Is it worth upgrading to 4GB ram?

[Skling]

Hello everyone,

My PC currently has 2GB of Ram, Q6700 processor and an ATI HD 4830. I mainly use it for graphics and progamming work, but I do play a few games like COD on it.

Would I notice a big difference in speed by upgrading to 4GB ram, as memory is really cheap at the moment. I'm using the 32 Bit version of Vista, and I've never understood if that means I can't use 4GB?

Hope you can offer some advice,
Skling

 

[WindowsSe7en]

4GB of Ram will work in 32 bit, that's as high as 32 bit can go, 64 bit is crazy but that's not the point.

Are you a hard core player of COD? I mean, you notice a difference form 1GB to 2GB, but from then on, it's not a huge leap. You may notice a slight improvement but nothing like going from 1GB to 2GB.

How much can you get it for? Do you know the speed on the RAM? (mhz)

It may not be worth it over all. Hope that helps!

 

[ElPaso]

But now RAM prices are pretty low, so it's not that difficult to buy 2 more gb of ram!

 

[WindowsSe7en]

True but he has to consider this, most PC's now-a-days come with 4 slots for RAM, and Skling says he has 2GB but is that 512MB x 4 or 1GB x 2?

It's most likely 1GB x 2 but if it's not, then he has to buy 4 1GB RAM sticks, which would be more expensive.

What's your RAM like now SKLING? 0 or 2 slots open?

 

[BetaMan]

Having more RAM on a 32-bit OS (like 2.5+) will actually make your pc slower, because it takes more time to access the large amount of memory. If you did however want to see a change in performance, check the L2 Cache size on your processor. L2 Cache is like RAM, but is accessed more quickly. Average size is 2MB, although most processors are expanding to 4-6MB. I know Macs have 6MB, which is really fast, but then again OS X comes in 64-Bit on new Macs, so you could easily upgrade RAM... But no one here has a Mac, right?