about RAM and a graphics card...

[SquirrelMan]

I am going to upgrade my computer soon, and I was wondering a few things:

1) Can I buy any type of RAM and it will work with my computer, or do I have to buy a specific type for a specific model? And, how much should I get? i have 512 MB right now.

2) I am looking for a very good graphics card, to play PS, but I also want it to be cheap. Any suggestions on a cheap, good graphics card to get?

3) I have a 2.55 GHz processor. Should I upgrade it? If so, how?

thanks for the help!

[Ait'al]

1. Your motherboard will have a range of speed or type of ram it supports depending on when it was made and usually one or two types of ram it supported during the processors lifetime the board it made around. So youll have to give us some more info. How many chips do you have? Is it one 512 chip or two 256? Either way you may want to get another 512 first. But we need to find out what speed you have so you can get the same speed, and the combination of chips you are using now so we know if you have room, or if you can just put another one in.

2. What is your current graphics card? Do you have an actual card or onboard video. If its a card, what one is it. What type of AGP compatability do you have and what are you mother board specifications.(important for number one too.) This may be more important than the ram depending on how much your willing to spend and if your current is so bad that it becomes more convenient than up grading your ram if your doing this primarily for a performance boost. You can get an ATI 9600xt for very cheap now. And it will only get cheaper when the next card comes out. The 9800 pro isnt much more. It might help to know your motherboards bus speed too.

3. We need to know your other stats to know wether or not that needs to be upgraded. Its fine as it but if the other stuff you ahve is good enough already you may want to upgrade it if you can afford it. but im guessing thats not the situation. What type of 2.55 is it? Intell? P4? Celron? AMD of some type? but give us as many of your stats as you can. Try going to RUN and typing in DXdiag and hitting enter. It will tell you your stats. If youwant to copy and paste it youll have to save it to your desktop in and open it. Or you can use one of the other diagnostic tools. This will tell us most of the info we need. Especialy the DXdiag program. Its a diagnosis program that comes with Direct X. I think its more detailed about your components than the one that comes with windows. But im on Windows 98.

[Phaelon]

As far as graphics cards are concerned, you should look into spending 200 dollars to get a GeForce FX 5900 XT graphics card, they are one hell of a card, they perform almost identical to the FX 5950 and yet they are half the price.

[Sentrosi]

Or, wait a couple of months and get there Radeon 9800pro. You'll have native DirectX9.x encoding directly on the board, eliminating the need for a software patch for it.

[SquirrelMan]

1. Your motherboard will have a range of speed or type of ram it supports depending on when it was made and usually one or two types of ram it supported during the processors lifetime the board it made around. So youll have to give us some more info. How many chips do you have? Is it one 512 chip or two 256? Either way you may want to get another 512 first. But we need to find out what speed you have so you can get the same speed, and the combination of chips you are using now so we know if you have room, or if you can just put another one in.

2. What is your current graphics card? Do you have an actual card or onboard video. If its a card, what one is it. What type of AGP compatability do you have and what are you mother board specifications.(important for number one too.) This may be more important than the ram depending on how much your willing to spend and if your current is so bad that it becomes more convenient than up grading your ram if your doing this primarily for a performance boost. You can get an ATI 9600xt for very cheap now. And it will only get cheaper when the next card comes out. The 9800 pro isnt much more. It might help to know your motherboards bus speed too.

3. We need to know your other stats to know wether or not that needs to be upgraded. Its fine as it but if the other stuff you ahve is good enough already you may want to upgrade it if you can afford it. but im guessing thats not the situation. What type of 2.55 is it? Intell? P4? Celron? AMD of some type? but give us as many of your stats as you can. Try going to RUN and typing in DXdiag and hitting enter. It will tell you your stats. If youwant to copy and paste it youll have to save it to your desktop in and open it. Or you can use one of the other diagnostic tools. This will tell us most of the info we need. Especialy the DXdiag program. Its a diagnosis program that comes with Direct X. I think its more detailed about your components than the one that comes with windows. But im on Windows 98.


I dont know how do find out that information. Is there a site or program that will anylize the computer to see what the specifics of the parts are?

