DRAM and Dell

January 27, 2006 1:58 PM

GoddamnIwanttoplayNewPCGamesfilter: DRAM and Dell.

Much like this mefite, I'm in quite the predicament.

I'm a gamer--I've got a decent computer, considering that it's a Dell Dimension. What pisses me off is as of late I've finally realized that 90% of my problems with modern games (and not even that--just using the desktop for every day tasks) is because I only have 512 megs of RAM.

I can actually handle modern games fairly well, but I hate that I have to play Call of Duty 2 in Direct X7 (when i switch to X9, it's unplayable, but looks so fucking good), and often I'll get semi-frequent lag in good-looking games.

Once everythings cached, yeah, Half-Life 2 runs fairly smoothly on high-ish settings, but I don't think there's any way I'm playing Battlefield 2 (if I get it, which I want to, of course) without changing some of them.

I have a decent vid card (Radeon 9500 PRO/9700) w/ Omega drivers, and a pentium 4. The system was inherited, yes.

So my predicament: My system uses RDRAM, and since a new computer, right now, is out of the question, what exactlydo I buy? I consider myself very computer literate, but when it comes down to hardware I kind of break down sometimes. I'm also sure that, knowing Dell, there is some weird catch to what brand you can use/how many slots there are in my case (I can check that later).

posted by Lockeownzj00 to computers & internet (20 comments total)

Gee, I would like to help, but since you didn't actually say what model you're using, I'm just going to tell you go to check crucial and their neat little memory finder.

Quote
I'm also sure that, knowing Dell, there is some weird catch to what brand you can use/how many slots there are in my case (I can check that later).

I think you're pretty much going to have to check that first. Very first. If you've got 1 chip and 1 free spot, you may have to find a sister chip. If you're going to have to dump two 256mb chips, you could have more wiggle room in what you can buy.
posted by tiamat at 2:03 PM on January 27, 2006

Ah, terribly sorry. Dimension 8250.
posted by Lockeownzj00 at 2:07 PM on January 27, 2006

Well, nevermind, crucial doesn't even do RDRAM in the first place.

Still need the model # though. Even if I assume you meant you have the same type as the other guy, there are 4 sub-models of the 82xx series, not all of which have the same FSB.
posted by tiamat at 2:11 PM on January 27, 2006

Go to the Dell website, customer service, and put in your service tag number (it's on a sticker on the computer). They will tell you exactly which type of memory your computer needs.
posted by caddis at 2:12 PM on January 27, 2006

Crucial does not sell RDRAM (their parent company, Micron, claims Rambus infringes on their patents, so may be part of the reason).

Samsung's the only real maker of RDRAM modules for PCs. There isn't much variability with RDRAM, just make sure you buy in pairs. So, you'd probably need two 256MB PC800 (if your system has a 400MHz FSB) or PC1066 (533MHz FSB) modules.
posted by zsazsa at 2:13 PM on January 27, 2006

A radeon 9500pro/9700 is not a decent video card any more. You may want to look into upgrading that - my 9700 is definately the bottleneck of my 1 gig ram system.
posted by scodger at 2:14 PM on January 27, 2006

This is off-topic, but I wanted to correct myself: Rambus claimed Micron (and any other manufacturer of SDRAM) infringed on their patents, not the other way around. More info on Wikipedia.
posted by zsazsa at 2:18 PM on January 27, 2006

Here's a comparison of video card performance. The 9700 Pro is 2-3 times slower than a decent newish video card such as a GeForce 6800GT. You definitely want at least 1G RAM, but a new video card will probably also be desirable for gaming.
posted by pombe at 2:46 PM on January 27, 2006

First off, Dell makes mediocre machines at best. The hardware they ship is "ok" and their default software load is absolutely awful. Dell dimension review

Second, a 9500 pro doesn't even show up on current video card comparison.
VGA Charts from Tom's

Third, if that video card was the one that came with the Dell, it likely barely compares with an actual aftermarket 9500 pro card. Refer to point one where I mention that Dell ships mediocre hardware.

Fourth, RDRAM is expensive (New prices). Your best bet is ebay (where it will still likely be more expensive than new sdram.)

Fifth, Do the Omega drivers actually improve your gaming experience? My brief experiments with them provided no real benefit. If you want to toy and tweak with settings obsessively they were interesting, but other than that I question the use.

Sixth, how old is the windows install? If you toy and tweak your computer and it's older than a year old, a full reinstall might be a good idea. This of course assumes you have an actual Windows reinstall disc from Dell.

Seventh, greater than 512mb of ram is NOT required for any of the games you mentioned. It would likely help for load times, and it might mean you can turn up your settings a bit further, but they will not stop you from running the games at default/average settings.
posted by fief at 2:48 PM on January 27, 2006

Yeah, I have similar problems with my Dell 8200 that has even less RAM (256 MB) and the same damn RDRAM. As far as I can tell, RDRAM tends to be disgustingly expensive, with a half gig of the stuff going for $200 (PC800 RDRAM) and over the last couple years that price has scarcely changed.

