More RAM?Bottleneck?

[rasher_b2]

Would it be worth me buying more RAM for my system? Or does the graphics card bottleneck it? I use it mainly for gaming.
Here's the spec:

P4 prescott 3Ghz @ 800Mhz
ASUS p4p800 delux-e motherboard
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
160+120 gig hard drives
512megs of RAM (1 stick,184-pin DIMM, PC3200, DDR400, CL-3)

[Klown]

Any gaming PC should have at least a gig of RAM.

What sort of games are you trying to play on it?

[Kithkin]

Yeah, your computer should have at least a gig of ram. Right now your ram is holding you back.

[rasher_b2]

Any gaming PC should have at least a gig of RAM.

What sort of games are you trying to play on it?

Battlefield 2 and HL2 are the most power hungry ones I run at the moment. I was thinking it needs more RAM alright but one of my friends said that it wouldn't be worth it with my graphics card. I didn't think so though...

[Klown]

Battlefield 2 and HL2 are the most power hungry ones I run at the moment. I was thinking it needs more RAM alright but one of my friends said that it wouldn't be worth it with my graphics card. I didn't think so though...
Your graphics card is getting a bit outdated now, even if you were to get a new graphics card you'd still be wanting to upgrade to a gigabyte of RAM if you want to be playing those games at a decent speed.

[JohnXDoe]

RAM and a new card would be best to play those games. Especially BF2. But if a new card is not in the works, more RAM will still help. It may not allow you to run games at high settings, but it will allow you to run them smoothly at the highest settings possible for your card. And RAM is a cheap upgrade (at least in the states) so if you want to improve performance it would make sense to start there.

[rasher_b2]

As you can see I don't live in the states so it's not quite as cheap. As for a new card, I really can't afford one. I'm a poor student and will struggle to get enough money to buy more RAM.

[JohnXDoe]

Hmm. Well, if you are still asking if more RAM would help, yes it will. Even without a card upgrade. Your processor can take full advantage of it for gaming. So that's important, too. You have a decent set up, it just lacks a couple of things. If getting some RAM is your only option I would say it would make a pretty big difference. The card is good enough to use it. As a matter of fact it's lower end cards that need it the most. Your card is decent and you'll see improvement.

When I upgraded to a 6600GT my RAM was at 512mb for a couple of weeks. Then I installed 512mb more and the improvement was somewhat substantial. No more freezes or slow starts, the games looked better because they ran smoother and faster. Load times improved. In Doom3 I would get freezes when I entered a new area or with quick lighting changes. Now it runs the best of all my games. Not a glitch to be seen. You should see relatively similar improvement. It won't change everything, but you will run newer games better.

Plus the overall system performance benefit cannot be overstated. It's quite dramatic, to say the least.

[Imrik]

Like most people have said already, the RAM is the best thing to buy. Even if you don't have much cash it should still be pretty affordable, it cost me £35 for a stick of 512MB and it really helped, especially with ingame loading times.

[The Digital Pimp]

I've recently upgraded from 512 to 1024 megs RAM and it is great, there is a noticable shortening in loading times, far less stuttering (especially in HL2) as new areas load and I turn corners and see new parts of the level, and I can kick out of games way quicker.

Recommended!

[rasher_b2]

Hmm. Well, if you are still asking if more RAM would help, yes it will. Even without a card upgrade. Your processor can take full advantage of it for gaming. So that's important, too. You have a decent set up, it just lacks a couple of things. If getting some RAM is your only option I would say it would make a pretty big difference. The card is good enough to use it. As a matter of fact it's lower end cards that need it the most. Your card is decent and you'll see improvement.

When I upgraded to a 6600GT my RAM was at 512mb for a couple of weeks. Then I installed 512mb more and the improvement was somewhat substantial. No more freezes or slow starts, the games looked better because they ran smoother and faster. Load times improved. In Doom3 I would get freezes when I entered a new area or with quick lighting changes. Now it runs the best of all my games. Not a glitch to be seen. You should see relatively similar improvement. It won't change everything, but you will run newer games better.

Plus the overall system performance benefit cannot be overstated. It's quite dramatic, to say the least.

Thanks for that info (and to the others). RAM is my only option really. My computer a quite old now so after I get RAM for it the next upgrade will be to get a new computer. :thumb: