RAM searching....and some questions...

[ScottJC]

KOTOR 2 is just a bad engine. It reminds me of GTA3. Honestly, its not your computer.

Funny it runs perfectly smooth for me then isn't it?

I can answer 4 as good as eagle can, one big: HELL YEA - With 512mb of ram your game might stutter some, with 1gb of ram you get smoothness. UT2004 would eat your entire 512mb ram block with no remorse! then it'd want to use the page file because it has no ram left and that = slower.

If you can afford 1gb there is no sane reason why you shouldn't have it. Trust me it IS worth it.

 

[Doomulation]

Funny it runs perfectly smooth for me then isn't it?

Yes well, you have a better gfx card, don't you?

 

[omnislash124]

Ok, I'm trying not to spend any more than $70 on RAM....and I see a single stick of RAM for $35.55 from pqi (never heard of them) and that's 512MB. How much faster will it be if it was Dual Channeled 1 GB or just 2 x 512 RAM from pqi? I'm weighing my options because I don't know if I will ever utilize dual channel. If AMD doesn't support Dual Channel, I probably won't ever use it since, from my experience, AMD is much cheaper than Intel.

EDIT: Also, What is CAS Latency?

 

[Clements]

You can buy decent 2x256MB PC3200 Value RAM for under $45 at Newegg.

eg. These for 23 quid ($42, hardly breaking the bank)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144309

 

[omnislash124]

I'm really sold on the 2 x 512, from what has been said I think i'll probably go with the 1GB. Have you heard of pqi though? It's double the RAM and less than double the price...

 

[Clements]

PQI is a decent brand. If you can afford the 2x512 kit, then go for it. You won't need any new RAM for several years.

 

[omnislash124]

So....back to my other question, what is CAS Latency and how much does it affect performance?

 

[Clements]

A lower rating is better (2.5 is better than 3.0). Lower latency RAM and tighter timings gives better performance (2-2-2-5 is better than 2.5-3-3-6 at the same speed). I suggest you do not play around with memory timings unless you know what you are dong.

Other info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAS_Latency

 

[omnislash124]

OK....new set of questions....this time on CPU overclocking. I know some basic stuff on overclocking dealing with the FSB and the multiplier (i think) and that your actual speed is the product of the two. So exactly, how does one go about overclocking. Any Dangers, things to be cautious about, tips, etc.?

 

[Clements]

Here is a good guide:

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=95131

Your multiplier is probably locked, so you need to up the FSB. If you plan to overclock the 1800+, it uses the older and less overclockable Palomino core, so I suggest you be careful if you attempt it.

 

[omnislash124]

OK....not even touching the Overclocking yet....My computer just died. Apparantly, after installing the two sticks of 2x512 RAM DDR400 and turning the computer on, it just shut off almost immediately. I found it odd, so I removed the sticks of 512 and replaced my 256 in. Now the 256MB doesn't work. Well damn....I just got screwed.

 

[Clements]

Oh dear. I hope you can get it fixed. This kind of thing happens to us all.

 

[omnislash124]

Man, I truly am screwed. Just finally consulted the Motherboard manual that came with it. (haven't thought of looking in here) but apparantly, this motherboard can support either PC1600 or PC2100 and that's it. OK....Motherboard searching I guess...

 

[Clements]

You of course reset the CMOS when you exchanged the RAM and set the FSB to 133MHz?

 

[omnislash124]

I never altered the FSB. I was thinking of overclocking, but never got to it before getting the RAM.

 

[flow``]

btw, update your bios..
http://www.giga-byte.com/Motherboard/Support/BIOS/BIOS_GA-7VKML-P.htm

and by looking at your mobo specs/support page..
http://www.giga-byte.com/Motherboard/Products/Products_GA-7VKML-P.htm

i'm not seeing 3200/ddr400 support ..just "Supports PC1600/DDR200 or PC2100/DDR266 DDR memory",, so spending more money on underclocked ram isnt a wise idea.. if your system would even support it (doubt it)

you just have 2 dimm slots with 2 gig max memory.. sooo...

head on over to newegg... do a little filtering by 2100/ddr226.. and there are your options

personally.. i'd grab two sticks of this.. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145024

maybe just one really.. , considering your system is already bottlnecked ..8x card on 4x slot.. , and a year old video card with a 4 year old cpu/mobo.

you're just not going to be able to push a lot more out of your system though a little more ram would help. just grab some cheap ddr266 aka pc2100 ram from somewhere and stick it in. as a word of advice, i wouldnt mix and match ram in your slots (though you could try) but newer mobo's anyway are more sensitive to this. best of luck and tell us how it goes

 

[flow``]

at worst, if you want to get the best performance out of your system.. (considering your lack-thereof of options except upgrading mobo/cpu/ram.. probably psu as well with those)

jheust slipstream xp+sp2, format your system and update all your drivers to the latest when you re-install. you'd be amazed what a difference it will make sometimes especially if its been quite a while since your last format