Will an extra GB of RAM improve my computer's performance? - Guild Wars Guru archive powered by Guild Wars Legacy

{integral}

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Sep 2005

Just down the road.

Mo/

25 Jun 2006 at 08:10 - 1

I know it sounds like a silly question, but i don't really know computers. At the moment I have this:

AMD 64 3200+ Venice Core
160GB SATA Drive
1024MB RAM
Gigabyte nVIDIA GeForce 6600 128MB (soon to be upgraded to a Gainward BLISS 6800GS 512MB)

I'm thinking of upgrading my RAM by another gig before I get my new graphics card - should I?

Kool Pajamas

Forge Runner

Join Date: Aug 2005

Maryland

Mage Elites [MAGE]

25 Jun 2006 at 08:20 - 2

I always say the more RAM the better.

When i went from 512MB to 2GB there was a HUGE difference. Thats about all i can say. But I also got a new video card so that helped too. So I cant really say for sure which would help more. :/

I went from a Radeon 9000 (128MB? dont remember the size) to a Geforce 7800 GTX 256MB

Whatever it was there is a gigantic difference.

Numa Pompilius

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

At an Insit.. Intis... a house.

Live Forever Or Die Trying [GLHF]

W/Me

25 Jun 2006 at 08:20 - 3

For guild wars a faster graphics card would have a greater effect than another gig of ram.

Pajamas: your new graphics card is much, much, much, faster than your old one.

Tarzan The Chetta

Academy Page

Join Date: Jun 2006

Wasuremono Kanji Banzoku [EVGA]

25 Jun 2006 at 08:24 - 4

Well When I upped my ram from 256 to 512 I saw nice improvment..then from 512 to 1024 I saw another leap. Both in Guild Wars and in general function.

Tmm Ryan

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Sep 2005

Plkn

25 Jun 2006 at 08:28 - 5

1GB - 1.5GB roughly boosts your system by 25%

if u had a choice between graphics and ram at this current time. i would say, definetly buy the ram and then save up a decent length of time until the new operating system (vista) is released, and along with it, the new next gen directx10 cards will be out.

If you buy a new graphics card now you will be kicking urself in the foot later when u realise that you have to upgrade again.

{integral}

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Sep 2005

Just down the road.

Mo/

25 Jun 2006 at 08:33 - 6

So whatever graphics card I get before Vista is officially released won't support DX10?

koneko

Site Contributor

Join Date: Sep 2005

38??16′ N 140??52′ E

Mo/Me

25 Jun 2006 at 08:47 - 7

Quote:

Originally Posted by {integral}

So whatever graphics card I get before Vista is officially released won't support DX10?

The rumors about G80 and full DX10 support make my head spin. (Edit: not gonna go there.) If you really want to upgrade your graphics card, take a look at the 7600GT (not DX10 compatible but "Vista Ready" - you get the cool and totally useless Aero Glass effects). Cheap-ish, almost the same price as you'd spend for a 2GB kit of memory...

I, for one, vote for picking up a dual-core X2 very soon at rock-bottom prices instead. Encoding MP3s in the background and playing GW at the same time? How can I possibly resist?

{integral}

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Sep 2005

Just down the road.

Mo/

25 Jun 2006 at 08:51 - 8

Thing is, I'm too scared to change my processor. Mainly because I don't know how.

Lonesamurai

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Apr 2006

Cheltenham, Glos, UK

Wolf Pack Samurai [WPS]

R/A

25 Jun 2006 at 09:13 - 9

Quote:

Originally Posted by {integral}

Thing is, I'm too scared to change my processor. Mainly because I don't know how.

Ok, some of the guys are wrong, I'm still running a PCI (not PCI-E) Nvidia Geforce 5500 with 256mb Ram, its relatively ancient, however it runs with Direct X-10 thanks to the new Vista Drivers which also flashed the Graphics bios witht he new setting... So if you have a better card than I do (which you do), the new drivers on vista will run your card no worries...

And under DX-10, Guild Wars runs sweet as a nut, even on full settings with no graphics Lag... And I'm Running a -
AMD Sempron 2400 32bit Socket A
1Gig RAM
2 X 40Gb HDD's
Windows Vista Beta 2

So yours should be fine as is, but 2Gb RAM never hurts

Opeth11

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Oct 2005

Richmond, British Columbia, Kanada

Demon of the Fall [Opet]

Mo/Me

25 Jun 2006 at 09:15 - 10

Quote:

Originally Posted by {integral}

Thing is, I'm too scared to change my processor. Mainly because I don't know how.

Get an expert to change it? It may cost you a bit more, but it's better than trying it out yourself and destroying your system.

{integral}

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Sep 2005

Just down the road.