[Ait'al]

Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally Posted by Ait'al
1. Your motherboard will have a range of speed or type of ram it supports depending on when it was made and usually one or two types of ram it supported during the processors lifetime the board it made around. So youll have to give us some more info. How many chips do you have? Is it one 512 chip or two 256? Either way you may want to get another 512 first. But we need to find out what speed you have so you can get the same speed, and the combination of chips you are using now so we know if you have room, or if you can just put another one in.

2. What is your current graphics card? Do you have an actual card or onboard video. If its a card, what one is it. What type of AGP compatability do you have and what are you mother board specifications.(important for number one too.) This may be more important than the ram depending on how much your willing to spend and if your current is so bad that it becomes more convenient than up grading your ram if your doing this primarily for a performance boost. You can get an ATI 9600xt for very cheap now. And it will only get cheaper when the next card comes out. The 9800 pro isnt much more. It might help to know your motherboards bus speed too.

3. We need to know your other stats to know wether or not that needs to be upgraded. Its fine as it but if the other stuff you ahve is good enough already you may want to upgrade it if you can afford it. but im guessing thats not the situation. What type of 2.55 is it? Intell? P4? Celron? AMD of some type? but give us as many of your stats as you can. Try going to RUN and typing in DXdiag and hitting enter. It will tell you your stats. If youwant to copy and paste it youll have to save it to your desktop in and open it. Or you can use one of the other diagnostic tools. This will tell us most of the info we need. Especialy the DXdiag program. Its a diagnosis program that comes with Direct X. I think its more detailed about your components than the one that comes with windows. But im on Windows 98.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



I dont know how do find out that information. Is there a site or program that will anylize the computer to see what the specifics of the parts are?

It might be easier to use windows tool though. i cant remember what the hell it is though.

[Phaelon]

Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System tools -> System Information

In there it should tell you everything you might need to know about your computer.

[Rbstr]

For cheaoer graphics card look for FX5900's and 5900XT's (the $10 for the regualr is very nice as it will more than lieky flash perfecly to a 5950, some XT's have problems doing that)

Also the Rady 9600 pro or XT and the FX5700 Ultra

2.55 ghz is fine its better than my CPU. (its a P4, no Athlons go that high unless they are OCed and he's not doing that)

You probably have DDR memory so any type of DDR will fit/work but its best to figure out waht its suposed to be

[Sokko]

Go to Crucial RAM at crucial.com. You put in your computer's brand and model number and it gives you a selection of RAM sticks to buy. The prices are decently low, too, but the RAM isn't super-high-performance or anything. I myself can verify that it works fine. :)

[SquirrelMan]

hm. didn't say anything for my model :confused:

[dscytherulez]

Despite my love for ATI cards, the 5700 Ultra is a bit better then the 9600XT, so if you are looking for a solid cheap video card, there you go.

As for the processor, a 2.55Ghz is pretty good, and I don't see a need to upgrade that now. You might as well wait for the new processors coming out shortly.

[smccord313]

As far as graphics cards are concerned, you should look into spending 200 dollars to get a GeForce FX 5900 XT graphics card, they are one hell of a card, they perform almost identical to the FX 5950 and yet they are half the price.

Or, you could spend 200 bucks, and get a 9800pro. :p Best deal out their right now. Anyone who goes for a 9600xt, 5700 ultra, or 5900xt instead of this thing for the same price is crazy.

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb (http://www.buyxtremegear.com/r9800pro128.html)

[dscytherulez]

Or, you could spend 200 bucks, and get a 9800pro. :p Best deal out their right now. Anyone who goes for a 9600xt, 5700 ultra, or 5900xt instead of this thing for the same price is crazy.

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb (http://www.buyxtremegear.com/r9800pro128.html)

Your not even close. A 9800 Pro is almost $100 more than a 5700 Ultra. I found 5700 Ultras for around $120. Yes the 9800 Pro is better, but he did say he wanted a cheap card. The 5700 Ultra is a nice card (even though I hate NVIDIA I have to admit it) and is a lot cheaper then a 9800 Pro. You wouldn't even notice THAT much of a difference between the two. Sure there would be some, but you can't beat a near $100 worth of savings.

[SquirrelMan]

right. a NVIDIA 5700 Ultra. Where can I get info on how to install it?

EDIT: Yow. Bestbuy is sellin em for $219.99. where can I get one cheap?

[Rbstr]

www.pricewatch.com

but before you order you need to be sure you have an AGP slot

[SquirrelMan]

www.pricewatch.com

but before you order you need to be sure you have an AGP slot


mmmmkay. so how do I do that?

