Does memory give more FPS in games?

Falconik · 16 Oct 2011 at 00:19

Hey all, does memory affect Frame rate while playing games? And would you notice different in like gaming/desktop use with ram compared to £50-100 or something? Thanks all!

Blue160 · 16 Oct 2011 at 08:28

Not having enough RAM slows framerates down, but as long as you have 4GB or so this won't be a problem. I've seen benchmarks where faster RAM gives very small FPS increases, but it's always in the region of one or two FPS. I've had 1333, 1600, and now 2000MHz in my current rig, and I've never noticed any performance difference in games.

TNGL · 16 Oct 2011 at 13:09

I think more RAM improves your FPS when running at higher resolutions. Correct me if I'm wrong.

AndrewNR · 16 Oct 2011 at 14:35

I would have thought the only difference RAM would make to FPS is the actual speed of the RAM itself.

If you have 4GB or 8GB I can't see there being any issue with the processor storing and loading at the same speed if only 'x' amount is needed if x is less than 4GB?

I would have thought there would be a slight difference between 1333MHz and 2000MHz, albeit not a huge one?

FragnaticDeath · 17 Oct 2011 at 02:24

Nope doesn't play a big roll

Blue160 · 17 Oct 2011 at 09:53

Tingle said:
I think more RAM improves your FPS when running at higher resolutions. Correct me if I'm wrong.

More vRAM certainly helps at high resolutions, as high resolution frames take up more space in the buffer. System memory doesn't have the same effect as the game data is the same no matter what size screen the graphics card is driving.

Rofflay · 17 Oct 2011 at 12:48

In modern games going from 2gb to 4gb will give a fps boost of maybe 25%-30% i would guess.

Going from 4gb to 8gb will net you like 1fps and a little less texture popup on games like GTA IV.

Going from 8gb to 16gb gets you zero fps increase and eliminates texture popup in GTA IV etc.

If OP is talking only about ram speed with say £50 sticks compared to £100 sticks with better timings then about 1-2fps at most even with extreme timings.

Mr Krugga · 17 Oct 2011 at 12:52

Rofflay said:
In modern games going from 2gb to 4gb will give a fps boost of maybe 25%-30% i would guess.

Going from 4gb to 8gb will net you like 1fps and a little less texture popup on games like GTA IV.

Going from 8gb to 16gb gets you zero fps increase and eliminates texture popup in GTA IV etc.

If OP is talking only about ram speed with say £50 sticks compared to £100 sticks with better timings then about 1-2fps at most even with extreme timings.

That doesn't make any sense, GTA IV doesn't use much RAM at all.