How much does RAM affect fps?

[᲼᲼Inting in deadlock᲼᲼]

How much does RAM affect fps? I have 1 stick of 8gb, would I get a significant increase in performance if I got another stick on 8gb?

[tobias_l | Sinon]

Originally posted by JojoTheSlayer:

Originally posted by Booker DeWitt:

It doesn't. You'd have to go out of your way to make RAM effect proformance; and even then only by like half a frame. If you're worried about your RAM, you can just download some here

This is BS. Dont link to malware!

That's not malware it is just a joke...

[JojoTheSlayer]

Originally posted by tobias_l | Sinon:

Originally posted by JojoTheSlayer:

This is BS. Dont link to malware!

That's not malware it is just a joke...

I get it was in jest (considering the physical imposibility of the claims), but Google hits stated it installed anyoing stuff. So I didnt go to the actual site to check, but considering the level of questions here its bound to fool some people. If the mods however confirm the sites are clean, then I have no issues.

[Mast3rM1nd]

you can buy the fastest cpu/ram/video card and motherboard and still get 20fps online, so don't worry about it, faster ram won't help you one bit, but for other games you might see slightly smoother gameplay

[᲼᲼Inting in deadlock᲼᲼]

Originally posted by JojoTheSlayer:

Originally posted by Gary the Savage Snail:

If I overclocked from 4.0ghz to 4.2, how much of a difference would there be?

4200/4000*100=105 (Gain 5%)
How many fps more do you think you would get with a 5% increase in performance?

Is your 4gh the stock speed or turbo speed. Because games use the tubo speed when applications need them. Example. I have a 4770K at stock speed which is 3,5gh, but its turbo speed is 3.9gh. So if you have a rather new CPU with stock at 4gh and turbo at 4,4gh. You would actually lose performance because OCing usually means you lock the speed at "max" all the time and it wont go over 4,2gh. Secondly, if you have a modern i5 or i7 at 4gh it wont be worth it bying a new motherboard etc ether.
4400/4200*100=95,45 (Loss 4,4%)

I used to OC before. First I had it at 4,5gh (gave a 5-10 fps more), then I needed to lower it to 4,2gh (gave about 3fps more from 3,9gh, aka 8% vs your 5% gain) and then I just had to stop the whole thing because I just got too many BSODs (OC software from Asus if people wondered). This with a H110 280mm closed loop liquid CPU cooler. So, if you think you are gonna OC on your stock cooler from Intel, foget it. If you think its going to be worth it, LoL.

That said, 4,2gh does seem to be the sweet spot for Arma 3, but thats more about having 26fps in places you would have 23fps instead, but you, who have a 100 more mh wouldnt notice this in places I noticed it. Bottom line is. Your next CPU should be as high as possible and not under 4,2gh with turbo if you can afford it, but OCing your current CPU is NOT worth it and on stock cooler its most likley not a doable thing.

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For others with more OCing knowledge than me. Yes, I know OC programs are ♥♥♥♥. Yes, I know people can get lucky with their chip and I was probably not, but overall. Learning propper OCing from scratch and investing $ in propper cooling to get 2fps more in one game is NOT worth the hassle even if its possible. It will also shorten the life of the CPU and run the system at a higher heat which means more noise and so on. Its NOT worth it for Arma 3 alone.
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You are better of tweaking your settings better.
If you have a i5 or i7 at 4gh and a GTX780 or better you should be getting upper tier performance.

I uploaded 3 images of my settings. You can try them out and see if you like the look better, but try object range at 2000m first before pushing it up to 4000m because that setting is more in regards to tank warfare and not infantry and therefor is a waste of performance that hits the CPU hard if you are not a tanker.

Image link: (4770k stock, single GTX780 ACX settings, SSD hardisk)
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970616511/screenshots/

I have a 4790k with a base clock of 4.0ghz, brand new. I also bought a powerful air cooler to go along with it. I usually run 40-55 fps and I was wondering if overclocking it a little bit would boost me to 45-60.

[NZPorterDJ]

Originally posted by Gary the Savage Snail:

I have a 4790k with a base clock of 4.0ghz, brand new. I also bought a powerful air cooler to go along with it. I usually run 40-55 fps and I was wondering if overclocking it a little bit would boost me to 45-60.

I agree pretty much with what Jojo says above. From my own experience there doesn't seem to be any practical benefit from just a small OC on Intel (AMD is a different story and a boost there is necessary to just get parity, but that's a whole other can of worms!).

Simply put, the benefits of a small OC on the 4790k can be out performed by careful selection of in-game options.

If you still want to try the OC method, then make sure that your cooling is adequate first, and then make sure you are actively monitoring all components of your system to see if they are able to keep up as well. No point in having a faster CPU speed if your HDD or RAM or GPU is causing the effort to be wasted.

[Lowe0]

The vast majority of the time, you have enough RAM or you don't. Upgrading to faster RAM isn't a big boost, and if you have 8GB you should be okay...

...but you're the exception, because you have only a single stick. You're not taking advantage of your dual-channel memory controller, which is a bigger deal. We're not talking a few extra bits of memory bandwidth; yours is basically cut in half from normal.

So, add another identical stick of RAM, same manufacturer and model number. Verify that the timings are the same. Ideally, sell your one stick and buy a dual-stick kit, but if yours is recent, then you should still be able to get a good match.

[tobias_l | Sinon]

Originally posted by lowe0:

We're not talking a few extra bits of memory bandwidth; yours is basically cut in half from normal.

Only theoretically. Even though dual channel could double your memory bandwith in reality it doesn't. You maybe get a 50% increase not more. It is the same with all thse dual cpus, dual gpus etc. There are always losses. What also matters is if your memory chips are only on one side of the ram or on both. Because that can increase your speed too.

