768 OR 1024MB of RAM

[sk8z27]

Just wondering if anybody has experienced this.  I've got 512MB of RAM right now and I'm flying the PMDG B737 which I've been told and have experienced as a memory hog.  The biggest problem I see is when I first load the aircraft and when I change to outside view or vc view, I guess it's cacheing for a couple of seconds.  My question is it worth getting 512 more of RAM or will another 256 suffice.  I know, the more the better, but at roughly $30-50 or more difference, will I see a noticeable difference.  My specs are:  ASUS A7n8x-x mobo, amd 2600 barton, 512 mb ram single channel, ATI 9800pro, 60g hard drive.

Thanks,
Rich ERJ MECH

[4_Series_Scania]

Go for 1GB , 1024 MB  ;) You'll notice quite an improvement overall, especially loading times.

Yes, I've only got 512, but I've seen boost 1GB gives you.

To my knowledge, 768MB will make little odds overall....

[Gixer]

Yup 1gig is the way to go dude!  Not only will FS2004 benefit from it but a lot of the latest games like Doom3 etc prefer to have 1gig ram too.  It wont be long now before 1gig is the norm in PC's anyhow.

[sk8z27]

yeah, i hear ya, i just hate spending $100 on memory. well, i guess when i build my amd 64 rig i'll have plenty of it.

[congo]

There have been a few times people have commented on this problem I think.

I really think it's CPU/Video card thing, as it's when a new view is introduced. It just takes a second to process and display the FS world from the new or changed view, it's a lot to render really. If ram solves it for you, let us know. I honestly don't think it will help much.

You would see an improvement with an  XP3200+ perhaps.

I don't know if your chipset is an ultra400 variety that supports the 400mhz FSB speed of the 3200 though.

An alternative if you only have a 333mhz FSB is to overclock a new 2800+ like I do. My new Thorton Core 2800+ overclocks like a charm. I think they make an XP3000+ for a 333mhz FSB as well, not sure though.

[sk8z27]

well, i just added another stick of 512 ram, now to 1 gig.  i can tell you that it has made a noticeable difference in my simming.  i fly the pmdg b737 which seems to be a resource hog and it's added about 5-10 framerates at populated airports.  it's also made a difference when changing views.  i would suggest the extra ram.

[Moach]

adding another 512 stick wil not only improve your flight sim, but will also speed up just about anything in your comp...

once i removed one 512 stick from my pc and started it... it took twice the time it normally does to boot up

i say go for the 1gig of RAM

[chomp_rock]

Rule of thumb with RAM: The more the better

[congo]

FS9 is only using around 200 mb's of ram, you can throw whatever you like at it, but it's not going to use more in any case, despite some odd claims.

I suspect those who see performance increases due to RAM upgrades, actually had a RAM problem with other processes using up all their ram and resources to begin with, hence they see the RAM increase as a solution, when they are actually covering up a deeper problem.

RAM quality and it's timing setup on quality chipsets is more crucial when it comes to raw speed and performance. But, alas, that's another subject.

[Fozzer]

Processors, Video cards and RAM...

I run FS 2002 in Windows '98, with an AMD 2600+, a Ge-Force 4 Ti 4200 64 Mb, and 768 Mb of RAM.

AS congo may remember, I still have un-cured problems with my boot-up sequence.
Although I have a 2600, (2.1 Gig HZ), processor fitted, the system often boots up as either a 1.2 Gig HZ or a 1.8 Gig HZ processor due to some annoying system error.

The interesting thing is, no matter which size processor the system recognises after it boots up, the frame rates* remain the same in FS 2002, indicating that the quality of the graphics card is more important than the processor speed, (up to a point).
I have the max of 768 Mb of RAM fitted, (3X 256), more than sufficient, but I have to run "Freemem" regularly to restore the RAM to its maximum, (a recognised fault with Win '98  ).

Cheers all... ...!

Paul.

*30 FPS, locked at 30 FPS... ... ...!

[Gixer]

Congo you sure about that?  I used to use a program called 'Mother Board Monitor' which was very good.

