How Much RAM Should I Have?

Wishmaster · 06 Aug 2010

Not sure what your budget is but a couple suggestions if you care to look.

This 4850 would be 1 good choice:
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100273L Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

The downdside is doesn't have DX11 capability but can do DX10.1.
It also uses a bit more power than the 5K series.

This 5770 is a decent card and uses less power. it is also capable of DX 11, but costs more.
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

As far as a PSU:
400W (30A) Corsair
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
Or
450W (33A) Corsair
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

If DX11 isnt a huge deal to you, I would go with the 4850 and one of the 2 Power Supplies.

The 400W should be able to power a single 4850 without issue. the 450 will give just a little more headroom for future upgrades.
Should also be a huge improvement gaming for you.

But, it really comes down to preference and budget I suppose.
Just some thoughts and suggestions.

Found this earlier looking around. A comparison of power use for a few ATI cards. If it helps any.

Danielzxzx · 06 Aug 2010

I might go with the 4850 as it is cheaper and it should work. DX11 is not a big deal to me since I don't even know what things require DX11. If you know any, tell me since I would like to know to make sure the I don't have anything that uses DX11. Anyway, so 4850 should increase performance and graphics in games but what my dolphin wii emulator. Those games require really good computer. Would 4850 be good enough to take out the lag in my dolphin wii emulator?

Zepher · 09 Aug 2010

Wishmaster said:

8GB of RAM will only help you in certain situations.

1. Running multiple Virtual Machines
2. Heavy Video Encoding work (Primarily HD content)

Even then, it likely will not use all of it. I do alot of heavy HD encoding and typically can reach around 5.5GB of use with 8GB installed. But thats also with many other things going on at the same time.

3. Some of the more heavy Photoshop work and 3D rendering.

why do you need lots of ram for video encoding?
One of our HD workstations only has 2GB of ram and when doing encodes, the source footage is on one drive and the encode gets written to another drive.

computertech19 · 09 Aug 2010

If I were you I would get 4GB of ram or more if possible. If you game a lot than 4-6GB should be great. I currently have 4GB of DDR3 in my laptop and it runs Modern Warfare and Battlefield and Starcraft 2 just fine.