Is getting the ram worth it?

[Tanner8]

Currently I have 512 dual channel ram. I have a nvidia 6800gt card with an athlon 64 3200 processor. My fps is around the 20's. If I upgrade to 1 gig of dual channel ram is my fps gonna be like alot better. ITs like $200 so i dont want to waste my money. if I pay $200 for 10 more fps then it really isnt worth it. If im gonna get about 17-25 more fps then its definently worth it. What do u think? Should I buy it or will it be just throwing my very few $ into the garbage? THanks

[Scottler]

Save your money.  You're not going to see much difference between 25 fps and 35.

[Gixer]

Well you wont see that big an increase in FPS I am afraid.  Your system will work better though and load times should be faster.

A lot of newer games coming out like Far Cry and Doom3 all really like 1gig of ram too.  Soon 1gig will be the norm for a home PC.

[Tanner8]

bout 2 gig?

[Gixer]

2gig is major overkill at the moment.  1gig is just right IMO for intense gaming and general use.

If you were doing masses of video editing or huge 3d graphical modelling then 2gig would be worth while.  Otherwise big waste of money! You would be better off putting it towards a better g/card.

[Ivan]

Tanner, how many of the memory slots you have are in use at the moment? Dual channel only works when you have 2 identical DIMM modules in the slots that support dual-channel (Interleave) mode

[Tanner8]

Yea i have 2 slots and 2 sticks of 512 in. SO i geuss 2 gig is a no no then. I have centon gemini desktop pc 3200 (ddr400) ram. Whats a really really good type of 1 gig ram that will get my pc faster? And gixer what do u mean get a better graphics card! I have the top of the line. The only card better is the ultra. Once i get water cooling in this sucker then im gonna clock my card to past ultra speeds and overclock my standard 3200 2.0 gig comp to 2.4 gig. Havent triied to clock it to 2.5 yet but i can run it at 2.4 with no crahses just major heat. IS heat the only factor in ocing?? If I get water cooling can i overclock my pc to the max without destroying anything? I though heat was the only thing u have to worry about. But if i overclock it to much are there any factors to worry about? Thanks

[Scottler]

But if i overclock it to much are there any factors to worry about?

Depends.  How is your fire department's response time?

[Ivan]

512 is as large as you can get in non-registred...
1024 could be possible, but these are very rare (i haven't seen one yet) and expensive

The problem is that you run out of adress space on the connector when putting more than 512MB on one DIMM. extra components are needed to put more on the module, but the mobo needs to support these additions.

[Gixer]

What mobo do you have for a start? Some mobos dont like particular makes of ram.  OCZ ram is meant to be pretty good, I would go fo the enhanced bandwidth stuff myself, I also heard Crucial Ballistix stuff is meant to be ok.  Though you still wanna find out if your mobo is happy with whatever you buy.

As for water cooling, scares me to much! one leek and poof there goes your rig  :(

I didn't pay the amount I did for my g/card to rip it apart and void my warranty.  Thats the reason I got the Ultra I have upped speeds to 450/1200 on air no probs and it runs sweet.  Be interesting to see what your 3dMark 03 score will be on that card when clocked compared to mine.

Overclocking is ok, but you usually get more heat and for stability a bit more voltage is usually required.  This could reduce the life of the CPU slightly but I would say you would have probably upgraded before it ever failed!

[Ivan]

Gixer, only server chipsets accept registered DIMM modules, the normal boards don't work with it...

[4_Series_Scania]

Gixer, only server chipsets accept registered DIMM modules, the normal boards don't work with it...

I think you can use registered RAM with desktop boards, I may be wrong, but I don't think I am.....  :-/  ::)  ;D

[Gixer]

The ram i listed isn't registered stuff.  I have never had a mobo that uses registered ram.  Corsair do 1gig sticks of PC3200 stuff, thats the only make I know that do off the top of my head.

When I say some makes of mobo dont like certain ram I dont mean registered stuff, just you normal DDR stuff.  Think I am confusing you all  ;D

I do aim to please  ;D

[Delta_]

You don't need registered RAM for a home system, it is only intended for servers, it is a waste of money and performance to get registered RAM and use it in a desktop machine.

[Tanner8]

Thanks for your help guys Ok so gixer like you said if i had someway to keep my comp really cool and am able to clock it to the max there wont be any other danger factors (am i rihgt?). I tried downloading the gixer mark thing and it said 8 hours to complete!!! right then i just shut it. Alot of comps have water cooling but ive never heard of one that gets a leak in it.  As fo ram. My mobo can support up to 2 gig. The mobo i have is the Guru KV8 pro. Thanks


Water cooling unit either
http://www.pccasegear.com/prod1345.htm

or this
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozen ... at-25.html

I would like to know which one is better and if my computer averages 35 C (unclocked) and about 55C - 60C fully loaded (I only did that once) how much will the water cooling bring it down if i have 2 tubes flowing into the motherboard?  Thanks