2gb RAM slows PC?

[Malfunction]

Just read this in the other thread, and it's a bit confusing....anyone care to explain?

 

[Ecthe|ioN]

I've also heard it, and read it on a benchmark page somewhere. Can't remember why though. My rig works great even though I was stupid enough to buy 2gigs of RAM.

 

[Hazar]

I don't see why it would.

I've never heard of this.

 

[ailevation]

Surprisingly benchmarks showed that 2 Gig did decrease perforamance a bit, ask Asus... he was the one who posted the link before.

 

[blahblahblah]

Think of Ram as a spreadsheet.

With 1 GB, it is a big spreadsheet. With 2 GB, it is an even larger spreadsheet. Logically, it will take longer to find a piece of information in the larger spreadsheet than the smaller one.

If you need 2 GB of Ram, obviously you need it. However, if you only need 1 GB of RAM (the absolute most used in games today) and have 2 GB of Ram, there will be a delayed incurred because it takes a bit longer for the computer to find the appropriate piece of data in 2 GB of Ram.

 

[Shuzer]

Think of it as a cookie.

The bigger the cookie, the longer it takes to eat.


My explanation is more simple, therefore, I win.

 

[ailevation]

No, think of it as a banana, the larger it is the longer it is to eat, the smaller the faster.

Mine was by far the best, the most explanatory, and most understandable, there I WIN!

 

[Gunsnroses]

Girls eating bananas *drools*

 

[Subatomic]

I am probably wrong, but I heard

2x1024 doesn't decrease performance, while 512x4 does.

 

[ailevation]

:thumbs: There you go, I heard something like that as well. I am trying to remember if the dude said 4 Gigs of 1024 though or something.

 

[Tr0n]

I am probably wrong, but I heard

2x1024 doesn't decrease performance, while 512x4 does.

I heard it was opposite of this...ugh..ram is confusing.All I know is I want that Rambus XDRAM! :thumbs:

 

[RABIES]

2GB can actually benefit you *if* you use it. Note that RAM access speed is faster than actual hard drive speed, I for one have noticed that alot of games (IE Doom 3, Far Cry, The Sims 2) will tend to keep their level data in RAM since there is an abundancy of it. If I were to reload a doom 3 level or return to a city in Sims 2 it would simply pull it from RAM, and I know this because my hard drives don't spin up until I have accessed a new location or new data.

However, if you look at CPU tests with cache benchmarks, you will see some tests where the lower end CPU actually beats out the uber CPU, mostly because of cache access times. Sure its only seconds spared but the results are staggering how much faster 256kb of cache is vs. 512kb or even 1-2MB. I know that deals with CPUs, but it is relatively the same concept.

 

[Asus]

Ok there are a few concepts here to understand.

First, the 1GB sized memory modules are slow because of their timings. If you look up 1GB memory the average has a CAS of 2.5 or 3. And most have 3 for stability reasons. 512MB and smaller DIMMs have as low as Cas 2 (2-2-2-5) timings. So the bottom line here: it's possible to buy quicker memory at sizes 512MB and below.

Second, what blahblahblah said matters slightly and aligns itself with the third point.

And then what I usually post a link on, the limit with the memory controller. Link
Think of that spreedsheet that blahblahblah mentioned but think that a memory controller can only see 1 sheet properly to maintain performance. If you have more memory addresses that would fill more than 1 sheet then it will increase latency or speed depending on the memory controller.

Now if you actually need that much memory and use the memory to it's fullest then your benefits will outweigh these negatives. Just about anything is faster than waiting on the data to be read from the harddrive.

 

[ShinRa]

Omg asus your completely wrong......









it's outweigh...not outway.

 

[Asus]

Omg asus your completely wrong......
it's outweigh...not outway.

outway what?
muhaha edited :E

I just reinstalled my system and I'm glad I remembered to save all of my web favs, otherwise I wouldn't be able to provide that link!

 

[allan127]

guys.. never go for 2 gigs of ram really.. i had 1 gig in my computer before and after i think adding another 1 gig might increase the speed a bit so purchased another 1 gig(2x 512 pc3200). the result is it runs at the same speed . at least i can't feel it at all the only difference i can feel is i can run d2 war3 and cs source at the same time... but i don't think anyone could possibly play 3 games at the same time.. conclusion, i suggest ppl don't go for 2 gigs unless they do pro jobs that requires a lot of memory.

 

[RABIES]

conclusion, i suggest ppl don't go for 2 gigs unless they do pro jobs that requires a lot of memory.

Good point here...typically the only applications that qualify for needing 2GB of RAM would be:
-Professional Video Editing software
-CAD design software
-Animation software

Using programs that generally render 30-50 million polys require such an...abundant...amount of RAM. So perhaps the first game that will break this barrier would be Unreal Tournament 9 or something similar in the year 2018 . Until then, you should have no issues with 1GB of RAM (just be sure it's dual channel) :smoking:

 

[Ecthe|ioN]

Well.. Bought is bought.. I don't want to throw 2x512 out of the window now would I?

 

[RABIES]

I don't want to throw 2x512 out of the window now would I?

No......but i'll take em :E