Will adding more RAM make a difference?

Question

I current have a Dell, P4, 2.8ghz, with 768MB of RAM. Thinking about adding an additional 256 to give me a smotth 1GB. Will adding this make any difference, or is it just a waste of money? I will do it if I will see a difference, but I don't want to add it just for the sake of doing so. Don't play many games...actuall the only one I please is Half-Life Team Fortress Classic. (Currently my system is running fine...just thinking about adding more).

Answer 1

What you have already should be enough to run Half Life Team Fortress Classic maxed out provided you have any REAL video card (not using the Intel onboard graphics). Basically a GeForce 3 or Radeon 8500 and over will run that game maxed out no problem.

However, your overall system performance could benefit from 1GB RAM and you will notice a difference mostly on app load times. If your motherboard supports dual channelling, try to get all matched pair memory sticks (same brand and model as your existing RAM) and you will double your memory bandwidth from 64-bit to 128-bit.

Otherwise, if games aren't that important, it's nothing to be concerned about.

Answer 2

Adding RAM will boost your system's performance. It will also run games better but it won't be effective as a graphics card. But overall, your PC's performance will improve. For example, I don't have a graphics card, I only have an on-board one, but I have 512 MB RAM. My friend, on the other hand has a 128 MB graphics card but has only 256 MB RAM. We both installed NFSMW. In his comp, there were good graphics but very slow. In mine, kinda bad graphics, not too bad, but good speed of processing. That's the difference. Kinda tough to write and describe. But I've done my best. Hope I've answered you question well enough to earn a Best Answer tag. LOL.

Answer 3

Adding more RAM will ostensibly make your computer run faster, i.e. you can multitask more and you can play games with some improvments. The question is will you see a difference, and I don't think you will see a huge difference, but adding more RAM won't hurt. Just make sure you know what type of RAM your motherboard uses, don't end up buying the wrong type of RAM and find out it doesn't fit.

Answer 4

In my opinion, it's always better to have plenty of extra in reserve than to have too little........ you never know when you you're going to suddenly see a game that's going to need more grunt than your computer currently has... even if you don't play that many now.
I learn't that when trying to see if "Microsoft Train Simulator" + "Sim City3000" would work on the 233MHz / 16MB RAM / Windows '95 PC I had before my current one (1100MHz / 320MB RAM / Windows 98SE).

Also with over 1GB of RAM it's supposed to be possible to shut off the Virtual Memory paging file, according to a magazine I picked up the other week.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_memory

Answer 5

u feel u'r system is running fine > good

guess, u looking 4 that extra bit gooder ..
768 is not equally divided
512 + 256 ; or 256 + 256 + 256
my best preference would always be equal
512 + 512 ; or 256 + 256 + 256 + 256
> do needful

another tip
try-out system mechanic, really turbo charges u'r computer
http://www.iolo.com/sm/6/index.cfm
try it free for 30 days
if u benefit - buy
if not - uninstall

Answer 6

You can do a check on the memory usage through the "Computer Management".

If you see the memory usage keep hitting the peak, then you know, adding the RAM will definately help to some extern.

However, if the memory usage seldom hit the peak, then you know, adding the RAM will not bring in noticable difference in terms of experience.

Answer 7

Since you're not a serious gamer, anything between 256 and 512 is good.
Under 256 is not enough and over 512 is pretty much a waste.

Answer 8

If you want to enjoy a smoother ride. Yes ! Upgrade your ram and the RAM on your graphic card too. Many of us forgot about the graphic / Video cards. It play a part on your system. Your program can process very fast on your system RAM , but coming to the display, it got slow down by your low memory RAM on your graphic card. So it come to square one ( Bottle Neck ). May be you can try upgrade your Graphic card first. 256MB is good enough for standard gaming. Good luck ! eys!

Answer 9

Adding any RAM to any computer will help out anywhere. If your computer is running slow and you add RAM, you will definately notice a difference in efficency and speed of programs opening and such.

Thinking about adding 1.0 GB RAM to mine to give me 2.0 GB total to help when I start school.

Answer 10

Its not going to hurt. Will it make a difference? That depends on what you do. If you have several apps open at once it will help things. If you do things such as graphics or video it will definitely help. If you just do Internet surfing and basic office type work then it probably won't make a difference.