Heh. I know nothing about upgradin computers :shrug:

EDIT: Gainward - GAINWARD ULTRA 860 TV/DVI 128MB GEFORCE FX5700 128MB DDR TV OUT DVI OUT RETAIL BOX
Details:
-NVIDIA GEFORCE FX 5700 GPU 128 MB 128BIT GAINWARD PowerPack Ultra 860 TV/DVI 3.6ns
Part - VC-GAIN-105 Updated - 2/21, 4:24 PM

that look good? Total Cost=$143. That's the cheapest 5700 ultra there

[dscytherulez]

Yeah...

[SquirrelMan]

okey. i'll get that then unless something cheaper comes up :D


Anyway, who/what is Sigbot? I keep hearing a lot about him/her/it.

[dscytherulez]

Sigbot is what deletes your sig if you do something wrong/bad/or just stupid in it, such as oversized sigs.

[SquirrelMan]

ah, I could have guessed that...

[Ait'al]

Heres a 5900xt for 195$

http://www.futurepowerpc.com/scripts/details.asp?PRDCODE=VCCH-SA5900X

Heres the same thing thats retail for certain for 181$

http://www.dljsystem.com/

Its the first one in Pricewatch. Its near the bottom of the sites list. It has a 128 next to it on the side thing.

Or type this into the search thing on the dljsystem site

CHAINTECH SA5900X 5900XT 128MB W/ DVI/TVOUT RETAIL

[SquirrelMan]

Okay, I need to find out info about my computer. How do I do that?


All I could get from DXDiag and system information was my display and sound card. Where can I find other things about the computer, such as if I have an AGP slot or things like that?

[SquirrelMan]

ALSO, my connection to PS is acting up, the people at the official tech forum say that it's becaus my modem (a 2wire homeportal) is acting as a router also. They then told me to update the firmware. The website is no help at all, it doesn't even have drivers. Where can I update it?

[dscytherulez]

start->programs->accessories->system tools->system information

Edit: The latest firmware can be found on the manufacturers website.

[SquirrelMan]

Here is the system summary from Belarc. I took out parts I didn't think were necessary. I dont understand it, hope you do :D

Operating System
Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 1 (build 2600)

System Model
Dell Computer Corporation Dimension 8250
System Service Tag: 2R8TM21 (support for this PC)
Chassis Serial Number: 2R8TM21

Processor
2.53 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache

Main Circuit Board
Board: Dell Computer Corp. 0K0543
Serial Number: ..CN4811132Q01NU.
Bus Clock: 533 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Computer Corporation A03 02/24/2003

Drives
119.96 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
86.34 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-248F [CD-ROM drive]
SAMSUNG DVD-ROM SD-616T [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

IC35L120AVV207-0 [Hard drive] (120.00 GB) -- drive 0, s/n VNVD02G4GHX8BG, rev V24OA66A, SMART Status: Healthy

Memory Modules
512 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'RIMM1' has 256 MB
Slot 'RIMM2' has 256 MB
Slot 'RIMM3' is Empty
Slot 'RIMM4' is Empty

Local Drive Volumes

c: (on drive 0) 119.96 GB 86.34 GB free

Controllers
Standard floppy disk controller
Intel(r) 82801BA Bus Master IDE Controller
Primary IDE Channel [Controller]
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller]

Bus Adapters
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Companion Controller
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Companion Controller
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Companion Controller
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Companion Controller
VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller
VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller

Multimedia
SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio

EDIT: tell me if ya need more info
EDIT2: Would the manufacturer's website be www.2wire.com? Where could I find out the manufacturer?

[SquirrelMan]

AHA! I found something is System Information:

I/O Port 0x000003C0-0x000003DF Intel Processor to AGP Controller

does that mean I have an AGP slot?

[SquirrelMan]

Ohhhkaaaay. I'm trying to let Planetside through the homeportal firewall, and it says I need some information.

Protocol: TCP (or) UDP

Port (or Range): From:____ To: _____

Protocol Timeout (seconds): ____ TCP default = 86400
UDP default = 600

Map to Host Port: _____ Default = the same port as defined above.

Application Type: None (Default), File Transfer Protocol, or (FTP) Microsoft Games


How do I find this stuff out?

