Memory Question?

[Hawk MMS]

My current system has 512mb ram. It has two slots, One chip. Will upgrading to 1gb in one slot and the existing 512 mb ram help loading speeds for the TW series? I could go 2gb in the future. Thanks for any input. Is it worth the $100.

[+column5]

$100 sounds high for a 1 GB module these days. What type of memory does your system use? Just speaking in general, going from 512 to 1 GB should give you a nice all-around performance improvement, not just in the TW games, unless some other component such as the CPU or video card is particularly old (ie, a weak link).

[Hawk MMS]

Thanks I will look in to the price. Just saw the price while i was passing through staples.

[+column5]

Thanks I will look in to the price. Just saw the price while i was passing through staples.

 

Check Best Buy if you have one nearby. They have DDR2 dimms super cheap:

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1166840340953

 

If your machine takes DDR then $100 would probably be resonable for a 1 GB stick.

[+DWCAce]

Here's a link that Saggy sent me some months back. Hope it helps!

 

http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/

[+Major Lee]

Try newegg.com or ewiz.com

[tank03]

My current system has 512mb ram. It has two slots, One chip. Will upgrading to 1gb in one slot and the existing 512 mb ram help loading speeds for the TW series? I could go 2gb in the future. Thanks for any input. Is it worth the $100.

 

I recently upgraded my RAM from 512 to 1G and it made a significant difference in game play. It seems that my computer in general is just much faster than before and the TW games load and play better than before. I think I paid about $50.00US at Bestbuy, and it took less than 5 minutes to swap the memory.

Edited February 14, 2008 by tank03

[+Syrinx]

Memory over here in the UK is pretty cheap at the moment. I think I paid £19.99 for 1 gig DDR2 ram. You can get it cheaper than that too. My system now has 1.5g memory and all things being equal (my comp is not the fastest thing out there) a heavily modded WoV and a fairly heavy modded WoE run really well. FS9 runs super smooth too and again, that's pretty well overloaded with bits n bobs.

[Hawk MMS]

Thanks for all of the input. Now if I can just get the Majoriity Share Holder to sign off on this investment(She got a new job and i am now a minority Share Holder). Well, she is gone for the week so...

[lazboy]

Well I currently run 2 base units and a laptop and there is a notable difference in the performance of WOE between all 3. One base unit has only 512mb of memory whilst the other with a comparable spec has 2gb and on the higher memory unit there is a very appreciable difference in performance. The laptop with a dual core intel processor also flies even though it has only 1gb of memory and allows me to still fly whilst away from home.

 

I would definetely upgrade your memory to at least 1gb if not 2gb if you get stretch to it it can revitalise an older or lower spec machine and is cheaper generally than upgrading graphics cards or changing processors. As Nicky said here in the UK at the moment memory and storage are dirt cheap although I am aware that this is not the case all over the world.

 

If you upgrade your memory you will not regret it.

 

Lazboy

[+JediMaster]

Anything less than 1 GB of RAM on WinXP will slow you down. 1.5GB is the "sweet spot" as few things need more than that. However, if you use something that does often, going to 2GB will be beneficial. When I first went to 2GB, I rarely broke 1.5GB used. Nowadays, though, I not only use 2GB I've on occasion used MORE than that on games like Company of Heroes if I have the detail turned up high. I've since decided to lower that terrain detail to use less RAM and not hit the swapfile. The difference in the image is really minimal but the performance change is staggering.

[+Typhoid]

I recently did the same - stepped up bit by bit upgrading my two slots until my "supplier" told me how to optimize the system.

 

the key point is to balance the two slots. It made a HUGE difference when I dropped two 1gig sticks into my two memory slots which balanced the memory slots. Well worth the effort and cost.

 

the second key point is to adjust the memory cache on the hard drive.

 

(on an XP) go to my computer - right click on properties,

go to the "advanced" tab,

performance - settings,

click on the "advanced" tab,

under "virtual memory" click on "change"

select "custom size" and enter the maximum that your system will allow - on mine it is 4096 on both drives,

set and ok.

 

restart to take effect.

 

this made A HUGE difference in overall performance.

 

I also updated my processor to the max my middle-age board could accept. I am now running a 2.4gig processor which provided a little better performance. If your board will accept a faster one - go for it. Second hand processors are dirt cheap.

Edited February 14, 2008 by Typhoid