More RAM?

[Office Casual]

I've been following the development of Black Shark since the beginning (long time forum lurker), and with the release approaching I'm considering an upgrade. Now I don't have much money to spend (currently in college) so I thought that adding more RAM to my system would be the most economical choice. My current set up:

 

P4 3.0Ghz 800FSB

1GB PC3200

Radeon X800XL 256

 

I run Flaming Cliffs fine with this, but I'm thinking of adding one to two gigs of RAM.

 

Will I see a noticeable difference with this addition, or will my processor / video card just act as a bottleneck. Basically - would the purchase be justifiable.

 

-Adam

[The_GOZR]

Two GB, yes definitely.. always better But this system is quite out dated now ram is your only choice or upgrade to better system but don't spend much on it now..

[Pilotasso]

2GB makes a big difference, specialy on older systems. I made that change in my older system, a AMD64 3200+ and I noticed much more smoothness, though I still couldnt raise the detail by any significant ammount.

[Avimimus]

Yes, that is how it is with flight simulators (RAM > CPU > video card - very different from other software)

[VMFA-Blaze]

I'm presently running Corsair 2 GB DDR Twin2X Matched Memory .. These sticks have three colored sequential leds on the ends that light up according to how much memory that you're using.. They go from green to yellow to red ...:lol:

 

This is adequate for running Lock ON extremely smooth. Although I'm planning on adding another GIG for future gaming..

 

~S~

 

Blaze

[Office Casual]

If I do end up adding more RAM, is it best to stick with the same manufacturer of my current RAM, or is it alright to mix and match?

 

-Adam

[GreyStork]

Weakest link

 

Just remember that the slowest RAM module sets the pace. It won't help buying the latest and greatest if your existing memory is moving through molasses.

 

The paired memory is an advantage, since it has very similar timing, i.e. one stick doesn't have to wait for the other during any of the various operations it performs. Basically, they are equally slow and/or fast at the same things, which means you don't always have to wait for the slowest participant.