Orbis_Non_Sufficit

As the title suggests, can someone explain to me if it is really worth it? Even compared to higher spec'ed rams like 1066, 1333 and etc, and the newer DDR3?

would it also help to say that the Ram i have in mind is a set of Crucial Ballistix?

i hope this helps, very simple question and would love to hear what you have to say as well!

Vlasov_581

only if you're running 64bit Vista/Seven IMO.....Ballistix are pretty good

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GoHigh

There WAS a quite of a debate over the necessity of anything more than 4GB of RAM, but ever since the i7 release, that debate seemed to have come to an end... I mean, one really can't argue the overkill of running 8GB of RAM, when they were running at least 6GB of RAM...

I would say this...

Once upon a time, DDR2 were dirt cheap, going for around $50 for 4GB kits... At that price, why the heck not? But now, it seems like DDR2 prices have inflated to a level higher than the DDR3, which makes buying anything more than 4GB an unsound decision.

I would just stick with 4GB for now, until you are forced to upgrade to DDR3, and then look into getting more than 4GB. No point in investing a fortune for an outdated technology, which will soon end up in a legacy hardware section...

iamwardicus

+1 to Vlasov - It's nice to have, especially if you multitask. What OS do you use? If you do ever upgrade to 8Gb you have to be running a 64-bit OS. Vista and Win7 make good use of memory as well because of how they prefetch commonly used data.

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Planned Upgrade Path: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P -> Q9550 Processor -> Megahalem


Funds gathered so far: $0.00 / $389.98

Orbis_Non_Sufficit

Yes, i did forget to mention that i am running Windows 7 64bit, thats because i am running 4GB of RAM, but im not sure entirely if i see a complete difference, either because of the ram or because Windows 7 is just more effiencent than Windows XP in my theory, i dont know.

also, i am running a very old bios version of my motherboard (purely because i need to have a floppy disk drive installed and the only FD drive i want to install and have is a SuperDisk drive, all this will be done very soon), would upgrading the bios help things as well making better use of the ram i have?

How about also the different speeds like 1066, 1200, 1333 and 1600 compared to 800mhz which is what i have now?

iamwardicus

As long as after you install the 8gb ram your bios sees it - you're fine - check the bios release notes from the asus website to see if there are any significant changes that may pertain to your motherboard.

For speeds, in my opinion the higher ones aren't a huge deal until you start overclocking - as a higher base speed allows a higher overclock at a 1:1 FSB-MEM ratio. I've only got my comp at 330Mhz at a 1:1 ratio so i'm still not even near my basic 400mhz memory speed. The other thing that a higher speed memory would allow is for you to actually underclock that memory, but tighten up the timings on it.

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Planned Upgrade Path: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P -> Q9550 Processor -> Megahalem


Funds gathered so far: $0.00 / $389.98

Orbis_Non_Sufficit

so would having DDR2 Ram at 800mhz be more than enough? really wat would be the difference between that an spmething like 1066mhz or 1600mhz? Cant i overclock the ones i have (800mhz?)

So overall, would getting 8GB of that RAM be worth it? It is also the max my motherboard can take as well. I will be in the very near future purchasing a Q9550 combined with the nearby future system i have (RAM wise).

Orbis_Non_Sufficit

anyone at all may i ask?

would it be worth it?

r31ncarnat3d

This is just my own personal opinion, but I don't think it's worth it. I'm a 4GB user myself, and even with multitasking very rarely does my usage reach 85% (as tracked in real time on my G15's LCD).

I'd say if you're an average user, meaning you game, websurf, and the like, 4GB is enough for you. On the other hand, if you are into computationally-intensive applications, like video rendering or photoshopping and the like, then you should get 8GB if you suspect your 4GB is leading to a performance decrease right now.

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iamwardicus

If you get a Q9550 - and money isn't an object (DDR2 prices are going up) - then if you have higher rated RAM overclocking will be easier while keeping FSB:MEM at a 1:1 ratio. Also, if you have higher rated ram, it is easier to tighten the timings if its underclocked based on its rated spec. Do you know how high your current RAM can overclock? As for being worth it - what do you do with your computer on a day to day basis? what games & programs do you use? if you do any type of editing, engineering, design work, or even programming - than you could probably make use of >4gb ram. Depending on the games you play you could also say it'd be worth it - it just depends on your personal system usage and situation.

__________________
Planned Upgrade Path: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P -> Q9550 Processor -> Megahalem


Funds gathered so far: $0.00 / $389.98