# Will more RAM improve my gaming?



## Eddiex1x (Oct 7, 2008)

Hey, I am running an 8800 ultra geforce card with 2 gigs of ram (1x1gb 2x512mb), and a 3.4ghz processor. I was wondering if adding 2 more sticks of decent-high end RAM and removing my 3 old sticks and replacing them with new, faster versions of RAM will improve my gaming. I am having fps issues when I set texture up on most games such as Ghost Recon 2 and Call of Duty world at war.


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## ash369 (Nov 24, 2008)

Hey Eddie,

Sometimes adding RAM will help and sometimes it won't. It seems as though your spec is quite high. Why is there any need for an upgrade?


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## Eddiex1x (Oct 7, 2008)

Because after playing Ghost Recon 2 (A relatively old game) I was having FPS problems when all settings were on high. Even with my supposed "killer" graphics card.


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

that graphics card is old now
the CPU is only a single core so and a dual core at 3 ghz is about 70 - 110% faster 

I have a killer graphics card my gtx 260

can you post your system specs 
name and brand of each component 
motherboard
PSU
ram
cpu
graphics card


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## Eddiex1x (Oct 7, 2008)

mobo-the one that came with dell xps gen 5
PSU-dell 650watt psu (no other option)
RAm-2x512 mb and 1gb (not sure of the companies but they are pretty old.)
cpu-intel pentium 4 3.4ghz (2 cpus) it says i have 2 of those, so dual core?
graphics card-xfx geforce 8800 ultra


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## Cobracon (May 3, 2008)

Eddiex1x said:


> mobo-the one that came with dell xps gen 5
> PSU-dell 650watt psu (no other option)
> RAm-2x512 mb and 1gb (not sure of the companies but they are pretty old.)
> cpu-intel pentium 4 3.4ghz (2 cpus) it says i have 2 of those, so dual core?
> graphics card-xfx geforce 8800 ultra


There is nothing wrong with, or very "old" about your video card, unless Snob Appeal is a large part of your life.

Lower latency (faster) RAM could help your problem, but be careful when upgrading any components in a 'name brand' computer. I'd go for all new RAM. To get an idea of what will work try the online RAM 'configurators' at Crucial.com, Newegg, OCZ, etc. Though Crucial's RAM can be a little expensive (if you buy it directly from them), it's guaranteed to work. BTW, you can take the part number(s) found at Crucial's site and shop online for better pricing.


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

ohh you have a dual core than its a pretty fast comp
I was saying the video card is old in terms with the fact that computer technology moves too damm fast

yea like what cobracon said (hahahaha GI Joe, thinking of robotchicken) more ram will definitely speed of your computer

whats your motherboard name and brand so we can suggest some fast quality low cost ram for you


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## rickurd (Dec 13, 2007)

The Geforce 8 Series is in no way outdated. I have an 8800GTX on an AMD Athlon X2 clocked at 2.2GHz and it plays all my games at 60+ fps. 

The Geforce 8800 is a killer card. There is nothing wrong with it.

Mcninjaguy you are an xxxxx


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## rickurd (Dec 13, 2007)

Besides I thought this thread was about a possible memory upgrade, not GPU upgrade


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## Cobracon (May 3, 2008)

*Make sure your motherboard and video card drivers are up-to-date, too. nVidia has been rolling their's out on a regular basis.*


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

its is about a memeory upgrade I just need the motherboard and ram type and brand, sspeed etc to give a reccomendation for more ram


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## Eddiex1x (Oct 7, 2008)

Thanks a lot for your attempt at helping me guys,here is some more info so that you might be able to help me out easier. My motherboard's brand is DELL, since my computer is from dell...i think that my problem might be motherboard drivers. Crucial.com says that 'Each memory slot can hold DDR2 PC2-5300,DDR2 PC2-6400 with a maximum of 2GB per slot.'
Also, does anisotropic filtering and trillinear/billinear filtering depend on RAM, as in will increasing it to a high amount be more stable if I have more RAM as well as a good video card?


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

upgrade your psu to a quality 850w


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## Eddiex1x (Oct 7, 2008)

Dai, If you read my above comments it's impossible, I have a dell xps gen 5, the highest psu I could get is the one I have.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

The board uses DDR2 533 or 667 not 800 on a Intel 955x Express chips
Do you have Bios version A05 (it will be shown on the bottom of the boot screen)
This is the memory I would use in your system > http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=04EC42B9A5CA7304

To see what you have now D/L and run CPUz post screen shots of the first tab and the memory tabs.
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
How TO post screen shots> http://www.techsupportforum.com/content/Software/Articles/151.html

The PSU does use standard EPS connectors so if you really wanted to you mount one externally.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dimxpsg5/sm/techov0.htm#wp1052309
Fyi this is the PSU that Gen5's use


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## Jtsou (Jul 13, 2007)

Yea whoever says that an 8800 Ultra is old or outdated is very very wrong. It is still a very good and fast card.


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## Pauldo (Jun 22, 2008)

I agree that this could be a driver issue.

For ram, here is an interesting article from ExtremeTech that talks about the need for more ram, not 'faster' ram as a performance boost. 

Did you get the 8800 Ultra with the computer, or have you upgraded?

If upgraded, what card did you have in there before? And how did you remove old drivers. Lot's of ati stuff in Dell's download section for that computer.

Also, are you running off of the Creative onboard audio?

Pauldo


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

Jtsou said:


> Yea whoever says that an 8800 Ultra is old or outdated is very very wrong. It is still a very good and fast card.


thats was me
I was thinking of mty old card 8800 gts 320 mb (pretty fast buts its not 512 newer kind of a 8800 series card)
I was just comparing it to the new cards out there


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## Eddiex1x (Oct 7, 2008)

i upgraded the card and i uninstalled the old drivers from add/remove programs. and i think i'm running off Creative onboard audio, that's the manufacturer of my audigy sound card.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

That is DDR2 667 that you have now at 2 gig But I just noticed you said 3 sticks for dual channel mode you need to run ram in matched pairs dual channel is much faster then single channel.
Can you give us screen shots of all the slots on the spd tab?


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## Eddiex1x (Oct 7, 2008)

Here are the SPD screenshots


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

In that configuration your not running Dual channel so you either need 2 more sticks of matched 512 or try to match that 1Gig stick with the same brand and specs it's not as easy as it sounds because the chips on the memory stick need to be the same spec and manufacturer as the one you have. Since Cpuz isn't reporting what chips are on it or the manufacturers part number it's not programed on the modules.


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## Eddiex1x (Oct 7, 2008)

ok, well i bought 4 sticks of 
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Sku=O261-8070

so hopefully it will boost of my computer well.


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

you got a good deal $20 for 4 gigs of ram!


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## Pauldo (Jun 22, 2008)

Alright, I'd be curious to know if that new ram solved the problem.


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