BF2S Forums How much does RAM quality affect end performance

It can, you won't usually notice a huge difference depending on what extremes you go to. I would suggest popping the case open to see what you have in there already and get another gig of what you have to make sure your system's stable. If you're buying all new ram, go with a good brand name, get heat spreader and shielding with it and don't bother paying an extra 30% for the same ram that will get you an extra .8 fps.

a great example is when i went from 512 to a gig, the loading times for ut2k4 were so much shorter. Very very noticable, and the game was more fluid in big combat.

AlphaDrake wrote:

The amount of RAM  GREATLY affects the speed, not so much the quality. The quality of RAM definitaly affects it but not to as great of an extent. If it's that cheap it's most likely not great RAM.

I agree.

As far as RAM is concerned, I follow a simple rule:

1. More RAM is alwys better than less RAM

The quality of the RAM comes into play if you intent to "play around" with RAM timings, i.e. if you like to do some overclocking with you machine. quality RAM ( OCZ, Corsair, Mushkin ) will normally withstand the heat better.
Some manufacturers even design RAM especially for overclocking purposes.

Nevertheless, I had no name, cheap RAM in my old machine before I got my dual channel kit by mushkin, and the cheap stuff never let me down either.

It all depends on what you plan to do with you machine, I guess...

I won't try and disagree with anything that you guys have said so far, but there are a few details about "gaming" memory that I think would be more helpful to him.

1. Quantity of memory is important, but only up to a point. Your only goal in terms of quantity is to stay above what you are using. Programs don't just take up more memory because it is available, rather they use what they need. If you run medium textures in BF2, then you only need 1 GB of RAM. If you have 2 GB you will see no improvement when textures are set at medium (but it does allow for you to use high textures instead ).

A lot of people who set thier textures too high complain about constant "lag". While there are bad servers out there that truly lag, I've been on some reliable servers without any lag and seen individuals complaining about lag. What really happens to these people is that their textures are set too high and their computer starts using virtual memory (hard drive pretending to be memory for those who don't know). This causes what appears to be lag which gets worse the faster you are moving (planes are doomed, helos have lots of trouble).

That would be a reason to increase your memory quantity.

2. Data transfer rating is of great importance, but only up to a point as well. From what I've seen memory performace barely increases above DDR400 (PC3200). Higher rated memory is needed for overclocking, but almost all performace boost is from the processor overclock, not the memory.

If you are already at DDR400 (with a dual channel supporting processor and motherboard), then there is no reason to go to faster memory unless you like to OC.

3. Latency. The ultimate gaming enhancer. Just getting a faster response out of your memory is really what 'gaming' memory is all about. Most cheap memory has timings of 3-3-3-8. The first number is the CAS and is most important. For this stat, lower numbers are better. There are two levels of gaming memory. First there are those that just focus on the CAS number and have timings similar to 2-3-3-6. This provides a good boost above your generic memory modules, but there is one step higher. I have the Corsair XMS-3200XL with timings of 2-2-2-5 (lowest available as far as I remember). The price is a bit steeper, but it provides the last boost you can give your computer without overclocking.

I recommend that you at least get memory with CAS 2, but you don't need to spend the extra cash on the extra low latency.

4. "You are the weakest link, goodbye."

All of your memory has to operate at the same timings, thus if you even have a single stick of 3-3-3-8 memory in your computer it will have to go if you buy nicer quality memory. Also, if you bought your computer retail, then don't expect the lower latency ram to work with it. I know a guy who tried to put some of the Corsair 2-2-2-5 memory into a retail HP and if wouldn't acknowledge that it was installed (note: a nicer sony model detected it just fine). Stupid locked out bios...


Anyways, that is my two cents (or rather 4 ) on the subject.

Addendum Edit:

@vjs - Stickied? Probably doesn't deserve that much attention, but this should be the reference people post up if the RAM question comes up again (and knowing forums, it will).

@Turtle - Good point about the C2 line, saves quite a bit of money without any huge loss of performance (I have 2GB of the XL only because I bought each GB a year apart). I like Corsair, but they don't offer the 2-3-2-6 timings, which really make almost no difference vs. the 2-3-3-6 timings.