When flying on FS it would usually hold over 650meg of ram used.  Just sat there my PC would use between 190-200 so I am thinkin FS on my PC is using at least 400meg of ram?

Higest I ever managed to use was 800meg of ram all at once whilst flying FS and other stuff loaded too.

Cant remember if I got any FPS increase when I went from 512 to 1028, I don't think I did but sim ran smoother and loaded quicker and smoothness is far more important than FPS!!

[congo]

I just hit ctrl+alt+del and brought up task manager to see what the memory usage is while flying FS9, I think you might have to run FS in a window because otherwise the game may pause while looking at the task manager.

If FS9 is using, say 225mb and the rest of your system overhead is 300mb, then sure, you are going to have performance loss with 512mb.

Also, take into account what system memory is being used by the AGP bus for processing textures, and you could in theory have some serious RAM shortfalls.

A clean system with a decent graphics card shouldn't have too much trouble with 512mb of ram.

I totally recommend 1024mb for new systems, but not simply for FS9.

Gixer, was anything else running when you saw FS9 using around 400mb? I remember a few months ago a thread in this forum where a few of us only showed around 220mb ram usage for FS9.

Fozzer, I'm sure your boot probs are a bios setup problem, or a bad bios on your mainboard.

The 2600+ is a 1.83ghz CPU, but it should show up as a XP2600+ in the boot screen. If you have your mainboard setup incorrectly in bios, that's usually why the CPU doesn't register as an XP CPU. It could be that your FSB or CPU multiplier or ram timings are changed or out of whack. First I would try to set the bios for auto detect settings, or Optimum settings and see if it gets things right, then make any needed changes later.

You should try to obtain the latest BIOS file for your mainboard if all else fails, maybe that's all it is. Looking at your chipset (it's a VIA, why didn't you get the nForce2?), it supports 400mhz FSB speed, but you need to have it set to 333mhz for your CPU, and it may run better with your ram at 333mhz as well.

Are you still using PC2100 RAM? Maybe that's the problem, even if one stick is PC2100, it will all run at that speed.

[Gixer]

Just did it your way Congo.  Pressing crtl+alt+delete.

Usually I have about 800meg ram free.  When I stated FS9 and flew around KSEA with 100% AI my free memory dropped to 410mb.  So my PC was using 614mb ram.  Also at that point it was using 420mb of my page file.

Sure FS will run with 512ram but I would reccomend 1gig to get it running at its full potential.  Just fitting 1gig wont achieve much though if the rest of your system is setup badly!

[Fozzer]

Fozzer, I'm sure your boot probs are a bios setup problem, or a bad bios on your mainboard.

The 2600+ is a 1.83ghz CPU, but it should show up as a XP2600+ in the boot screen. If you have your mainboard setup incorrectly in bios, that's usually why the CPU doesn't register as an XP CPU. It could be that your FSB or CPU multiplier or ram timings are changed or out of whack. First I would try to set the bios for auto detect settings, or Optimum settings and see if it gets things right, then make any needed changes later.

You should try to obtain the latest BIOS file for your mainboard if all else fails, maybe that's all it is. Looking at your chipset (it's a VIA, why didn't you get the nForce2?), it supports 400mhz FSB speed, but you need to have it set to 333mhz for your CPU, and it may run better with your ram at 333mhz as well.

Are you still using PC2100 RAM? Maybe that's the problem, even if one stick is PC2100, it will all run at that speed.

Hi congo...!
It's a funny old do...!

When I boot up the 'puter, it will either...
a) hang completely,
b) or show as a 2000+XP, and run OK.
After shutting down and re-booting a few times, if I am very lucky it will show up as a...
c) 2600+XP processor...!

It all seems to to be with a problem with boot-up timing...!

Once I have forced it to boot up in 2600+XP mode, (after shutting down and re-booting many times), everything is fine...!

The Bios is Version 6.00PG GA-7 VT600. Date: 09/02/03
Chipset VIA VT 8377 KT 600
Processor speed 100/133/166 Mhz depending upon auto detect boot-up success...!
Ram: PC 2700 166 Mhz. 3X 256 Mb.

Cheers congo...!

Paul.