Turn time....RAM or MHZ

Spec · February 24, 2003, 13:22

Which helps my turn time? RAM or Mhz? If I buy another clip of 256 RAM, which would get me up to 768 RAM, will my turn time drop drasticly or am I better off with a new processor?

Spec.

ACooper · February 24, 2003, 13:47

How many times can you ask the same question? It's rude.

Better processor is always better. Period

Jahi · February 24, 2003, 13:53

better proc, 512 ram is enough for really big games unless you got a lot of stuff running in the background

Sisawat · February 24, 2003, 21:25

I have a dual Athlon MP 1800+ system with 2048mb of RAM. The game still drags at points on huge maps. I don't know if it uses both processors (probably not) so; a faster processor would be the best choice.

CrONoS · February 24, 2003, 21:51

... you need POWER, HORSE POWER BABY!

You need 512 meg of ram and the best processor you can buy.
Why, you need processing power... more processing power= more complexity.

More memory dont help you... unless you're running photoshop in background!!!

player1 · February 24, 2003, 22:32

Depends.

If your harddisk is swapping during turn processing you'll need more RAM.

If not, you'll need more MHz.

P.S.
For example I have 333Mhz, 64MB RAM Celeron.

My hard disc swaps while turn processing (especaily if music is turened on).

So obviosuly, first best thing to do would be to get more RAM.
Later, get better processor.

MrBaggins · February 24, 2003, 22:58

the game must drag a little on a 33Mhz Celeron... or do you mean a 386DX?

Wow... 64Meg is quite a lot of memory for a 386.

Sisawat · February 24, 2003, 23:59

Well, you still need a significant amount of RAM for CivIII, but anything over or around 512mb should be ample. I seem to remember a review that stated the game ran optimally in 1024mb.

PLATO · February 25, 2003, 00:54

I am running a 1.6GHz P4 w/256k ram and rarely have a lag. Go for speed over bulk!

Master Zen · February 25, 2003, 01:36

Plato's right. MHz wins in the slow turn debate.

I have a P3 500 with 256 RAM. My aunt's PC is a P4 1.7 with only 128 RAM yet it still runs Civ3 much faster than mine.

Of course, programs in the background are faster in mine which has more RAM

CrONoS · February 25, 2003, 03:24

Master Zen:
Everybody want to play Civ3 PTW with 32 players and running
3D Studio Max in background with Photoshop open....

Me I love to do that... cause i'm masochism and a little bit stupid...

...

The Mad Monk · February 25, 2003, 06:40

I found that upping the memory helped, but I was having the hard drive access blues, so I guess that makes sense.

player1 · February 25, 2003, 07:10

Quote:

Originally posted by MrBaggins
the game must drag a little on a 33Mhz Celeron... or do you mean a 386DX?

333MHz Celeron

And games works fine on Standard or smaller maps.
(but only if music is turned off)

P.S.
What can I say.
Rare are the games which do work on minimal config.

Master Zen · February 25, 2003, 13:42

Quote:

Originally posted by cronos_qc
Master Zen:
Everybody want to play Civ3 PTW with 32 players and running
3D Studio Max in background with Photoshop open....

Me I love to do that... cause i'm masochism and a little bit stupid...

...

That makes 2 of us!

Willem · February 25, 2003, 14:26

Quote:

Originally posted by Sisawat
I have a dual Athlon MP 1800+ system with 2048mb of RAM. The game still drags at points on huge maps. I don't know if it uses both processors (probably not) so; a faster processor would be the best choice.

What, 2048 mb RAM?

I didn't even think that was possible! That's alot of memory! What exactly do you use it all for?

Sisawat · February 25, 2003, 14:50

3D animation and visualization work.

One of these days I will get my Civ mod done.

My motherboard will take 3072mb.

Next machine will have no less than 4gb RAM.

Spec · February 25, 2003, 16:32

Quote:

Originally posted by Sisawat
3D animation and visualization work.

One of these days I will get my Civ mod done.

My motherboard will take 3072mb.

Next machine will have no less than 4gb RAM.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isn't it useless at that point? all that to save a second or 2......

