How much Ram do i need ?

[mick.ca]

How much Ram do i need ?

I want to capture tv in divx mode and multitask, running bitcomet, limewire, winamp, web surfing and if possible shrink a dvd at the same time.

Given the price difference. Would i notice a big difference from 768megs to 1.26 gig of ram, for video compression with multitasking?

I have AMD 3000 system(1.8ghz the way amd rates it and 3 ghz the way Intel rates it) and 256 ram

I have one slot open so i can do one of two things.

A) add 512megs for a total of 768 megs of ram

B) add 1 gig of ram for a total of 1.26 gig of ram

one friend tells me that 768 megs is good enough, That the most noticeable difference is going from 256megs of ram to 512 megs of ram. he tells me most of the video compression is done by the processor and going over the 768megs of ram would not be noticeable even when multitasking ?

Thanks in advance for the replies

[ROF]

When it comes to RAM the more the merrier but I agree with your friend. At 768 you should be fine. When it comes to RAM buy what you can afford and also buy knowing how many slots you have left and if what you are buying will only bring you up to just over the bare minimum save a few bucks and buy some more rather than wasting your last slot and having to pull one piece to make room for a larger one in the future. That is unless you have several machines which use the same RAM in which case you should always have some place to keep the RAM alive after replacing it with a larger capacity piece.

[mick.ca]

well that's the thing, i only have 2 slots total. i guess i could always go with the 768 and if that never cut the mustard i could pull out the 256 stick and put a gig in that one and go with 1.5 gig. It would definitely be more affordable that way

[ROF]

If budget is a limiting factor I'd do as you say. Buy a 512MB stick and use up your last remaining slot. Prices for RAM will fluctuate but ove time they do tend to drop in price while increasing in capacity. You can also as you say replace the 256 with a 1GB piece later on. You will notice a big difference in system performance for all tasks going from 256 to 768MB. Bare minimum today is 512 with most common systems having 1GB total.

[mick.ca]

thanks for the info dude

[mikiem]

IF your board supports dual channel, 1 gig in 2 512 sticks costs about $45 US last I looked & would be well worth it. Dealram.com isn't bad to keep current on pricing.

[ChillBill]

If you can afford the gig stick, I would go for that, then in the future if you want you can always replace the 356 with either another gig or a 512. This way you're not cutting it too close with the 512 and 2 weeks from now are spending more money on replacing the 256.

Again if you can afford the gig, the only reason I would go for the 512 now is if you're planning on upgrading your pc some time in the next year or so.

[ROF]

Again if you can afford the gig, the only reason I would go for the 512 now is if you're planning on upgrading your pc some time in the next year or so.

Please tell me nobody buys a PC today without adding/replacing parts within a years timeframe? I know these people still exist and no amount of wishing seems to make them go away and become investors in the technology that supports them.

Unlike the microwave oven or that new stove, a computer systems parts must be added to or replaced in a regular rotation. Decide now to buy a decent graphics card and a mediocre sound board. Replace the sound board within the year with an upgraded board. Next year, replace the graphics subsystem and buy a new set of speakers. After those few years consider upgrading your processor, adding RAM, or splurge and buy a new mainboard. Three years down the road your powersupply has become quite full of dust and it's fans are making louder than normal sounds. Replace it now and while your at it buy yourself a new larger capacity hard drive. Don't wait for something to die before replacing it. When this happens you can usually predict that the dying part took something else along with it to th great silicon valley in the sky.

Regular maintenance, upgrades, and replacements are the best way to ensure continued successful computing. Even when you think you don't need it, replace it or add it. Your computer will appreciate your efforts.

[gadgetguy]

Regular maintenance, upgrades, and replacements are the best way to ensure continued successful computing. Even when you think you don't need it, replace it or add it. Your computer will appreciate your efforts.

True, as long as you know what you're doing. But if you aren't willing to do the research to make sure you are using compatible components, then you're better off hiring someone to do it or "buy new every 2".

[ROF]

As a person who fixes, repairs, and builds PCs for a price tag I'm sort of biased with my last posting in this thread.

[ChillBill]

I wrote:

Again if you can afford the gig, the only reason I would go for the 512 now is if you're planning on upgrading your pc some time in the next year or so.

RDF wrote

Regular maintenance, upgrades, and replacements are the best way to ensure continued successful computing. Even when you think you don't need it, replace it or add it. Your computer will appreciate your efforts.

Sorry, I should have been more specific.

I meant if you were planning on replacing the motherboard this year.

Cause if you replace the sound card or something small like that you'll still be using the same type of ram(ie. pc2700, pc3200...)

[Bjs]

There will be none and buckley's chance of multitasking all those thing's , no mater how much ram you have .

Encoding to divx dirrectly will take almost all your cpu grunt and is a task that should be done where no other task is being performed by the system .

Each process compete's for resource's , and at your rate of expectation , they'll dry up faster than a pool with a hole the size of volvo in it .

As for ram ... well there are those who know , and those who dont .

There are some application's that do well with large amount's of memmory made available , such as adobe type product's , but most user's dont have access to these simply because of their price .

512 is quite adequate for most everyday user's , for video capture , editing , and all modern task's .

Taking this upto 1 gig ... you'll be lucky if you see a perfomance gain of around 6% , usually far less .

--------------------------------------------------------------------

As alway's , the choice is your's which path you should take ... just remmember when doing all these task's at once , and your pc freeze's up ... remember who told you so .

[sammie]

Just seconding what has been said. Go with what you can afford, but typically 512 is enough, and a gig is nice. Windows isn't exactly great at utilizing lots of extra ram, but can get squeezed pretty easily by not enough. One thing to be aware of if you plan to purchase more later is that memory form factors change somewhat frequently. While the price of memory falls in general, the cost of a specific format may actually go up (if you can find it at all!). Plan on buying whatever extra memory you need within a year to 18 months of your motherboard/system purchase.

[lordsmurf]

I have 1GB and never use more than about 700MB at any given time. The rest is always free, even if I have Premiere, Photoshop, DVDWS2, and a few other programs all open at once. CPU is dragged down though.

[INFRATOM]

General rule for RAM is when you open several programs if they take longer to respond means you need more RAM. It can be calculated or estimated by looking at task manager how much is used also can be changed in the cache setting.