a boost for the next generation

[dlandis72]

I am a pc gamer and at this point, my system is adequate. Here are my primary specs: P4 2.6 GHz 1024 PC3200 RAM 60 Gig HD ATI 9800 XT 256 MB

I want to add another gig of ram to prepare for the next gen games but I was wondering if my CPU would be too much of a bottleneck. I only have about $100 to spend and a good CPU costs more than that so I just wanted to upgrade my ram. Would another gig of ram give me much of a boost for the next gen games (specifically ESIV: Oblivion)?

 

[WhiteZero]

Erm... I'd only go with another stick of 512... 2gig is way overkill even for next gen games.

 

[hungryduck]

what?!? 2 gig is not overkill.....bf2 won't run smoothly without 2 gigs.

 

[dlandis72]

but would the extra ram be bottlenecked by my processor?

 

[giant384]

umm yeah it can run smoothly with 1 gig just not at high quality i can play mostly medium on my pc i would recommend proccesor upgrade over ram

 

[bam23]

If you can go for 2 gigs with cash to spare, go for it.

 

[TheSomeone]

what?!? 2 gig is not overkill.....bf2 won't run smoothly without 2 gigs.

Only if you have spyware using up a whole gig... My BF2 runs perfectly with 1 gig.

 

[WhiteZero]

Next time your running BF2, open up Task Manager and see how much memory it's using.

And yah, make sure you arent running 5,000 programs in the background and that you arent infested with adware/spyware.

 

[jdufault]

D00DZ LOLZ~!!!!!!111one

U NEDZ LIKZ 69 GIGZ!!!!11 OF M3M0REH!!!

ONLEY NO0BZ GETZ ONE oR TOO gIGZ!!!!!

 

[dlandis72]

so what is the consensus? I can't afford a CPU upgrade. Is it worth upgrading my ram without a new CPU to match it? Or is my system adequate to run a game like oblivion?

 

[jdufault]

Truthfully,

You can never be prepared for next gen...until next gen is already here.

But your best bet is at least an athlon64 with 2 gigs of ram...

and a 7800GTX...

 

[Asus]

I personally would not go overkill and get 2GBs of memory on that machine. There will be something else holding you back more. And when you go to switch to a new machine they will probably be using DDR2 by then so you wouldn't be able to put that memory in the new one.

When you look at how much memory a program is using and it is close to the full amount that you have (700MB used out of 1GB for example) then there is a good chance that it is using virtual memory and if you had more memory that it would use more (1200MB of 2GB for example).

 

[WhiteZero]

jesus.. you dont need atleased 2 gigs, 1 or 1.5 is more than good enough. Stop trying to make this guy spend more money then he needs to...

dlandis, your processor is kind of going to hurt you. I'd recommend saving up a bit more and upgrading it and get another stick of 512. Untill then you can just run Obliv on lower settings and eventually treat yourself to High Quality.

 

[Warbie]

It's time to start saving for a new system imo. There comes a point when it's not worth throwing more money at a pc.

You could upgrade the cpu, ram, or gfx card, and not notice much improvement - especially for the money.

 

[Asuka]

what?!? 2 gig is not overkill.....bf2 won't run smoothly without 2 gigs.

I run bf2 all high settings 1024 with 1 gig of 2.2.2.5 ram. 100fps 1 gig of the RIGHT ram is good. You also have to have a pc that doesnt bottleneck./