Ram...

Tex_Cowboy

Forum Fiend
My wifes computer is kinda slugish during game play and loading, i put a new Geforce graphics card in and it helped out some. I was wondering if by adding ram if it would speed it up any more, or do i need to go with a bigger processor? If you have any sugestions let me know.
 
She has a pentium 4 processor(2.00)gh with 480mb ram. She is using windows xp and has a Geforce 6200 graphics card.
 
Well it really depends - what type of RAM is it?. And also, are you changing your audio and graphics settings to make the game play better? a 2GHz pentium 4 isnt the best processor in the world - but can be configured to play this well enough. Is it a custom built computer? if so, which pentium 4 is it? maybe its over clockable. You can also always tweak with HL and HL2 based games to make them run better, fewer sprites, less bullet holes and the like.
 
Well thinks for all the help so far, i will try adding some more ram and defrag. her computer tomorrow, if i need more help i know were to come. Later YALL
 
Woah... hold on. Buying more ram doesn't necessarily make your load time faster... it will only be effective if you currently have less ram available than dods and all the other apps you have open currently use. However.. more ram never hurts ;p I suggest having 2gb.

On a different note... if you really want to boost the speed of your computer, you should boost your data throughput. The slowest thing your computer is your hard drive... which causes everything else in the computer to wait for it to read/write data etc. You can speed up your hard drive by setting up a speed tuned raid... or purchasing a higher rpm hard drive.
 
Good point glock, i agree, except - although the hard drive is a bottleneck for loading, he also complains of slowness in gameplay as well. Overall, some ram may help a bit as you said, depending on what is running, but i think a processor may be a better investment on the machine than setting up a raid array with those specs. Then again, that also depends on which slot it is heh.
 
definently u need more ram on that comp at least 1gig but 2gig can run almost everything now plus an upgrade on ur processor is nice but if u do that just get a new computer for compatibility purposes
 
Actually lets take a look tex... what are your computer specs... I have a suspicion about something... but I'd rather you type up your specs before I comment.
 
1GB is pretty much the min these days. You dont want less than 1GB for sure, trust me. If you are playing with less than 1gb, well, you are at a disadvantage. 2GB is pretty much the "norm" these days I think. Anything over 2GB is somewhat of a waste, but some people go that route.

Somewhat pointless to have less than 2GB these days since memory is so cheap. At least DDR2 is. I got 2GB of high overclocking memory for $90. Im not sure on DDR memory. I know it cant be that much more.

Id say, if you really want a good rig, get a good dual-core high end Intel or AMD cpu also.

For the video card, I wouldnt have gone with anything less than a 7800GT personally. I guess if youre fine with lower FPS but....seems like youre entire point was asking what would speed up a system. I guess it depends on how many FPS youre fine with. Remember, video card is the most important part of gaming. The CPU and Memory take a backseat in terms of performance benefits. They help, but not nearly as much.
 
yeah just buy a new comp i found that for $600 you can build a comp that plays source with above average graphics and not sluggish
 
definetly spend some money on RAM. i spent close to about a hundred bucks. the best ram in the market for the price has to be the OCZTech... i got 2 GB dual Ram...

here's my rig

Model(case)-Antec Nine Hundred
Motherboard- NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI LT Motherboard
Processor-Intel Core 2 Duo 6600
Memory- Ocztech 2Gb dual
Hardrive- WD Sata 500Gb
Video Card- Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS Superclocked
Power Supply- TruePower Trio 650
Drives- 2x Samsung WriteMaster 16x16 DVD RW
Sound Card- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi elite Pro
Headset- Bose Around Ear
Speakers- JBL Creature II
Keyboard- Microsoft USB Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
Mouse- Logitech MX Revolution
Operating System- Windows Vista 64 bit Home Premium
Other-10 Usb ports, - 1 top 200mm TriCool fan with 3-speed switch control
1 rear 120mm TriCool fan with 3-speed switch control, 2 front 120mm special black TriCool blue LED fans with 3-speed switch control to cool HDDs
 
ram is definetly ur problem.. cause it shouldnt b sluggish if its already a 2.0 proccesor
i suggest gettin 1 gb of ram.. 2gb of ram is a lil too much. i doubt u will b able to tell the difference neways
 

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