How much RAM do I need for Gaming?

One 1gb of ram is enough to run the current games also you can buy ram from newegg and here is the link.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145440

One 1gb of ram is enough to run the current games also you can buy ram from newegg and here is the link.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145440

Private_Adam

2GB and above...WESTBLADE

Well, I don't know what quality RAM you have, but I have 2 gigs and everything is very, very easily maxed out.. I wouldn't be surprised if it was just as good with a decent amount less. 

Right now I have 475.5 mb which I know isnt enough. How much do I need? Link me to products if you could also please.bolt2448

2 gigs is the way to go right now. 

just make sure the ram is compatibale with your motherboard...and 1 gig should be fine although if you want to max out your games you should get 2 but considering that you don't even have 512mb of ram now im sure your system would be bottle necked. so in otherwords getting anything over 1gig would be a waste for you.rob1101

Hmm without more info on your PC we can't really make any recommendation. Find the manual and look for the chipset name, like Intel 845GE, 945PE, 965G, etc...

Failing that tell us what type of CPU you got. 

[QUOTE="Private_Adam"]

One 1gb of ram is enough to run the current games also you can buy ram from newegg and here is the link.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145440

 

bolt2448

Correct, thats your harddrive that gets used up. Two gigs is ideal for gaming. I have 2 gigs in my desktop and laptop and I game on both without any problems.  

Hmm without more info on your PC we can't really make any recommendation. Find the manual and look for the chipset name, like Intel 845GE, 945PE, 965G, etc...

Failing that tell us what type of CPU you got.

Erlkoenig

Here's the scoop.  Ram is cheap enough these days, run 2 gigs.  If you have 400 something megs, youre running onboard shared video most likely, and you need a video card.  But in any case, the reasons for my statement are as follows:

 1:  XP only supports 3 GB of ram, any more is a waste. (Vista Supports (and uses) more).

2: Most motherboards "support" 8 GB of ram these days, but in reality most people have trouble with trying to get 4 GB to work.  It can be done, but there isnt much point as of now.

3: As with the previous statement, 4 GB (usually 4 modules x 1 GB) is tricky to make work on certain chipsets etc, and if youre asking "how much should I have?" you probably aren't in the arena of knowledge to be making those decisions/troubleshooting those problems.

 So in short, stick with 2 Gigs.  Preferably two 1 GB sticks in Dual Channel if your motherboard supports it.

Also a tip, buy brand name ram, not necessarily the high end platinum/twinx/hyperx etc models youll see, but not the "value" ram either.  Just go mid range, dont spend a fortune.  I've built thousands of computers, from low end junkers to top of the line custom gamer rigs, and used ram from the cheapest to the most expensive.  I can tell you from experience there isn't much of a performance difference between the tightest timed ram to the loosest, so quantity over quality in this case.  Just don't buy bottom end.

 ps:  to any potential flamers, I know performance ram has it's place, but enthusiasts arent asking these questions.  Overclockers will see massive performance gains with quality ram, obviously, but in combination with bus and cpu (even chipset) overclocking/overvolting etc.  I'm just trying to give the guy some general advice.

 Edit:  As a sidenote, Vista Ultimate supporting something like 256+ GB of ram, at first seemed ludicrous.  But I also recently purchased an Enermax Galaxy DXX 1 Gigawatt Power Supply, which includes a new plug for "ram power" which is to power (according to the documentation) 16 and 32+ GB RAM configurations.  Currently this is for server end boards, but this is technically a desktop PC PSU, which combined with vista's boasts, leads me to believe that there will be a new trend in PC memory very shortly.  It could be a year away, but I would hazard to guess that we'll be seeing boards that support in excess of 32 GB of ram, and modules probably up to 8 GB each.  Just my theory, but I'd call it an educated guess.  Food for thought.

[QUOTE="Erlkoenig"]

Hmm without more info on your PC we can't really make any recommendation. Find the manual and look for the chipset name, like Intel 845GE, 945PE, 965G, etc...

Failing that tell us what type of CPU you got.

bolt2448

Then get the PC2700 or PC3200.

The funny thing is those DDRs are now more expensive than DDR2 (at Newegg). You should look for used ones eBay or something.

[QUOTE="bolt2448"][QUOTE="Erlkoenig"]

Hmm without more info on your PC we can't really make any recommendation. Find the manual and look for the chipset name, like Intel 845GE, 945PE, 965G, etc...

Failing that tell us what type of CPU you got.

Erlkoenig

Then get the PC2700 or PC3200.

The funny thing is those DDRs are now more expensive than DDR2 (at Newegg). You should look for used ones eBay or something.

2GB if you have XP as most games now recommend 1GB on the box which means 1GB won't cut it at max.

IF you have Vista you should go out and buy XP cause Vista sucks. If you just like the Vista look then there are several themes you can download to make XP look like Vista. 

