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Is 1024 RAM too much?

post #1 of 14
12/31/02 at 8:11pm
Thread Starter 
I'm on the verge of getting the 5660 and I can't wait. The only thing I have to decide is the amount of RAM. Is 1024 overkill? Should a save a couple hundred bucks and go with 512? I just keep thinking the more the merrier. Let me know what you all think.

Thanks!
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post #2 of 14
12/31/02 at 8:19pm
It may be overkill at this point, but your performance will be boosted. I say get 512MB for now, and upgrade another 512MB later. Or get 512MB preinstalled, and order 512MB from Crucial.
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post #3 of 14
12/31/02 at 8:20pm
I got it with 512, and is runs great. I was slightly tight with money, so the extra 200 wasn't worth it for right now. Maybe 6 mos down the line I will have 150 to spend to upgrade to the 1G. But for now, if you want to cut down on cost, I think this is one of the best ways. If cost is no matter, go for the G. Just a note, It is really sweet that they give you the 512 in one DIMM, so upgrading is easy. Dell and others charge as much as 200 just to upgrade from 512 2 DIMMS to one, what a rip. Anyway, another point for the Sager.
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post #4 of 14
12/31/02 at 8:47pm
It depends on :
1. What OS you will install
2. What applications you will run
3. What performance quality you expect

Full loaded XP with all background running tasks uses lot of memory but you can configurate this the way you want or manually or automatically /XP has this option/

If you don't edit video in real time or render nonlinear animation
with software like Maya, Softimage, Adobe Premier and so on,
you have not go further than 256 - 512 mGb /RAM/

Most of games will run good even with 256, in case your mashine has good GPU with dedicated/not shared memory/, fast processor
1,6 - 2.0 / and well configured and tuned up by manufacturer / or
some well expirienced professional/

And as conclusion: It's never will be TOO MUCH memory if you willing to spend few more $$$
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post #5 of 14
12/31/02 at 9:38pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the input guys. My plan is to get the 2.4 processor with XP pro. Like I said...my games would probably be the most resource consuming thing I can think of. I know I won't do video editing or anything like that. You are right, though...I noticed Dell charges 200 bucks more for 1 DIMM of 512 instead of 2 DIMMs...what a ripoff. It's almost like the 5660 is too good to believe! Somebody wake me up...
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post #6 of 14
12/31/02 at 10:02pm
Yeah, that's what I plan to do. I'm going to get a 5660 2.4 with 512 just so I can get a Sager at its lowest price (without having to limit myself to 256 MB of ram) and I plan to buy the extra 512 later. You shouldn't need more than 512 for anything these days, but if you will be needing it, it's good to know it only takes one DIMM.

Alienware, with Dell, also puts 512 RAM in two dimms.
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post #7 of 14
12/31/02 at 10:16pm
IMO, there's no such thing as too much RAM.

Seriously though - there will be improvements, as pointed out - e.g. and you can possibly disable disk paging altogether. What happens though is diminished benefits for larger amounts of RAM; e.g. you'll see large benefits from 128 to 256 MB, less so from 256 to 512 MB, and even less so from 512 to 1024. However, the benefits of larger RAM will be more significant as more demanding software surface, so if you can afford it, I'd suggest that you go ahead with the RAM upgrade still.


Rob
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post #8 of 14
12/31/02 at 10:31pm
Indeed, you can't have too much ram these days, however most people will never need more than 256-512 with todays apps and modern operating systems. The only ones that really need 512 or above are those into heavy 3D graphics or Photoshop type users which work with huge bitmaps. Corporate users are different. We issue laptops at work with 1GB of ram because we are running Oracle, MS Office, BEA's Weblogic, our internal Java apps and a lot more all at one time. It takes this much ram to make sales demos come off looking ok. Anything less and the OS is constantly swapping programs on and off disk.

If you have the cash to burn, go for 1GB. However think hard about waiting as memory prices generally fall over time. You should be able to run with 512 now with no problems whatsoever. You can add a 512 stick later for much less than what you can buy one today, in theory.

Martin Parrott
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post #9 of 14
1/1/03 at 4:17am

Planning

Ive got 256 ddr, but in the future, i plan on getting 512 myself.
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post #10 of 14
1/1/03 at 4:33am
I got 1gb,and well, its perfect for me, since i use a wide range of applications, and i can use a large system cache, not to mention the swap file being in the secondary hd, the performance boost thanks to this is awesome, and also, being able to have photoshop open, and then fire up need for speed hot pursuit 2 at 1024x768, then in half a race, someone logs into msn, so i alt tab and in less than 2 secs im chatting with that person, start browsing internet or uploading files via ftp, all without accessing too much the swap, or slowdowns (not to mention it takes no time to return to the game or to photoshop)
I just love my 1gb RAM equipped Sager

So...if you use lots of applications, go for 1024, if you only do gaming or browsing, maybe some work, 512 is the option.

Hope you get what you want
regards
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post #11 of 14
1/1/03 at 4:49am
Im sure that 512 is just fine for about everything you throw at it. I got the 1024 just for bragging mostly lol, but I do multitast A LOT and who knows when you might actually need it. I do some video editing and also having a large ram drive is always nice
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post #12 of 14
1/1/03 at 1:42pm
I wonder if there are many people that actually utilize the full 2.4+ GHz power the Sager gives, as well as the large memory capability. New games demand more, 3d imaging demands more, but is 2.4 GHz overkill? I do fine multitasking on 192 megs of ram and a 500 mhz processor. Granted, I can't burn a CD and listen to music, but it's a smooth run.

What DO people use their sagers for?
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post #13 of 14
1/1/03 at 3:40pm

My use

For me, i destroyed the family pc too many times...so a lappy is ideal, plus the portability and other projects and research and yes, a little gaming too!
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post #14 of 14
1/2/03 at 1:09am
I use the 2.8 GHz all the time :-) Lol, well, everyone does, whenever you do something it uses the full potential, just for less time depending on the speed obviously. But I multitask all over the place with this... the other day I was recording a record to the hard drive, burning another one I had recorded onto cd, and playing battlefield at the same time... :-) Yeah baby yeah!

I'd go for a gig if you have the money, but if not, you can easily upgrade just as everyone said. It's great that Sager doesn't do the 2 dimm crap. My desktop has 256 RDRAM and guess what... it's FOUR dimm.... I can't upgrade that thing unless I plan to waste some of the dimms I already have. I hate that.
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