retired_jimbob

I have a 1.6 GHz processor.

I have 496 MB of RAM.

I want to install another 1 GB of RAM to my computer.

Will this speed up the game at all, or should I get a new processor?

retired_cryslyla13

either one will help your game speed quite a bit.

retired_ncbarry

I wouldn't upgrade your system for this game alone, it's not very graphics intensive anyways...but if you do just make sure you get the correct type and speed of RAM for your computer.

retired_w0lfpack1

Um, more RAM will definitely help you. When I first started playing FM'05, I thought the game was just pathetically slow - and I only had England running, on a Small db! Turned out it was just that it required more memory than I had.

When I went from 512Mb to 2GB, with NO change in processor (it was around 1.6-2.0 GHz also) the game picked up amazingly.

What was happening was, if an application (in this case, our favourite game) requests more memory than you have available, Windows uses the hard drive as "Virtual Memory".

The problem with this is, RAM is very fast .. and hard drives are very slow. So, all the memory intensive calculations that FM does were taking forever.

Once I got to the point that the game ran in (physical) RAM without using virtual memory, it felt infinitely faster!

retired_w0lfpack1

As Fire Bracelet says, though, be sure to get the right stuff - all RAM is not the same, and if you have to open the package and install it to find out that it doesn't work, places won't take it back.

retired_rupavathy

If you have XP, you should be ok with that, your in trouble if your running Vista because it needs twice as much RAM as XP does. Plus with lower spec PCs, XP always wins with better performance & being less memory & CPU intensive.

Currently, FM2008 is using 350MB of RAM on my PC (I have 8Gb PC2-6400) so thats nothing for me but would leave you with 146Mb to the Operating System & other applications. Meaning its going to use the Hardd Disk (HD) when it runs out of RAM, so I hope you have a good harddrive thats 7,200RPM SATA would be ideal for you if your mobo has the connections. I think most FM2008 gamers use SATA anyway since it has to access alot of game data on the HD.

As for upgrading, just stick some similar cheapy RAM in there (what exactly is your current RAM spec & motherboard make + model??) but match the size of the RAM you have installed. If you have 512MB, stick the same spec & size 512Mb in or performance could suffer. Or just buy 1Gb locally in shop & put that in to see if it'll worth while putting another 1Gb in - useful if you play other modern games.

Basic things to check when you buy RAM is see what RAM your mobo currently takes by looking at your manual or check out your manufacturers downloadable PDF manual. Also check to see how much RAM you can put in there because there are limits (mines 8Gb like most modern desktop motherboard). Other RAM specs to check against the motherboard manual are, how many RAM DIMM pins is it; what type of RAM is it (SDR, DDR, DDR2) ; RAM Voltages; maximum RAM speeds. Just ask me if you need anymore advice because I custom build PCs

retired_pschnapps13

More RAM will definitely do your PC good, especially if you like having lots of programs open at once (surf the web, listen to music, play fm). You're probably using a lot of virtual memory at the moment, which will slow the game down. If that's the case, more RAM will help a lot. Virtual memory uses your hard disk as extra storage space, but accessing the hard disk is much, much slower than accessing RAM. Improving the CPU won't make much difference in this scenario, as it won't make accessing the disk any quicker. More RAM bypasses the need to use the hard disk at all - hence a massive performance boost in many cases.

AFAIK, you haven't needed to worry about the size of RAM chips being the same, nor the order of the memory slots you insert them in for some time. It was important on older machines though.

retired_arkady13

ive just upgraded my laptop from 512meg (graphics use ram as well) to 512 + 1 gig. FM's more responsive now, and i dont get the slow down in matches that i use to get, it also closes alot quicker. it cost me £30 for the ram and £14 to install. I was going to do it my self but decided to pay the extra to have it fitted incase i blew the laptop up