You are wrong about the heat though. Yes, they will feel a little warm to the touch of your hand, but DDR has basically no heating issues. That is one reason why DDR2 isn't really needed for overclocking at this time. Those heat spreaders are just for show.

@Echovirus - You had 2GB of ram; was it in 2 1GB sticks or 4 512MB sticks? This does make a difference on some motherboards. My mobo will revert to DDR333* if I use double side memory in dual channel mode. Double side memory is how they make the 1GB sticks, and this issue is common to all MSI Socket 939 Boards (used for Athlon 64's for those who don't know). I haven't looked up how widespread this issue is, but it may have been the reason for your dramatic speed increase when you went to a single GB. The latency helped too, but this could have accounted for most of the improvement.

Side note: I am running 4 512 MB sticks without any reduction in performance (mind you that I had to manually set the memory frequency and timings, but that is why I custom built my system). If you really want to see, I'll take a screenshot of CPU-Z to prove the condition of my system, maybe throw in some shots of benchmarks with 1GB vs. 2GB. Just ask.

DDR333 = "667 FSB" - really 666, but apparently that doesn't help in the marketing

Last edited by Gilgalad (2005-11-09 09:09:09)

Get two posts above me should be stickied in a guide somewhere!!!

Personally I think the more expensive ram is worth it but only so far as being able to run cas2 at your fsb rating and future upgrade paths.

If your going to run 200 fsb or pc3200 try to get cas2 stuff.
No point in buying stuff that will do cas2 at 300fsb if your not going to use it.

I think it all depends on price dual channel 1G kits are pretty easy and cheap to get, and they will run cas2.

Avoid CAS3 PC3200, and even 2.5CAS 512MB sticks, also PC2700 sticks are just old stock.

Personally I wouldn't pay more than 120 bucks for decent 1G kits, but would pay 300 for a good 2G kit that I could use in the future.

Last edited by vjs (2005-11-07 11:09:27)

Gilgalad about summed it up. That should really be all you need to know, if you plan on getting more ram, get the same ram. If you plan on upgrading make sure you know what the difference in performance will be in association to the price difference. And like I said earlier make sure you get something to help with heat on extremely low latency ram as they will get hot and since they usually sit right next to the cpu it can really turn your computer into a heater. Check out corsairs site, they have alot of technical info about tests they've run with their ram, alot of manufacturers or hardware rating sites can help you in your decision.

P.S. Gilgalad, nice ram, a little too pricy for my tastes. I have a gig of this in my system.. Corsair CMX512-3200C2 DDR400 and just ordered another 512. Corsair ram's some good shiz.

thinner44 wrote:

I've just bought 2x1gb sticks of DDR128x64PC3200 unbuffered non-ECC RAM...ok, that's the technical stuff out of the way . I had in my pc 2x512.... and this game stuttered a lot, even closing this game down to the desktop was a task in itself... but with the new RAM.... This game is brilliant, no more waiting around for ages on the verify screen, no more.... stutter when starting a game, and when I do close it back to the desktop, it takes about 1 second, and I mean that.... as against the usual 1-2 minutes.

The additional RAM cost £150.00.... and as I'm not a tech head, I don't know if that's good or bad, but at the rate I can now play this game, I don't care.... it's now pure gold for me

i just bought 2x2gb sticks which puts me up to 3gb had 1.5gb before i also have radeon x800xt  256mb now the extra 1.5gb has made an absolutly amazing difference now im not sure if before my graphics card was struggling due to the lack of ram but the speed color textures all look MUCH MUCH better anyone who says different havent tried it.

if you think BF2 is buggy go get a better pc or if you have but lack RAM go get some get some NOW!!

To look up the details on your RAM, you pretty much have to crack the case and physically look at it.  It'll have a sticker from the maker and some product codes.  Use the internet to track down the info from that.  You can't usually find the info in My Computer or on sales slip (unless it was a custom-built machine.)

I just went from 512 to 2GB.  I'm not sure it improved the game a whole lot, but it helps.  Where I really notice it is the load times for game/maps is a lot faster.  In the past it would sometimes take so long to load the next map that when I joined, our boys had already taken the first flag!  Now I'm in right away.

Oh, and I found this thread very helpful and informative as I searched for RAM, thanks to above posters.