RAM - 2gb vs. 3gb

[Xcalibur]

I have a P4 3.0ghz with 1gb of PC3200 dual-channel DDR RAM. I'm considering adding some RAM soon, but I'm debating between upgrading to 2gb or 3gb. I have 4 slots, 2 of which of currently filled with 512mb chips, so that means I will either have to buy 2 more 512mb chips, or 2 1gb chips, since dual-channel needs to be added in pairs.

My argument for upgrading to 2gb is that it will be cheaper and by the time I need anything more than that it will probably be time to upgrade my motherboard anyway.

My argument for upgrading to 3gb is that it's more memory, obviously. Also, if I were to only upgrade to 2mb, that would mean that I would have 4 512mb chips and I would have to replace them to upgrade any further and those replaced chips would just be wasted.

What do you guys think?

[Virgin San]

Whats your argument for needing to upgrade from 1 Gb?

1 Gb is a lot of memory, I think an upgrade is superfluous and the performance increase will be negligible.

[Xcalibur]

Well, it's not that I need an upgrade. I'm just in a situation where I can afford to upgrade at this point and may not be able to afford upgrades for the next year or 2 after that, so I'm planning on setting myself up for a little while so I can get by for the next few years hopefully without needing to upgrade anything else.

[Virgin San]

To be honest i think you would be better off spending your money on something else, adding more to the 1 gig is really not going to make a difference. Also, nothing is going to happen in the next year or 2 which will require more memory than you have (nothing aimed at the technology on which your system is based at least).

[Mr Snatcher]

I agree with VS like usual. There is no need to waste your money on upgrading your ram, you will only be disappointed. If it makes you feel better to spend the money you have, you can give it to me.

[Sark]

Most users don't realise that more RAM does not make the system run faster. It just ensures it doesn't slow down.

If you run out of memory the system uses the HD (known as Scratch disk). Naturally the HD is slower than RAM so the system slows down. More RAM stops the system from having to use the HD and hence, slowing down.

If you never run out of RAM, more RAM will be of no benefit. Only faster RAM will improve system speed (negligibly).

The question is...Are you running out of RAM with your current apps, if not, don't waste your money. If you are, go ahead and buy more.

Sark

[xdeity]

rather than buy completely useless ram that will never be used, get a better gfx card or spend the money on another pc and network them (yes i know that would cost alot more, just examples) or take your mrs/mr out for a nice meal, or buy me a big pressy for posting here, or just send me your spare cash cause i'm bbroke and can't afford more memory :)