Will the addition of RAM increase my GW performance?

So I have an old Dell Dimension 1100, it has a Nvidia GeForce 6200 in it now that eotn wouldn't load with my old integrated. On the computer I only have 512mb of RAM, and I am wondering if by adding 1-2g more, how much will it increase my GW performance?

-Thx

so, you are saying that your computer will not load with your current integrated graphics? If so adding RAM will not help it any.

It's hard to say if adding more RAM will help GW in particular, but it will make your whole computer work better.

If you have just 512mb of RAM I'm sure adding even just another 512mb would help Guild Wars, though I'm not sure if that's why you aren't loading.

Sometimes I exceed 1 gig of RAM in Guild Wars in some towns, and running on virtual memory = Sloooooooooooow.

his post is a little confusing
but i think hes sayin that his old integrated video didnt run eotn (most likely dx6 or dx7 based)
and so he upgraded to his now current geforce 6200

i have similar specs
512mb and geforce 6200
(well almost exactly the same specs lol)

imo it will improve performance
but only so slightly

dun expect any noticeable fps increase
but u may notice faster load times and overall smoother experience

i get hickups from time to time especially when playin pvp
when u get constant new loads every few minutes or so


forgot to mention
ur rig is fairly old
make sure to get the rite type of memory

ima take a guess and say it will most likely be ddr(1) ram
careful not to buy ddr2
(but check ur mobo specs to makes sure)

upgrading from 512 to 1g+ is a HUGE change.

Yeah. I recently when from a 512 to a 4g computer. BIG difference in everything, GW included. Although if you can't run GW:EN at all... there is likely something else that is causing issues.

However, upgrading beyong 1gb to 1gb+ won't give any noticeable performance boosts (at all).

Just recently upgraded from 1gb to 3gb, performance is the same.
(However, I can now play with two GW-clients simultaneously without any major performance issues. And other games which require more ram work better now, of course.)

OK, sorry if my post was a little confusing, I had trouble loading things in EoTN, so I upgraded to the 6200, and it fixed the problem. I still just load pretty slow and can't use graphics on high settings. So basically what you guys are saying is that 1g is basically just the staple for good quality on GW?

EDIT: I looked at my Everest Home Edition and for my slot it says "Field Value
DRAM Slot #1 512 MB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM)
"


I'm guessing that this is DDR ram and not DDR2 ram

Yus thats what ive gathered also Bri.
The 6200 was in no way a gamer card, ive previously owned a 5200U that was only marginally worse, since you're stuck in AGP,like myself, i recommend this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131090
Or for a bit more money and a better cooling solution
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161226

I'm not sure where this came from but 1gb to 3gigs...big difference, in XP and especially Vista.

dun expect to be able to run max settings on a 6200

im runnin high in all settings (except reflections/shadows) but no post-processing effects or anti-aliasing
get a decent 30-40fps

the problem wit the low-end cards is that things like fsaa and post-processing will have a seriously huge hit on fps compared to mid/high-end cards

I had 512 MB RAM too, and gw ran pretty decent, but after a hour a playing, locations, outposts were loading very slow. Very slow. Now, one month ago, i bought 2 GB RAM. Its just incredible how fast gw is working for me right now.

Yup. PC3200, a.k.a. DDR-400.

You need something like this: http://crucial.com/store/partspecs.a...T2KIT12864Z40B

Not that I'm advocating Crucial any more - they've been producing some pretty shoddy memory of late. That's just an example and a price guide.

Assuming your mobo can take a pair of 1GB modules (it should), throw away the 512 and install these.

You could keep your existing 512 and just add more, but it's best not to mix and match memory modules.

[EDIT] Forget the Crucial - look at these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231047

Big difference, but not for GW.
But maybe my system was just so clean and well-configured, because GW already ran perfectly smooth at 1gb, with no noticable performance increase after upgrading to 3gb.

Running XP, though.

Thank you all for your help, I am again curious though, I've heard that the 1100's do support dual channel, but how would I make that work if I did get 2 cards like that? Also one more thing, around where I live I basically just have a futureshop and a bestbuy... and they both supply "Kingston" brand RAM, is this a good brand?

Kingston is a quality brandname, not the highest speed memory. If speed is what you're after trust Snogs recommendation of G.Skill.

If you plug in 2 identical RAM modules into the proper slots (check the mobo manual) the dual-channel configuration will be set automatically. It usually involves either putting them both in slots of the same color, but sometimes, it's slots of different colors - actually, the manual says there are only 2 available slots anyway.

For the average user, not into stuff like overclocking, the Kingston RAM will do fine. FutureShop's price is reasonable.

OK, yea that is kind of what I thought, Just building on the topic of RAM and stuff, what does overclocking mean?

EDIT: and what is the difference between normal ram and value ram?

Many components in a computer are designed to work at a certain "clock" frequency. For example, a 2.2GHz cpu is designed to run at a frequency of 2.2 giga Hertz (2.2 billion cycles per second). The design frequency is based around certain operating parameters, such as voltage & temperature, which will ensure the component will work relaiably.
Overclocking is when you set up a component to run at a frequency higher than it was designed for. (Underclocking is the opposite.)

The term "Value RAM" depends upon the manufacturer or seller of the RAM, but generally speaking it means no-frills RAM without fancy packaging and with baseline performance specs. For most users, it's perfectly fine.

On win xp yeah, just like going from 1 to 2 gig ram running vista is like night and day...