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Of bangs, and bucks, and RAM

Discussion in 'Techno-Magic' started by Death Rabbit, Jul 19, 2013.

  1. Death Rabbit

    Death Rabbit Straight, no chaser Adored Veteran Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Remove all ads!
    Buenos dias, seniors!

    I have a Windows 7 machine that isn't running as quickly and efficiently as it should, and I'm thinking a RAM upgrade is in order. I have:

    Intel i5 760 2.80Ghz Lynnfield Quadcore CPU
    ASUS P7P55D-E PRO P55 R Mobo
    4gb GSKILL RipJaw DDR3 RAM
    1Tb WD Caviar Black 6gb/s SATA HD
    EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB

    Games I'm playing lately:

    Civilization V (with all expansions)
    Bioshock: Infinite
    Borderlands 2 (unplayed yet, just downloaded)
    Skyrim (with all expansions)
    SimCity (2012)
    FarCry3 (unplayed yet, just downloaded)

    I get the most hiccups and slowdowns during Civ5 and Bioshock: Infinite.

    What I'm THINKING of doing is upgrading to 16gb of RAM, here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231568

    I'm hoping this should give me a nice performance boost to get me through at least 2015 before I need another system upgrade.

    Thoughts?
     
    Death Rabbit, Jul 19, 2013
    #1
  2. Splunge

    Splunge Bhaal’s financial advisor Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    The games giving you problems don’t surprise me; I suspect Far Cry 3 will be a problem too. I’ve found in the past that adding RAM has been a good short-term solution. I don’t know that you need to go 16GB, though. 8GB would be about half the cost and would likely do just as well with your processor and GPU.
     
    Splunge, Jul 19, 2013
    #2
  3. Topken

    Topken Elven-dragon wizard

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    an SSD upgrade what be a better long term solution besides upgrading the guts to something like ivy bridge/haswell. Besides what resolution you running the games at? the 560 might sturggle a little in the newer games at 1080por up. i game at 1680x1050 on a 660 GT and I know I wouldn't be able to handle the newer games at 1080p+ without some slow downs here and there but an SSD for your os and a few of those games like skyrim and bioshock should help out a lot as well.
     
    Topken, Jul 20, 2013
    #3
  4. Merlanni

    Merlanni Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Small upgrades with minimal gain.

    Buy upgrades you can use in a new pc.

    First memory, second a new GPU. The gain will not be great since the processor is the weakest link after upgrades, but noticeable. A SSD is a nice addition in general, not solely for gaming performance.

    With a SSD you have two choices. Windows and essential programmes only: 128/64 GB.
    Windows, essentials and games 256GB.

    My advice is save money and buy fourth generation core I5 Haswell. 2015 is highly optimistic.
     
    Merlanni, Jul 29, 2013
    #4
  5. Death Rabbit

    Death Rabbit Straight, no chaser Adored Veteran Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Yeah, probably a better idea.

    I beat Bioshock Infinite the other day, and the slowdowns I referred to only happened here and there. 95% of my playing time, the framerate was in the 60s per second. It never crashed on me - just became a problem sometimes when it would happen mid-fight. Same thing happened occasionally with Diablo 3.

    Problems, yes - but nothing worth spending $1000 to remedy.

    I think I'll keep kicking along with the current system until some time in 2014, when I can set aside $1000 for a full upgrade (SSD, CPU w/MB, RAM, Power, and maybe GPU).

    Thanks guys.
     
    Death Rabbit, Jul 29, 2013
    #5
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