2gb memory enough for games?

[rob4001]

Once DX10 games are up and running on Vista will 2gb be enough memory. I was under the impression vista uses 700mb of memory to run but they could just be nasty rumors from linux users. If that is true would 2gb be enough?

[dave87]

Vista uses all the memory it can. Prefetching is key to that, but what it is a hell of a lot better at doing, is booting useless junk out of the memory. It therefore will use all of the available memory most of the time. That is not to say that 2gb suddenly should not be enough, it is simply a different approach to memory management.

2gb will still be enough.

[DecomposingStar]

2gb should be enough, as dave pretty much said, Vista is more efficient with it's memory, yeah it'll use 700mb... I have Steam and Firefox open at the moment, along with a couple other apps and it's using 1172mb, however this totally doesn't affect my gameplay, as when i run a demanding application it turns it's attention to that instead.

If you get 2x 1gb sticks, then there's always room for 2gb more, providing you have a fairly up to date ATX mobo.

[lanceuppercut]

2gb is enough for now imo, also i'd rather the memory was being used than sitting there doing nothing whatsoever.

[Biscuit]

i heard that whenever you change tasks in vista it adapts the way it uses its resources to fit what you are doing much better than XP. For example, if you were to play a game it will automatically change any fancy visual settings such as the aero feature off, the nice rounded windows back to windows classic and any transparancy of windows off.

Correct me if im wrong this is just what i heard

[DecomposingStar]

i heard that whenever you change tasks in vista it adapts the way it uses its resources to fit what you are doing much better than XP. For example, if you were to play a game it will automatically change any fancy visual settings such as the aero feature off, the nice rounded windows back to windows classic and any transparancy of windows off.

Correct me if im wrong this is just what i heard

Yeah true, if you exit a 3d application and quickly load up any explorer or window that uses Aero, it doesn't have aero on it, it's just blue.

[zashark]

thats nice to hear lads, i have vista sitting here at home, sealed, thought i would wait untill the drivers were more stable, but might just take the plunge this weekend.

[shaithis]

i heard that whenever you change tasks in vista it adapts the way it uses its resources to fit what you are doing much better than XP. For example, if you were to play a game it will automatically change any fancy visual settings such as the aero feature off, the nice rounded windows back to windows classic and any transparancy of windows off.

Correct me if im wrong this is just what i heard

It's probably unable to run DirectX at both the desktop and game level simultaneously

[dangel]

It depends on the game. Some games eat memory like no tomorrow, some don't. I've seen my memory get very low on XP - on Vista there is a greater overhead (more functionality = more memory is use [outside of caching]) again. It's hard to predict what some of the DX10 titles are going to be like - i've a feeling i'm going to go 4gb and 64bit this year with Vista.

[wmsteele]

2Gb should be fine for now, most motherboards have 4 memory slots anyway so 2Gb now can be upped if needed to 4gb. Best to wait and see what happens when DX10 games finally arrive.

[Biscuit]

seeing as game manufacturers have to accomadate the lowest common denominator i cant see 2gb not being enough for a while. Especially considering that its the higher recommended amount for games at the moment

[DecomposingStar]

I doubt you'll need more RAM when DX10 games come out. The SOLE purpose of DX10 was to make this less heavy on the CPU and RAM and use the Graphics cards own GPU and RAM more. This is what allows DX10 to create some great graphics without having to have MASSIVE systems. Granted, there's a few extra effects stuck in there, but i wouldn't say this is unusual, DX9 had some new bits and bobs aswell.

The emphasis is on efficiency, and it uses a similar process that Vista uses for efficiency (or at least the process is as effective).

[scoucer]

2 gig is fine