Ram or CPU?

[Agent]

I am currently running an AMD Athalon 1.3 ghz (non xp) with 512 mb DDR ram.

The game runs fine. For example, while I run through the halls of a base I get good FPS, but after a couple of hours of playing when I run through bases etc. it starts to bog down. I heard that PS eats ram like no other so I'm thinking of going to 1024 mb but I don't know if I should get ram or a faster CPU. Which one would help out more? Thanks in advance

[Trebor95]

a new processor m8 - definitely - get yourself a top end athlon with nice raw power

oh and ram is cheap, if you pick up a cheap AMD CPU (XP2400+?) you'd probablybe able to afford another stick of 512Mb DDR

[Civilian]

Get a new processor, definitely. I have 1024 MB of RAM and I didn't notice a ton of difference from 512.

[coolsox]

I think anything over 512mb isn't really necessary, PS devs have to fix those humongous memory leaks tho .. or cap the size of the in-game cacher, I got my system up to 800mb used 2 days ago :/

so yeah, CPU/vid card are probably what will boost your performance the most.

[Hunter83]

I'd say go for the new CPU, just make sure your mobo and PSU can handle it.

You say it bogs down, is it just PS that does or other programs as well? What OS are you running?

[Navaron]

CPU man, I have a gig of memory, and I can't tell the difference from 512. Over 512 is just an insurance program that you'll never bog down.

[Zatrais]

You'll most likely need a new motherboard aswell if you're gonna upgrade the cpu...

post your mobo please =)

[HawkEye]

cpu

[alphabet]

CPU, and if you get an AMD XP get a huge heat sink too. My PC is great for warmin my toes on chilly nights!

alph

[coolsox]

Originally posted by Hunter83
I'd say go for the new CPU, just make sure your mobo and PSU can handle it.

You say it bogs down, is it just PS that does or other programs as well? What OS are you running?

I'm running win2k and I know my shit, anyone who have win2k/XP should open up task manager, and go look at it after an hour or so of gaming ..

PS usage was said to be 180mb, but total ram usage was >800mb and I had nothing else running but base system services (which account total for ~150mb, so that was 330mb alltogether;

but when I closed PS, ram usage went down to ~180-200mb .. so that was a shitload of leaked ram from PS, until I am mistaken .. so please some people take the time to look at those thigns :P



about the topic, get either a better CPU, and if you have to upgrade mobo, get new CPU and 500mb of GOOD ram.

[Hunter83]

Originally posted by coolsox
I'm running win2k and I know my shit, anyone who have win2k/XP should open up task manager, and go look at it after an hour or so of gaming ..

PS usage was said to be 180mb, but total ram usage was >800mb and I had nothing else running but base system services (which account total for ~150mb, so that was 330mb alltogether;

but when I closed PS, ram usage went down to ~180-200mb .. so that was a shitload of leaked ram from PS, until I am mistaken .. so please some people take the time to look at those thigns :P

about the topic, get either a better CPU, and if you have to upgrade mobo, get new CPU and 500mb of GOOD ram.

Wow, that's one heck of a memory leak.
Hopefully that'll get ironed out very soon.

[Agent]

Ok you guys convinced me, I'm getting a new CPU soon. I'm also going to try getting more ram first to see if that changes anything. From the experiances I have been having it seems that its more of a ram issue. Yeah sure I slow down a little in battle. The main problem is that when I start PS from a fresh load PS runs smooth as ever. At the sanc where there are tons if people it runs nice and smooth, but after a few hours of gameplaying and the more contienents and bases I visit the slower PS starts to run. Suddenly vacant bases run choppy and the basements sure run slow after a while. I'm assuming its because of this bad memory leak problem PS has, which will be fixed soon.

[OneManArmy]

just as a quick note I had an AMD 1600+ and just bought a 2500+ my 3dmarks jumped over 2000 points and my fps in most game went up by 40 or more... !!

[Agent]

Yeah I know, game FPS really depends more on the CPU speed, I learned that. I remeber getting my 1.4 ghz Athalon b4 I got my GeForce4 and it helped out my half-life so much. I used to run it at a 9 fps but then when I upgraded it went about straight 90. Hopefully PS will run a lot better with more CPU.

[dopey]

You should always look for a good combination of CPU/Ram/Vid. Make sure the speed is good on all of it. DDR 2100 at least on RAM and 533 bus for the CPU.