Besides DX10 will work on XP soon enough 

Right now I have 475.5 mb which I know isnt enough. How much do I need? Link me to products if you could also please.bolt2448

It depends on your CPU and graphics card. If your card sucks, going over 1GB of memory won't matter because you won't be playing gamesat high enough resolutions and texture settings to even USE the extra memory.

You can live on one gig of RAM on XP, but best to have 1.5 available. For Vista, anyone here would recommend 2 GB, including myself. When I get Vista, I'm going to add another 1 GB to my 2 GB just to be sure I have plenty for future games.TacticalElefant

Guys, the extra memory will NEVER be used if his CPU and GPU aren't strong enough to push games that hard!

bolt:  buy two 512 MB sticks.  We'll need to know your motherboard brand AND model number to tell you what kind to get.  To determine this info, download and run CPU-z (google it - it's a great free program), click the Mainboard tab, and it will specify this info.   Also, click the memory tab and jot that down as well.

Post here with your results, or PM me - I'll shoot you straight. 

1 gig for xp or 2 gigs for vista. Try to aim for good speed like 800mhz.Sleepyz

other than making sure the RAM is the type you need (DDR, DDR2) having the same "brand of RAM" is also helpful. For instance if you have 1 Gig of Kingston RAM with 800mhz on your computer working proprely. Then if you upgrade you would basically get the same type, brand and mhz speed of the RAM you already have.

2GB if you have XP as most games now recommend 1GB on the box which means 1GB won't cut it at max.

IF you have Vista you should go out and buy XP cause Vista sucks. If you just like the Vista look then there are several themes you can download to make XP look like Vista.

Besides DX10 will work on XP soon enough

superkoolstud

Where did you get your info that DX 10 would work on XP? 

2GB and above...WESTBLADE

Yep, 2GB and above. also better with the rams for gaming.

A quick note that no one has mentioned:  What he should buy has a lot to do with what his current/future computer needs are.

From the sounds of it (although I havn't seen full specs) your computer isn't exactly brand new.  If your just throwing some memory in to try to stretch the rigs life a little bit putting 2GB or more of ram would be foolish and a waste of money.  UNLESS you plan on building your own computer next time (from the sounds of your post I assume you aren't using a homebuilt) and would salvage the RAM you purchase now, don't waste your money on 2+GB of ram (obviously if this was a new build I would not recommend anything under 2gb).

In short if your just trying to extend the life of your computer buy a 512mb DIMM and you should see a large benefit in performance.  If you plan to upgrade your computer in the future buy a 1GB DIMM (not 2x512, as they will not be as useful down the road) then yank it out and use it in your next computer when the time comes.

512 Mb will just get you by for some games, but personally I think 1 GB+ is the way to go.cowboystd

Dude, 512mb is a sin, 1GB is just getting by....

I say again, 2gb if you are building or buying a PC, you could justify 3 or 4 even if you are buying now. My freaking laptop even came with 2gb's and it was just a $1k rig not even bought for gaming. 

to figure out what ram to buy use this scanner http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/ it will scan your computer and tell you what type of ram to get and how many slots you have

max you can go with a XP OS is 2 GB of RAM...and if you wanna play decent...you can reach that ammount...with Vista you can get 4 GB...but... DON'T MAKE A MISTAKE BUYING VISTA....llakallaka

Not true.  As I previously stated, XP supports 3 GB of ram, not 2.  Vista supports far more than 4 GB, upwards of 256+ GB with Ultimate. 

The issue is motherboard chipsets, most only "support" 8 GB, and even those that do, have many issues.  It will all work out in the end, but stick with 2 GB for now.

[QUOTE="llakallaka"]max you can go with a XP OS is 2 GB of RAM...and if you wanna play decent...you can reach that ammount...with Vista you can get 4 GB...but... DON'T MAKE A MISTAKE BUYING VISTA....GunnyHath

Not true. As I previously stated, XP supports 3 GB of ram, not 2. Vista supports far more than 4 GB, upwards of 256+ GB with Ultimate.

The issue is motherboard chipsets, most only "support" 8 GB, and even those that do, have many issues. It will all work out in the end, but stick with 2 GB for now.

Yeah 2GB is all one really needs for gaming at the moment...unless you plan to use the system for more than gaming just stick to that.

As far as XP Ram limit...I hear 3GB from some and 4GB from others...each saying they are the most accurate source. I'm running with 4gigs and I've noticed XP will only work with 3.5 or so...strange to say the least. 

I think that 1 gig is sufficient enough but 2 gigs is good if you want good smooth gameplay. also a video card with at least 256 mb of video memory would be good as well.

Right now I have 475.5 mb which I know isnt enough. How much do I need? Link me to products if you could also please.bolt2448

......

What the hell can everyone stop debating about memory and answer the guy for once?

OP: PC2700 and PC3200 are just the type of memory, I don't recommend buying a new one, go look for a used one on eBay. Search for "1 GB memory pc2700" for example.