512 vs 1 gig- How much difference?Follow

Ok I know I seen several threads on the subject, but exactly how much difference does upgrading from 512mb to 1gig of memory make?

Here's the deal -I have a meager system:
amd 2800
Radeon 9600xt
512 meg
While its not the best I can run most games (HL2, Far Cry ect) with the graphics bumped up fairly smoothly. I've logged hundreds of hours in FFXI under heavy server loads at the auction houses with the graphics maxed smoothly. While graphics aren't everything, they do affect gameplay when everything comes grinding to a halt. At the moment, to get EQ2 running fairly smoothly (which isn't too often in the cities), the animations and graphics pale in comparison to the FF experience I'm used to.

So I guess what I'm asking is this- if I do invest in another 512meg am I going to be able to experience smoother gameplay or is it just going to decrease the load time. My fault for not reading the reccommended system specs, but it kills me that I have to pay for more ram just to play a game that is not
impressing me visually at the moment.

DEFINATELY get the extra 512. When I use to get maybe 2 fps in places like longshadow ally, it made it MUCH easier to move throughout the city. It's like playing a whole new game. Get it.. I highly recommend:)

I play on Balanced (Except for a few custom changes.. I put character textures on max, regular textures on high, spell particles on "Very high" and ocean on max) and I don't get hardly any lag.

My system specs are

1.8 gigz AMD 2500+
1 gb DDR RAM
Radeon 9800 256 Meg (Just got today, didn't notice TOO big of a difference)
Bellsouth DSL connection.

But I can't explain to you the difference the extra 512 ram made. It's VERY worth the money.

Edited, Wed Dec 15 00:23:28 2004 by Kensi

Edited, Wed Dec 15 00:24:56 2004 by Kensi

Thanks guys, it's what I wanted to hear. That is exactly whats going on ...lots of HD crunching. I just don't want to invest in it unless it's not going to make a difference.

If 1 gig makes alot of difference, I agree 1 gig of ram should be listed as a requirement.



Edited, Wed Dec 15 00:34:52 2004 by Bhobster

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=20-211-119&depa=1

Cheap and I'm running 2 sticks of it.. read the reviews.

I am running 2 512 chips 256 on vid also. 2.8 gig proc. and cable internet. Game runs like a dream.

512 works almost as fine as 1024....
As long as you never zone, 3-4 zoning = major lag with 512.
with 2048 ram you will never have any problem.
I have a friend who upgraded 512 at a time from 512 to 2048. It was 'ok' at 1024 but at 2048 there were NO lag ever even if he played 48 hours without relogging.
Should be noted that he is a perfectionist and a big computerfreak that really knows what he is doing.

Edited, Wed Dec 15 09:01:57 2004 by BumbiRagnar

It's like this:

512MB RAM(128 ATI 9700 & 2.4Ghz P4)at peak times on "balanced" without any customizing.

Hell ..... o.................h....... ...... .....ow..................a... .......................re.... .... ...... .....you? I was................... ......... .............. .............. ...........wond..... .... .... .......e.... .. ...... ............. ......... ........... .......... ..............ri......................... .... ...... ......ng .......... .......... ..... ........ ........ ..........................if.................... ...... ....... ....you'd....... ...............m............... ..........ind... ...............if....................... .....I... .......zo...... .........ne.... ......... ........... ....... ...... ........ ........... .......... .......... ......... .......... ........... ............. ............. . . .................... ............. ..................... .................... ........ ........... ............. .... .......... ............................. ................ ..... ........ ................ .. ......... ............ .. .... ..... .... ....... ....... ........ ... ........ ........ ..... ...... ........ ................ ..... .............. ............... .... ......... ........ ...... ...... ....d.... ....?

<<zones and gets disconnected>>

1.024GB RAM(128 ATI 9700 & 2.4Ghz P4) at peak times on "balanced" without any customizing

Hello, how are you? I was wondering if you'd mind if I zoned?

<<zones in less than 10 secs>>

I have the exact same set up as the OP but I am running on a MSI KT4AV mobo, and 1536 kingston ram. I played FFXI as well and am on a verizon 1.5 down DSL connection. I honestly think the problem is the drivers for the video card. I will zone fine and I have settings set to balanced. The frame rate will drop in the city to 24 FPS (I use Fraps as a bench tool) and in CL will hover around 31-33. I will usually have to restart after 6-8hrs of playing to clear the memory. If you are looking for the graphics aspect then yes its the video card. I think the 9600 is not built strong enough for EQ. I have went through 6 sets of catalyst drivers so far and the best I have gotten are the ones I am using now (I can send it to you just email me) but they are still not even close to the quality that I would like. So the solution for me is X800, or sneak one by the wife and wait for the X850 in january. If you are trying to get the jumpiness out of there do a few things:
1.Check your ping times to say yahoo.com and then call your ISP for what your actual throughput is supposed to be.
2. Yes add RAM get at least 1G
3. Run a spyware/antivirus test, just one spyware program can steal most of your resources.
4. Defrag your HD
5. Check out pcpitstop.com. They have a free test that I have been using for over 5 years now. It will test everything on your cpu and then give you suggestions on what can be fixed or upgraded.

Post back let us know if you were able to fix anything or if you found a fix somewhere else =)

possible problem would be the 5200, especially if it's non Ultra. That really makes a big difference.

That and your 120 MB HD. Since the game requires about 5 GB :-)

jk btw

sa-weet

ill get a new video card sooner or later, probably sometime in the spring but as long as i dont get ****** framerate i can deal without the most polished graphics.

As someone stated "The 9600 is too weak for this game." I disagree, the 9600SE may have problems with this game but he has a 9600XT which should run this game well. Not like a 9800, but the 9600XT is a good card for this game for those who don't want to fork over 400$ for an X800.

i recently upgraded from 512 to 1 gig memory and only noticed faster load times. i need to update my graphics card tho im on a GeForce 4200 ti and a 1.8 ghz 2200 amd processor. I get around 1-5 fps sometimes in crowded city zones.

Well, that's not really true. Upping your RAM is going to help your PC's performance overall. Not just with EQ2. Unless your PC is only for playing EQ2 and nothing else, you'll see a difference.