So if your budget covers it, you can get two 256 MB sticks of PC800 RDRAM from a bunch of places (Newegg, for example) for around $200. RDRAM needs to go in in pairs. I believe the 8250 has four slots for RAM, so you need to figure out what's in there now. Slots that don't have RAM in them will have placeholder modules stuck into them, so look closely.
posted by Mercaptan at 2:58 PM on January 27, 2006

I'm having a hard time believing your issue is really 512M of RAM. Even if it is, you should google around for ways to turn off and unload unnecessary services and programs. Since that's a Dell that goes double - they ship with so much additional bloat crap it's not even funny.

I just picked up an x850 from MicroCenter for $220 before the $50 rebate. I think you'd be way better off investing in something along those lines. Hell, buy one (or something like it) and see what kind of difference it makes - video cards, unlike RAM, are often returnable. If it doesn't make the big difference (as I am sure it does) you can take it back.
posted by phearlez at 3:14 PM on January 27, 2006

Other than my previous poorly organized answer... A quick check on ebay shows that RDRAM prices have fallen by about 40% in the last month, to a little over $100 for 2x256MB now. There are no really clear answers now (I would have said sell and get different stuff).

I think the others are correct, 512MB RAM may be enough if you are using it well. Turn off services ala Blackviper's guide (sadly off line, but mirrored at majorgeeks), get rid of the bloated virus scanners and who knows what that Dell piles on your system by default, and you will probable see a big improvement. Also, turn off all the performance sucking 'features' of XP by going to MyComputer -> Properties -> Advanced tab -> Performance Settings -> Adjust for best performance. Finally, reinstalling may be called for.

You might need more memory, but take the steps to optimize first, and then see.
posted by Chuckles at 3:56 PM on January 27, 2006

just to reinforce what others have already said, your bottleneck for current generation games is *much* more likely to be your video card than your ram.
posted by juv3nal at 4:49 PM on January 27, 2006

Everyone else answers your RAM questions, but to address your concerns about BF2:

You can play it with 512 MB of RAM. You will just spend 15+ minutes loading each level. I am no exaggerating. I am not kidding.

I have a dual core AMD 64 x2 4400+ and an ATI Radeon X850XT PE PCI-X and when I was running on 512 PC3200 DDR (because my 1GB stick was dead). It took at LEAST this long, since it was writing everything to virtual memory, and I have a SATAII 7,200 rpm drive.

Upgrading to 2GB makes me one of the first on the map. As far as the performance is considered, bumping down graphics should help a bit, but most of that basic stuff is loaded into GPU memory anyway.

I disagree that 512 MB is enough. I think that certain games nowadays require far more memory than anyone expects. When I check process manager, BF2 is using 820 MB. The entire map and all geometries and sounds take up a LOT of space. But it loads in under 3 minutes now!
posted by disillusioned at 7:41 PM on January 27, 2006

I disagree that 512 MB is enough. I think that certain games nowadays require far more memory than anyone expects. When I check process manager, BF2 is using 820 MB.

Lockeownzj00 needs this information about each game of interest - I don't have it, sorry - don't trust the number on the box, my experience is out of date, but I have always found it to be useless. Add about 100MB to the games requirement for OS and stuff (possibly 200MB if you are trying to accomplish other stuff, not likely with gaming on a single CPU). That is how much memory you need.

For the cost of 2GB of RDRAM, it would be much better to just buy a new system, but adding 256MB or 512MB to the existing 512MB might be sensible. I wouldn't normally consider adding only 256MB to be a sensible option, but you really don't want to invest in a lot of RDRAM.
posted by Chuckles at 8:49 PM on January 27, 2006

In my opinion a lot of games run well at around 560mb of ram. I'd recommend grabbing another 256mb of ram, and then saving up for a new computer. I'd also look into picking up a used AGP video card. Lots of people are upgrading to PCI-express and you ought to be able to find something decent on ebay.

Oh, and you can always try removing all of the crap the ends up in your system tray. If you've got the right combination of semi-spyware it can suck up a good 50mb of memory, which is enough to hit the tipping point with some games.
posted by JZig at 10:12 PM on January 27, 2006

Make sure you defragment your hard drive. This sometimes clears up major stuttering issues in games for me.
posted by ludwig_van at 8:21 AM on January 28, 2006

I have a similar DELL with that @#$% RDRAM. As far as I've been able to tell, it'll never be cost-effective to upgrade the RAM on this machine due to RDRAM's exhorbitant prices. But, as others have said, something like the video card may be a bigger bottleneck than the RAM.
posted by musicinmybrain at 11:11 AM on January 28, 2006

I specifically noted multiple times that the computer was inherited. I know Dell is shit. I have to make do with this.

I'm also shocked to hear suggestions of certain other things--sorry, I'm not running firefox and playing Call of Duty at the same time; I know how to streamline what processes are being run.

And *obviously* I can play games like BF2. I hate to sound hostile, but thanks for answering my question. If your reply is, "You can play the game on average settings," that's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking to play the game on high settings.

Yes, it's most likely my video card as well, but seeing as how I have daily memory troubles, even when I'm non-gaming, I'd consider this first.

Also, I happen to be aware that spyware exists, and I'm protective to the point of at the very least Peer Guardian.

Considering all this, it seems I could go for a short-term solution of upgrading to a gig, but at the expense of far too much money. I just want to move up to a new computer, now, I suppose. I'll have to look into this.

Still, thank you all.
posted by Lockeownzj00 at 4:33 PM on January 28, 2006

He sure is a thankful bugger, no?
posted by caddis at 6:52 PM on January 28, 2006