I wouldn't buy a seperate ram stick because you are still on DDR3 which is dying technology now. It is not worth it to waste money in that in my opinion. You can't reuse it anymore. Just overclock your ram and you should be fine. Even like this there is only a very small difference between single and dual channel while gaming. As long as you don't use benchmark tools to measure it you won't notice it.

[JojoTheSlayer]

Originally posted by Gary the Savage Snail:

I have a 4790k with a base clock of 4.0ghz, brand new. I also bought a powerful air cooler to go along with it. I usually run 40-55 fps and I was wondering if overclocking it a little bit would boost me to 45-60.

A 4790K already means you game in Arma 3 at 4,4gh... OCing that to something more like 4,6gh wouldnt be worth it in my view. If you were a "expert OCer" and could get a 24/7 gaming stable OC at 5gh, sure, but still.... Like Mast3rM1nd said:

Originally posted by Mast3rM1nd:

you can buy the fastest cpu/ram/video card and motherboard and still get 20fps online, so don't worry about it, faster ram won't help you one bit, but for other games you might see slightly smoother gameplay

This is true. Online the Arma server client is also a 32bit application focused on using 1 core. Some servers (or more or less all by now? :D ) use a mod that enables the AI to be put on a second core and there are rumors or confirmation that BIS is working on a 64bit A3 server client (No,not a 64bit game side client for A3) which will improve some aspects.

But the bottom line is your practical fps in Arma 3 online is to "unreasonable" extend dictated by the server rather than just your own PC. No, I do not recommed you OCing your PC. You are, like it or not, already at the peak performance bracket in Arma if you have a equally matching 3D crad to go with that high tier CPU.

Oh and for the record, I know how you feel. Been there myself. I did buy this monolith of a PC a few years ago for the very same goals you have with your questions here. Its just that single core CPU tech isnt where it needs to be for Arma series and considering Intel dropped its tick tock plan. I am not sure we will see great leeps as often as before ether. But hay, maybe that means BIS will be forced to make a quad+ core 64bit game client for Arma 4. :D

[Dada]

its depend what mod you use for exemple with ACE if the server use all the module in the mission you can have a super computer you will have bad fps cause ACE its ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ with 20 people on a ACE server you can t have more than 50 IA.

For the CPU i have a x4 core 3.20 ghz and i never use more than 50 % and never use more than 2 Gb RAM the only way to get a better gameplay for arma its a SSD.

For exemple a server without mod and not a lot of script you can play at 40 FPS with 30 people.

When you play arma and feel your game slow go in task manager monitor processes and check your hardware only the hard drive work to the max so its simple the weak hardware is your hard drive for arma

[Mirudes]

Originally posted by JojoTheSlayer:

If you put the whole game on a Ramdisk (use ram to emulate a harddisk), which I did with Arma 2 as a test, you will get less texture popping compared to a SSD, since a ramdisk is like 4 times faster (...)

This thread is related to the amount of RAM.

You had a sufficient amount of RAM for the OS, and a additional amount of unused RAM, that you can mount a virtual drive on it, and put the whole game (ArmA2) on a Ramdisk?
How much RAM was it?

[᲼᲼Inting in deadlock᲼᲼]

My memory is always at 80% or above if that is relavent. My RAM is 1600mhz, should I upgrade to 2 sticks of 8 that run at 2400mhz? How much of a difference would that make?

[Dada]

Originally posted by Gary the Savage Snail:

My memory is always at 80% or above if that is relavent. My RAM is 1600mhz, should I upgrade to 2 sticks of 8 that run at 2400mhz? How much of a difference would that make?

if you have a 1600 mhz ram do not upgrade to a 2400 mhz cause your systeme keep the lower freq so your 2400 mhz will be 1600 mhz. you must drop your 1600 mhz and only use 2400 mhz or upgrade with 1600 mhz ram

[Ypulse]

Originally posted by Gary the Savage Snail:

How much does RAM affect fps? I have 1 stick of 8gb, would I get a significant increase in performance if I got another stick on 8gb?

yes
dual channel increase performance a lot
also high clock ram do as well

[᲼᲼Inting in deadlock᲼᲼]

Originally posted by Dams:

Originally posted by Gary the Savage Snail:

My memory is always at 80% or above if that is relavent. My RAM is 1600mhz, should I upgrade to 2 sticks of 8 that run at 2400mhz? How much of a difference would that make?

if you have a 1600 mhz ram do not upgrade to a 2400 mhz cause your systeme keep the lower freq so your 2400 mhz will be 1600 mhz. you must drop your 1600 mhz and only use 2400 mhz or upgrade with 1600 mhz ram

I know, I was thinking about getting rid of my 1600 ram stick and getting 2 sticks of 8gb 2400mhz

[tobias_l | Sinon]

Originally posted by Gary the Savage Snail:

Originally posted by Dams:

if you have a 1600 mhz ram do not upgrade to a 2400 mhz cause your systeme keep the lower freq so your 2400 mhz will be 1600 mhz. you must drop your 1600 mhz and only use 2400 mhz or upgrade with 1600 mhz ram

I know, I was thinking about getting rid of my 1600 ram stick and getting 2 sticks of 8gb 2400mhz

You could also just overclock it and save your money. It takes like 3 klicks and thats it. Do you really wan't to spend that much money that you can do yourself with a few clicks? Also your ram is fine. This speed and single channel is enough for gaming. Even if you upgrade to two 2400 mhz sticks you WON'T notice a difference. Only the minium framerates MIGHT go up a bit. But not your average. It only helps a bit if you have a weak cpu as a few tests have shown but if you have a weak cpu upgrade that instead. It will help way more. Don't invest in new DDR3 Ram anymore now that DDR4 is out. This would literally mean to throw your money out of the window. It has the same effect. Nothing.