Mo/

25 Jun 2006 at 09:18 - 11

Yeah, I might do that instead - after all, nobody's going to sniff at a cheap dual core, even if it costs a bit extra to get it installed.

koneko

Site Contributor

Join Date: Sep 2005

38??16′ N 140??52′ E

Mo/Me

25 Jun 2006 at 09:19 - 12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lonesamurai

Ok, some of the guys are wrong, I'm still running a PCI (not PCI-E) Nvidia Geforce 5500

Hint: the GeForce FX 5500 is a DX9 card. Guild Wars and other games run on Vista via DirectX 9.L. The 5500 does not (and will not) support all the bells and whistles that a DX10-compliant card will be able to in the future (not like it matters for the time being). You can get plenty of cards running under Vista, it's just a matter of how well and what you can get working.

Random image unrelated.

{integral}

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Sep 2005

Just down the road.

Mo/

25 Jun 2006 at 13:33 - 13

So the general consensus is this: Go get another GB of RAM, but wait until DX10-compliant cards come on the market to upgrade your GPU. Oh, and a new processor would be cool too.

'Bout right?

Numa Pompilius

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

At an Insit.. Intis... a house.

Live Forever Or Die Trying [GLHF]

W/Me

25 Jun 2006 at 14:19 - 14

What people in this thread fail to realize, is that all systems are limited by their weakest link. Increasing RAM from 256MB to 1GB gives a big boost since you eliminate disk swapping (which kills performance), but going from 1GB to 2GB gives very little improvement.

In your particular case, you've got sufficient RAM that it's not limiting, you've got a decent CPU so that's not limiting either - so you're limited by your graphics card, which is a fairly slow 6600GT.

Now, you'll get 5-10% higher framerate by buying another gig of RAM, but you'll get 50-90% higher framerate if you replace your 6600GT with a 6800GS.

If you can ALSO get more RAM that's nice, especially if you intend to switch to Vista, but wont do as much for your framerates in games.

{integral}

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Sep 2005

Just down the road.

Mo/

25 Jun 2006 at 14:33 - 15

It's not necessarily for the purpose of playing games that I want to upgrade my PC, it's primarily for the switch to Vista I intend to make a few months after it's released. I'm told I need at least a gig of RAM and 128MB VRAM to be 'Vista Ready', and I don't think I'll get a lot of satisfaction out of Vista if I'm running just with the baseline specs.

MelechRic

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jun 2005

RA

[ODIN]

N/Mo

25 Jun 2006 at 15:23 - 16

I've got almost your exact setup:

6600GT (Chaintech) PCI-Express
3500 AMD Althon 64 (Venice)

AND 2 Gigs of RAM

I upgraded from 1 to 2 when I got F.E.A.R. because the load times were terrible. I figured more RAM = faster loading.

When it came to Guild Wars, though, it didn't seem to make much difference at all. The game runs at about the same performance level.

I'm now considering getting the 7600GT because it's at the right price point for me. ~$150. I my also go to a dual core because I like the fact that the system can do background tasks while I game without degrading performance.

I think RAM will help you in the long run. Especially for games with a large memory footprint. I just don't think Guild Wars benefits that much from it.

Just my two cents...

Horseman Of War

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jun 2006

The Cult of Doom

P/

27 Jun 2006 at 22:47 - 17

guild wars will not need/use the extra ram

get a new video card instead. 1gb of ram is plenty even for a game like oblivion (which runs about 85% of 1gb)

LouAl

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Dec 2005

27 Jun 2006 at 23:14 - 18

I was running a
3.4 ghz intel chip
RAID 0 on 2 160 GB drives
1GB ram
x300 gpu

Now I am running a
3.4 ghz intel chip
RAID 0 on 2 160 GB drives
1GB ram
7600 gt superclocked

GW remained exactly the same. All settings are still maxed.

other games (ie oblivion) run stubstantially better, but GW is unaffected by the switch...well not totally, it had a few issues that I HOPE the newest drivers have fixed.

Numa Pompilius

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

At an Insit.. Intis... a house.

Live Forever Or Die Trying [GLHF]

W/Me

27 Jun 2006 at 23:24 - 19

LouAl: that is definitely surprising, as it suggests you're CPU limited. The reason that is surprising is because x300 is such a very slow card. Are you running at very low resolution or using low quality settings?

Alias_X

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2005

28 Jun 2006 at 01:49 - 20

Quote:

Originally Posted by koneko

The rumors about G80 and full DX10 support make my head spin. (Edit: not gonna go there.) If you really want to upgrade your graphics card, take a look at the 7600GT (not DX10 compatible but "Vista Ready" - you get the cool and totally useless Aero Glass effects). Cheap-ish, almost the same price as you'd spend for a 2GB kit of memory...

I, for one, vote for picking up a dual-core X2 very soon at rock-bottom prices instead. Encoding MP3s in the background and playing GW at the same time? How can I possibly resist?

I don't like those price cuts, they make me feel angry I built my computer when I did. But about the time when those prices drop something better will be out, and if you wait long enough the price of the better item will drop also...