[Phaelon]

The way a connection works, through routing and the way ethernet packets are constructed, if you turn on planetside and tell it to find the server, it will initiate the connection, and push a port through. The firewall sees this and will allow the destination you contacted to push back through on any port you specified.

Now if you would want someone outside to be able to initiate a connection THEN you would open a port.

You do not need to open a port at this present time. You said you are having PS connection problems, so talk about them.
What is your time in game? (when in game, type /stats and look to what the connection is, it will be in mili-seconds)
What type of internet access do you have? (DSL/Cable modem/Satelitte)
What type of modem/firewall/router are you currently using? (Model, ports etc.)
what is your ping to www.yahoo.com ?
What is your trace route to yahoo? To planetside servers?
- Start -> run -> cmd (in windows xp) or command (in older version of windows)
- type tracert yahoo.com
- type tracert planetside.com

[SquirrelMan]

The way a connection works, through routing and the way ethernet packets are constructed, if you turn on planetside and tell it to find the server, it will initiate the connection, and push a port through. The firewall sees this and will allow the destination you contacted to push back through on any port you specified.

Now if you would want someone outside to be able to initiate a connection THEN you would open a port.

You do not need to open a port at this present time. You said you are having PS connection problems, so talk about them.
What is your time in game? (when in game, type /stats and look to what the connection is, it will be in mili-seconds)
What type of internet access do you have? (DSL/Cable modem/Satelitte)
What type of modem/firewall/router are you currently using? (Model, ports etc.)
what is your ping to www.yahoo.com ?
What is your trace route to yahoo? To planetside servers?
- Start -> run -> cmd (in windows xp) or command (in older version of windows)
- type tracert yahoo.com
- type tracert planetside.com


The connection cuts out to the server when I try to load a battle continent. Just as it finishes, the lag window pops up, cant remember what it says, but the one with the "exit world" button at the bottom. I never regain connection. I dont know the time. I have a 2wire Homeportal, using SBC Yahoo! DSL. The people at the official tech forum said I should upgrade the firmware, but didn't give me a link. www.2wire.com is useless. Cant do a tracert right now, but I will edit this post when I can

[SquirrelMan]

Here are the tracert results for ya:




Tracing route to yahoo.com [66.218.71.198]

over a maximum of 30 hops:



1 1 ms 1 ms <1 ms homeportal.gateway.2wire.net [172.16.0.1]

2 62 ms 63 ms 64 ms adsl-67-118-95-254.dsl.lsan03.pacbell.net [67.118.95.254]

3 64 ms 61 ms 62 ms dist1-vlan50.lsan03.pbi.net [64.161.163.214]

4 59 ms 64 ms 62 ms bb1-g9-0-0.lsan03.pbi.net [67.116.100.99]

5 66 ms 60 ms 63 ms ex1-p3-0.eqlaca.sbcglobal.net [151.164.241.101]

6 62 ms 63 ms 60 ms asn10310-yahoo.eqlaca.sbcglobal.net [151.164.89.214]

7 81 ms 80 ms 72 ms ae0-p819.pat1.pao.yahoo.com [216.115.98.9]

8 78 ms 76 ms 74 ms vlan26.bas1.scd.yahoo.com [216.115.101.34]

9 78 ms 74 ms 76 ms UNKNOWN-66-218-82-238.yahoo.com [66.218.82.238]

10 73 ms 76 ms 74 ms w1.rc.vip.scd.yahoo.com [66.218.71.198]



Trace complete.



Tracing route to planetside.com [64.37.156.19]

over a maximum of 30 hops:



1 <1 ms 1 ms <1 ms homeportal.gateway.2wire.net [172.16.0.1]

2 64 ms 62 ms 64 ms adsl-67-118-95-254.dsl.lsan03.pacbell.net [67.118.95.254]

3 63 ms 66 ms 60 ms dist1-vlan50.lsan03.pbi.net [64.161.163.214]

4 64 ms 64 ms 58 ms bb1-g9-0-0.lsan03.pbi.net [67.116.100.99]

5 62 ms 64 ms 62 ms ex1-p12-0.eqlaca.sbcglobal.net [151.164.191.245]

6 63 ms 59 ms 64 ms exch1.laeqnx-1.sonyonline.net [206.223.123.90]

7 66 ms 68 ms 66 ms vl895.sdtermsw-2.sonyonline.net [64.37.128.78]

8 67 ms 68 ms 70 ms sdvirtual1.station.sony.com [64.37.156.19]



Trace complete.

