[Grug]

I wouldn't be so quick to say that 1GB of memory is enough. I have 2GB myself and Battlefield 2 still takes an age to load. Of course once it does it's quite smooth but that's besides the point.

That's not the RAM. RAM will help some (reduce the amount put in VM but that's not the main thing it does. It will be what helps it run smooth in game. Until I get more RAM I'm stuck with 512. In games I get of stuttering when turning around or going into new areas with new textures etc as they load up into RAM. Even when I know it runs smooth with textures on high due to my graphics card and cpu, I turn the textures down because I know the RAM is gonna be the killer.

1GB is plenty for standard use. 512mb is pushing it, windows eats up just over a quater upon boot. This is with a fairly optimized boot up too. I usually start with 120mb+ already chewing up RAM.

I'll be getting a gig stick of RAM soon before I get Oblivion. But 1GB is still heaps. I use photoshop a fair bit too so need the power there.

Trashman did the right thing upgrading the CPU and graphics card, as that would be his weak point in the old rig.

[SadisticSid]

Isnt it true that if you plan to run 64 bit windows, 2gb ram in 64 bit = 1gb ram in 32 bit windows?  If so, get the two gigs and you'll be set fer years.

No. 1 byte = 8 bits in 16-bit apps, 1 byte = 8 bits in 32-bit apps, and 1 byte = 8 bits in 64-bit apps. Memory accesses might be faster, but you don't magically lose half your RAM because the width of your data bus has doubled. I run both XP and x64 on my laptop, and the RAM usage is almost exactly equal.