #8? Return RAM --> buy better GFX card?
Thanks to everyone for their responses, They were much appreciated.
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"2gb of ram is the best you can do with 32bit OSes "
Not true.
32bit OS's limit is 4gig of addressable ram.
Are you ready for where Microsoft wants you to go today?
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Exactly. anything beyond 2gb of ram on a 32bit system is a waste, thus is why I didn't say max,but waste instead. So therefor it is true.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ OC 2.7ghz
2GB Dual Channel DDR 3200
Nvidia 7900GT
SATA II 2x 300gig 7200rpm 16mb cache RAID-0+1
Gigabyte Nforce 4 SLI
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Hmm... Calling it a waste is a bit of an overstatement actually. If you really want your apps to work the 3gbs or ram, you'll need to edit the boot.ini to expand the usage of your ram for applications. Microsoft network has instructions on how to do so as well.
Its never a waste to have 3 or even 4 gb on your 32bit OS. Its supported for a reason.
2gb will be used by the system files while the other 2gb are used by your applications. You can change this however so your applications can use 3gb of the ram while the 1gb remain for your system.
Look it up. Its an old trick used by experts who know how.
Sure, the average consumer has not clue what a boot.ini is, but now you do. Expand your knowledge through microsoft's official page.
I run a self built system with an aged Pentium 4 HT processor running at 3.4ghz with 4gbs of DDR 3200 ram and a radeon x800 256mb card with 500mb memory and 500mhz clock speed which i overclocked by merely 60% each. Mind you, my graphics card is also 16 pixel pipelines enhanced.
The more pixel pipelines you have on your card, the smoother and better your games will look.I run Doom3 with the highest ultimate graphics setting on without a problem, no lie to you. The visuals are sharp, unpixeled, smooth and downright amazing.
ATI radeon x800. I dont recommend ATI for graphics, but I'll tell yoy now, this puppy burns. And im not talking heat dissipation either.
You can have what I have for less than 600.00 now if you shop in the right places. Newegg is definitely a great source. But there are others.ALSO... sometimes when installing new ram sticks to your system, if the latencies are different, you may run into problems with Windows reading them/using them correctly. Now a lot people would hate this but the best way to start with new ram, is to have your system reformatted. A clean slate.
Dont have to take my word for it, opinions are opinions, but if i wanted to recommend anything, id say keep your ram stick. Its not going to hurt. And yes, you may see some big differences.
I used my computer for everything. Photoshop, music production and gaming. I was running my OS with 2gb of ram and let me say, there is a big difference in speed.
Remember, boot.ini. A small edit will do. You have to be careful though. Read into it. Its worth it. And you'll be using that pc for a nice long while before jumping on the 64bit era. =]
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