Anyway, back on subject, how do I find out if I have an AGP slot?

[Phaelon]

That connection problem sounds very interesting, should look on www.deja.com if anyone else has had connectivity issues with that model.

You have one, if you search for your model on google, they display that multiple other models like yours are selling with AGP cards in them.

[SquirrelMan]

You have one


YAY! cool. alrighty then, i'll get a NVIDIA 5700 Ultra at www.newegg.com ... that's the cheapest one I found.

should www.deja.com redirect me to the hompage of google groups?

and how do I figure out what kind of RAM is compatible with my system?

[Ait'al]

The cheapest5700 ultra they ahve is 174. Are you sure its not the Regular 5700.

The 5900 is only 10 dollars more at that rate.

[dscytherulez]

The 5700 Ultra is almost exactly the same as the 5900. And that XT you showed is a piece of shit. The clock speeds are less then the 5700 Ultra. If you want something more expensive, go for the Radeon 9800 Pro for $200. Otherwise, heres a nice 5700 Ultra for $169:

http://www.gameve.com/gve/store/productdetails.aspx?sku=VC-XFX-014

[SquirrelMan]

a...ha...


that was a 5700, w/o ultra. Anyway, i've settled on the Ultra. Now for RAM. How do I find out what RAM to get for my system?

[SquirrelMan]

The 5700 Ultra is almost exactly the same as the 5900. And that XT you showed is a piece of shit. The clock speeds are less then the 5700 Ultra. If you want something more expensive, go for the Radeon 9800 Pro for $200. Otherwise, heres a nice 5700 Ultra for $169:

http://www.gameve.com/gve/store/productdetails.aspx?sku=VC-XFX-014

whoo! wow. That's the one i'm getting :D

[dscytherulez]

Too find out type of ram (SDRAM, DDR, RDRAM) look here:

http://www.planetside-universe.com/forums/showpost.php?p=334341&postcount=8

To find the speed, look here:

http://www.planetside-universe.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20331

Edit: If you don't understand about the notches in the ram you can try the programs suggested by phaelon and skinnerer here:

http://www.planetside-universe.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20271

But I think it's easier just to turn the comp off, take one stick out, and look at it.

[SquirrelMan]

alrighty. I'll get right on it. How much am I gonna need? (pcconnection says it has a max of 2 GB, which is an awful lot...) And where can I get it cheap?

[Ait'al]

Memory Modules
512 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'RIMM1' has 256 MB
Slot 'RIMM2' has 256 MB
Slot 'RIMM3' is Empty
Slot 'RIMM4' is Empty

^4memory slots with slot 1 and 2 filled with 256mb sticks.

That means may only support up to 512mb individual stick sizes. So you should probly look for Dual 512 kits in whatever speed you support. Im not sure if you could just get two 1gig chips. But there too damn expensive right now anyway. Dual sets are just ones the factory checks for compatability speed wise.

Can he buy a dual 2x512 set at the same speed as the 256 and get 1.5 gigs?

[SquirrelMan]

^4memory slots with slot 1 and 2 filled with 256mb sticks.

That means may only support up to 512mb individual stick sizes. So you should probly look for Dual 512 kits in whatever speed you support. Im not sure if you could just get two 1gig chips. But there too damn expensive right now anyway. Dual sets are just ones the factory checks for compatability speed wise.

Can he buy a dual 2x512 set at the same speed as the 256 and get 1.5 gigs?

who's he? me?

[Ait'al]

Yea.

Edit: That means you may only support up to 512mb individual stick sizes.

[SquirrelMan]

okay. now where's a place I can get a 2x pack cheap?

[Ait'al]

Use Newegg.com for your primary search, and then look at www.Zipzoomfly.com to compare prices. They usually have ram at a few dollars to 10 or more cheaper than Newegg. But new egg is alot easier to search. There both Free 2 day ground shipping for all ram i think. And you can choose from OEM and Retail too if you want. OEM will be a little cheaper if you dont mind going without the manuals and diagrams.

And remember dual packs go buy there combined size when you look for them. So 2x512 pack will be under 1024 when you search. But they will say (2x512) somewhere in the description. You need to make sure its not an single 1024mb chip.

