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[jg007]

I only have 2 GB of memory and the modern games I play run fine Fallout 3, Crysis, Far Cry 2 etc and that is with a standard £40 graphics card .

I am not sure I buy into the idea that more memory will make that much difference unless you are doing video editing and even if it does losing the ability to run my older games still makes 64 bit lose out

maybe when I re-install I will try splitting the HD to run a few games on both to test performance although I am not sure how that will work with my legit copy of windows it should be fine.

[red_avatar]

Originally Posted by jg007

I only have 2 GB of memory and the modern games I play run fine Fallout 3, Crysis, Far Cry 2 etc and that is with a standard £40 graphics card .

I am not sure I buy into the idea that more memory will make that much difference unless you are doing video editing and even if it does losing the ability to run my older games still makes 64 bit lose out

maybe when I re-install I will try splitting the HD to run a few games on both to test performance although I am not sure how that will work with my legit copy of windows it should be fine.

The difference is mainly in loading speed & the lower need for caching. 2GB is enough to run the games you mentioned, but it will still mean that the game will need to do more caching. Not all games will give a benefit, though - if the game flushes out all data upon loading a savegame or entering a new area, it's unlikely you'll notice a lot of difference, but the better programmed games will take the extra memory into account and this will make loading times a great deal shorter.

Also, unless you've actually used 4GB after having had 2GB, it's unlikely you'll know the difference it gives. Programs load quicker in Vista due to its caching of the most used software - Photoshop can boot in a matter of seconds. One of the main mistakes people make with Vista, is assume it eats memory like mad because it happens to cache available memory. Unlike other OS's, which leave free memory to go unused, Vista makes use of it -if you run a game that needs more memory, it will uncache the programs in less than a second so you only have advantages. And believe me, 2GB vs 4GB makes a HUGE difference here. With caching disabled (you can do this), programs take more than twice as long to start.

So do you NEED 2GB? No. I don't think I ever said you did. I said 4GB has its benefits and only an utter fool would believe that, in the future, it wouldn't become necessary. But to me, it has tangible benefits - as a graphic designer, even 4GB is borderline when you work with complex Photoshop files that contain hundreds of layers. For games, it offers a very smooth experience and the cost of memory is definitely not something that should scare you off.

In the end, it gives me more advantages than downsides so why not?