Sisawat · February 25, 2003, 16:37

Uhm, when rendering massive (3+ GB) datasets, you save quite a bit more than a second or two with that much RAM.

Abdul-Aziz · February 25, 2003, 17:39

I would choose better processor

PLATO · February 25, 2003, 18:42

Quote:

Originally posted by Sisawat
Uhm, when rendering massive (3+ GB) datasets, you save quite a bit more than a second or two with that much RAM.

3GB databases? Are you sure you don't need a mainframe?

sun_tzu_159 · February 25, 2003, 19:26

Hi all,
The answer is simple. 512MB RAM in DDR is enough to run any game. Buy the fastest processor you can afford, then buy the fastest cache transfer disk drive you can afford. Run as little as possible in the background and finally turn off the music/fx - if your processor is still struggling.

Regards
STZ

Sisawat · February 25, 2003, 20:11

Well, my machine essentially is a mainframe, it has a server motherboard anyway.

I'm dealing with Renderman RIB files. They can get quite large. The Gigabyte range is, admittedly, big for a hobbiest like myself though. Even if they are small sometimes rendering will chew through your RAM like nothing, especially if complex radiosity is involved. I've since moved from BMRT to Mental Ray, but even that can take up its fair share of RAM in complex scenes. I bought this machine with that in mind.

Swapping = the devil when it comes to continuous complex calculations.

That's why this is still on-topic. If you're playing Civ and its swapping, time for more RAM. You will see a dramatic improvement in performance. If you're not swapping and you want a performance gain, get a better processor.

Master Zen · February 25, 2003, 20:26

Can anybody vouch for those PowerLeap processors? They say you can upgrade, say, my P3 500 into a 1.4 Celeron II(?) for the lowly price of about $150.

www.powerleap.com

Willem · February 26, 2003, 11:01

Quote:

Originally posted by Spectator

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isn't it useless at that point? all that to save a second or 2......

Yes, rendering can take an awful lot of time. Some of the big animation houses even have a whole series of computers just like those linked so they can reduce the amount of time it takes to do a film. They're thinking more along the lines of saving a day or two, not seconds.

Willem · February 26, 2003, 11:04

Quote:

Originally posted by Master Zen
Can anybody vouch for those PowerLeap processors? They say you can upgrade, say, my P3 500 into a 1.4 Celeron II(?) for the lowly price of about $150.

www.powerleap.com

You can probably get a P4 1.6 ghz for that price maybe even a 2 ghz. Processors are dirt cheap at the moment, that hardly sounds like a good deal.

The Viceroy · February 27, 2003, 08:49

I think most people have already touched on bits of this already .. but the answer is not as simple as one or the other .. of course, having both better Mhz + Ram is going to help .. but much depends on several factors..

1) your machines current base
2) what OS your running, or more to the point, how much RAM/processor your current setup is gobbling before you've even started anything up.

The 2nd factor is very important when trying to decide.

I run Seti client on my PC, which gobbles up 16Mb + 100% cpu at idle .. if your game uses idle priority processes, your competing for processor space.

So the decision should not just be based on factor 1, but also your base usage of these resources.

IthacaMike · February 27, 2003, 14:38

Quote:

Originally posted by PLATO1003

3GB databases? Are you sure you don't need a mainframe?

I'm a sys admin (aka Systems Programmer) for the Cornell mainframe. It has 2GB of memory.

The power of the IBM mainframes is their ability to shuffle data on and off disk very very quickly. As in read a record, add a few fields, write a record.

Mike G

PLATO · February 27, 2003, 15:57

IthacaMike, I guess I've now revealed what I really know! (i.e. computer IQ < 0)

It is always nice to learn new things

Wittlich · February 27, 2003, 16:05

Quote:

Originally posted by The Viceroy
I run Seti client on my PC, which gobbles up 16Mb + 100% cpu at idle .. if your game uses idle priority processes, your competing for processor space.

So True! I too use SETI ( http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ ), which I leave on all of the time - except when I play PTW - then I shut it down for the duration of my PTW game.