Luckily, though, Dual sets are alway a little cheaper than buying two single chips of the same type.

[dscytherulez]

Here is some of the best ram you can get, but I don't know your speed so you'll have to help me out with that by following the instructions I gave you:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-144-124&catalog=147&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=0

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-144-122&catalog=147&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=0

Edit: Can he buy a dual 2x512 set at the same speed as the 256 and get 1.5 gigs?

Yes.

Edit #2: They say maximum is 2 gigs because they don't include anything over 512mb sticks. The newest of new comps will say 4 gigs because they do include them as they are becoming more popular. Theoretically you could get server ram and go over 16 gigs if you wanted to, but Win XP would have an overload.

[Ait'al]

Here are my 3 rams.

1. http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80060-15 2-2-2-5 :P~ Supposedly better cooling than the black ones.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80060-14 2-2-2-5 Corsair took the lead for fastest ram when they released these too. FYI 8) Unless i remembered that wrong: This is the black one.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80059-22 CAS 2.5 but 40 dollars cheaper. Id go with The first one though.

Edit: Oh that second ones faster.

[dscytherulez]

I'd take Kingston HyperX over Corsair.

Edit: They're pretty much the same though, it's just preference. The only reason you would need platinum is if you are going to overclock your ram.

[Ait'al]

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80060-22 Heres the Kingston for 10 dollars less then.

Just remember to check that you can use 2700 or that your current ram is 2700 before you go buying it Squirell. :)

[dscytherulez]

Indeed. That sites search does suck. You can't chose the order of anything. I didn't feel like going through it. :D

Edit: Squirrel you got those speeds yet? I don't have much more time. It's 2:15 AM here and I have to get up at 6:30.

[Ait'al]

ZipZoomFly is really The old Googlewarez.com :brow: They had a lawsuit or something and had to change the name. One day it was GoogleWarez with Google on one side of that nut and Warez on the other,like ZipZoom and Fly are aranges now, and then next thing you know its like it is now. 8)

I was on the site one day and i either hit refresh and it changed or i came back on the next day and, poof. And there was their little news update telling about what happened, back when they had them. Talk about minimizing damage.

Edit: i just ranked :D

[dscytherulez]

Edit: i just ranked

Nazi.

Anyways, I gotta go. Cya guys later. Ait'al seems to know what hes doing, but I claim no responsibilty for him giving you false information Squirrel. :lol:

Go with that 5700 Ultra I showed you (if you're feeling rich you could get the Radeon 9800 Pro :brow: ) and either the Kingston or the Corsair memory. I read somewhere that the new Corsair stuff isn't as good as the old, but I don't know that as a fact. It's up to you and you probably wouldn't notice a difference between the two at all, so I'd go for the cheapest at your speed.

One more suggestion before I go. If those 256mb sticks are slow mem, dump em and dual channel Kingston HyperX PC-3200+ ram. You'll get much better results then running 4 sticks of ram if they are all slow. If the 256mb's are fast PC-2700+, then you might wanna keep them in.

[Ait'al]

I think when there talking about them not being as good, theyre talking about the new 1 gig chips and 2x1gig are all CAS 3 because of whatever.

[Phaelon]

Heh windows Xp can't handle 16 gigs of memory =p, The allocation tables would fail on pre-caching

[SquirrelMan]

heh. I'll just get whatever's cheapest. :D

EDIT: The soonest I'll get the info on my RAM is later than 4:30. Thanks for the help you guys, you rock :D

EDIT2: I really love this smiley: :D

[dscytherulez]

Heh windows Xp can't handle 16 gigs of memory =p, The allocation tables would fail on pre-caching

Theoretically you could get server ram and go over 16 gigs if you wanted to, but Win XP would have an overload.

[Ait'al]

Heh windows Xp can't handle 16 gigs of memory =p, The allocation tables would fail on pre-caching

Where the hell is that coming from :lol:

And squirrel. You need to make sure you can use 2700. You probly can but its possible you cant. and get corsair if the price difference is only 10-20 dollars.

[dscytherulez]

Stop filling this thread with Corsair bullshit. Kingston and Corsair are pretty much even, so go with the cheapest you can get. I've used both in one of my systems and noticed no difference. The only time I would recommend Corsair is if you are planning on overclocking your ram. The platinum heat spreaders do better then aluminum.

[Phaelon]

And I have noticed Physical difference with Kingston versus Corsair in 4 different systems, with a differenc of 1 to 6% increase in FPS.

Man you need to calm down, further more Windows XP would not overload, it wouldn't even function. That much memory will cause Windows XP to not even load, the memory checks the Kernel does in its pre-boot phase will fail.

[dscytherulez]

That's interesting. In one post you say you noticed 5-10% increase on 2 systems, now you say 1-6% on 4? Well, im confused. I seriously don't care anymore. You can take these guys under your wings.

[Ait'al]

Is phaelon Daelon? Im lost. And if not where did he go. lol

[Rbstr]

I don't think to.

Also the platnium Heat speaders is just aluminium, or Copper painted a color.

If those were platinum they would cost a hell of alot more

[SquirrelMan]

AIDIA32 says:

Form Factor: RIMM
Type: RDRAM
Size: 256 MB
Speed: 533 MHz
Total Width: 16-bit
Data Width: 16-bit

about my RAM. I dont really care about brand name, just about cost. I want cheapness :D

[Rbstr]

You need to get 533mhz Rambus/Rdram

[dscytherulez]

Sucks that you have RDRAM. As I tried to say, cheaper is Kingston, which is why I figured that would be the best for you. If you really don't care about performance you could even go lower then that and get something a bit cheaper. Crucial for instance.

[SquirrelMan]

okey. Actually, I though I had DDR RAM. Oh well. Now, where's a website I can get some RAM cheap?

And, is the dscythe in your name referring to Gundam Wing?

EDIT: my Homeportal system summary says my connection speed is:
Incoming: 384 kbps
Outgoing: 128 kbps
is that good?

[dscytherulez]

How much do you want? It's nearly impossible to find a gig of RDRAM for under ~$450.

Your best bet is the pair of 256mb. You'll have a total of 1 gig if I'm not mistaken. RDRAM is expensive.

Samsung is the major RDRAM manufacturer: http://store.yahoo.net/s168/51saorpcnora.html

[SquirrelMan]

Is it possible to switch kinds of RAM, or am I stuck?

[dscytherulez]

You're stuck, unless you want a new mobo.

Edit: You need to buy a pair. RDRAM only works in pairs of 2.

Edit 2: Heres generic. With RDRAM, even generic will get expensive: http://store.yahoo.net/s168/sy25saorpcno1.html

[SquirrelMan]

...and getting a new mobo and ddr ram will just cost more than just getting RDRAM. RDRAM does have better performance, right?

alright, this is the cheapest 256 RDRAM I could find:
SimpleTech 184 Pin 256MB RAMBUS RDRAM PC-800 - Retail
(limit 5 per customer)

Specification
Manufacturer: Samsung
Model: RB800X16-16/256
Speed: RAMBUS PC800
Type: 184 Pin RAMBUS RDRAM
Error Checking: Non-ECC
Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered
Support Voltage: 2.5V
Bandwidth: 3.2GB/s(in pairs)
Special Features: All 16-bit RAMBUS RDRAM Must be used in pairs
Warranty: Lifetime

Model#: RB800X16-16/256
Item#: N82E16820150206

[dscytherulez]

Yeah, it's a bit better. And you are better off sticking with it rather than getting a new mobo. That could get a bit involving...

Edit: You didn't give a price squirrel, how much was that? The generic 256mb was $88.

Edit 2: If you'll pay extra, you're much better off getting 1066 RDRAM, but it will be extra. If you like price over performance then that generic 800 will be good if it's cheaper than that samsung.

Edit 3: This is excellent RDRAM, if you can afford $250 for 512mb worth. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-152-101&catalog=147&depa=0

Edit 4: That Kingston in Edit 3 is only $10 more then that simpletech. I would definately upgrade from that 800 to the 1066.

[Phaelon]

5-10% in different games, 5% boost in Quake 3, 10% increase in Half-Life.
2 Systems are my own - Dual Xeon system and a P4 1.7 system

4 Other computers are friends who in the process to get the most out of thier systems, we compared the two types of memory together.

All I was doing was stating that I, as a person saw a physical difference in FPS using different types of ram. Money is more of an issue than performance and therefore anything different doesn't really matter.

"Is phaelon Daelon? Im lost."
Don't know who are you are talking about, but I am not that person.

[Rbstr]

Ait tends to ramble if you have noticed, Daelon was a networking guy (i think, or was that the other dude) that posted here a lot before

Well its hard for me to say as my thre systems all use different types of ram, but kingson has done me no wrong, and i think i have it in all 3 systems(not sure about my Rambus system), they have a lifetime waranty, and the new Hyper X stuff is about on par with Corsiar stuff in most benches i've seen.

And i'm not sure that he can suppost teh new 800 and 1066 mhz RDRam, as his says 533, but i don't know much about RDram just that it needs pairs and the c-rimm stuff.

[SquirrelMan]

Price: $114.00 for the one I posted.

So i'll get the $88 one. (PC800, my mobo has a 533 mhz FSB)

hope it's compatible with my system... I think it is...

so I think i'm set, unless I find something cheaper.

hmm... I'll check to see what kind of RAM I got and compare it. That should give some insight.

[dscytherulez]

Ait tends to ramble if you have noticed, Daelon was a networking guy (i think, or was that the other dude) that posted here a lot before

Well its hard for me to say as my thre systems all use different types of ram, but kingson has done me no wrong, and i think i have it in all 3 systems(not sure about my Rambus system), they have a lifetime waranty, and the new Hyper X stuff is about on par with Corsiar stuff in most benches i've seen.

And i'm not sure that he can suppost teh new 800 and 1066 mhz RDRam, as his says 533, but i don't know much about RDram just that it needs pairs and the c-rimm stuff.

Lol, 533 is the speed. The 800 and 1066 are both 533mhz, they are just model names.

I would seriously consider going with the 1066 Kingston. I know it's more expensive but the difference between the 800 and 1066 is suppose to be pretty big. Big enough to make a difference anyway. I think that extra ~$80 would be worth it, and I'm not usually the person that says that. But it's up to you.

[SquirrelMan]

Lol, 533 is the speed. The 800 and 1066 are both 533mhz, they are just model names.

I would seriously consider going with the 1066 Kingston. I know it's more expensive but the difference between the 800 and 1066 is suppose to be pretty big. Big enough to make a difference anyway. I think that extra ~$80 would be worth it, and I'm not usually the person that says that. But it's up to you.

okey. I would get the Kingston, but I have to convince my dad to spend the extra money.


And that's practically impossible...

ANYWAY, to get better performance on planetside, do I need any more than 1gig of RAM?

[dscytherulez]

ANYWAY, to get better performance on planetside, do I need any more than 1gig of RAM?

No, anything after that wouldn't make to much of a difference.

[SquirrelMan]

Cool. Alrighty, on to the task of convincing Dad to get me better RAM. Any suggestions? (he plays Command and Conquer Generals :D )

[dscytherulez]

Preach to him how much better C&C will run, even though it won't make much of a dif on that game because it's not very system demanding, it never hurts to stretch the truth ;). Tell him to go to http://www.generalsfiles.com/ for some good mods too. Bribes work.

[SquirrelMan]

hm. Just a question: How quickly will the NVIDIA 5700 Ultra become outdated? :D

[Rbstr]

not that soon, even though new stuff in coming out very soon the 5700 will be good untill DX10 basiacly

[dscytherulez]

Yeah, the 5700 Ultra is a good solid vid card. It won't be dead for a while. Don't expect it to last forever though. Technology moves fast and that isn't the newest card there is...

For the money though, it's a great card at a great price.

[SquirrelMan]

Okey. I'll get that then, and who knows what i'll do when I need to upgrade again... but anyway, can it run Planetside with the hi-res textures on without inducing heavy FPS lag? I like the high-res textures.

[dscytherulez]

What speed is your processor?

[SquirrelMan]

2.55 GHz

[dscytherulez]

That system will have no prob with hi-res. The ram is what takes the beating the most with planetside. With 1 gig of 1066 RDRAM, a 5700 Ultra, and a 2.55ghz processor, PS should run nice and smooth for the most part.

[SquirrelMan]

Cool. Now all I have to worry about is EQII and World of Warcraft.

[GreyFox]

Cool. Now all I have to worry about is EQII and World of Warcraft.World of Warcraft doesn't seem to be such a specs demanding game. I don't know about EQII though.

[SquirrelMan]

okey. I'm bumping this topic up to prevent it from vanishing while I still haven't ordered it... haven't finished convincing dad.