Quick! I need to know how much RAM Flops uses!

posted on June 2nd, 2011, 11:58 pm

So I'm looking at getting a new laptop, and it's astounding how far the industry has come.  I've been looking at $1500 machines like an idiot when I can get a $400 laptop that will run everything I need.  Sure I probably won't be frapsing but I can make maps and play again!

Now I face a dilemma.  2 Laptops, one with 2GB of DDR3 RAM, one with 3GB of DDR2 RAM.  I'm leaning toward the faster RAM, but somebody on the internet said, "If you want to know how much you're using, just minimize your game, open the task manager and it will tell you."

Can somebody do this (Ctrl-Alt-Delete, then go to the process tab and sort by memory) and tell me how much RAM Fleet Ops is using?  Or does anybody know from experience what is needed?

posted on June 3rd, 2011, 1:26 am

Every system combination uses various amounts of RAM for different applications.

Are these laptops identical otherwise?

posted on June 3rd, 2011, 2:30 am

Just about.  One has a larger HD and the other is 2.3GHz instead of 2.2GHz.  It looks like I'll be comparing computers for a while here...

posted on June 3rd, 2011, 3:01 am

Well using xp i was running on 1 gb of ram and playing flops, and another pc only hav a half a gb of ram......

How great is the price different?

posted on June 3rd, 2011, 4:28 am

The prices are identical.  I'm sure it doesn't make much difference, but I'm going crazy with newegg's compare feature.

posted on June 3rd, 2011, 7:59 am

I have 2GB of ram in my laptop. Runs great!
One thing though, make shure you have a good vga card in the thing.
Mine has a ATI Radeon HD5470, which is good. Cost me just under 600 bucks.
Anyways, I'd go for the faster ram. so DDR3 instead of DDR2.

posted on June 3rd, 2011, 9:33 pm

also remember that ram is dirt cheap these days, and you could probably fit it yourself much easier than fitting a graphics card/processor.

so consider buying better processor/gfx card and fitting more ram yourself later.

but back to fleetops. 2gb should easily cover u i think, i have 2gb and my fleetops only uses a couple hundred mb. and thats ~60% total usage, so it could have used more if u wanted to.

posted on June 3rd, 2011, 10:07 pm

2GB should be sufficient but the only thing better than ram is.. well.. more ram!

posted on June 3rd, 2011, 10:11 pm

@Myles, is it really that easy to add RAM to a laptop?

posted on June 3rd, 2011, 11:58 pm

@Myles, is it really that easy to add RAM to a laptop?

should be. its super easy to add to desktops due to standardisation, but all laptops are designed differently.

generally though it shouldnt be very hard. for my laptop its unscrew 1 screw. remove 1 piece of plastic, that exposes the slots. push the new ram in. reseal.

i guess for some laptops you may need to unscrew several screws and open a bigger piece of plastic. but the slots for ram should be relatively easy to reach.

posted on June 4th, 2011, 10:44 am

In that case maybe you should go for the DDR3 Tryptic. Can you also tell us the proccessors of each? Because there is a lot more to the performance of a processor than it's GHz

posted on June 4th, 2011, 1:19 pm

Try and get a laptop with an ati card, most nvidia mobile chipsets overheat like crazy and with the lack of airflow in a laptop means its gonna die quickly.

Or just get a desktop to play games....

posted on June 4th, 2011, 4:17 pm

Try and get a laptop with an ati card, most nvidia mobile chipsets overheat like crazy and with the lack of airflow in a laptop means its gonna die quickly.

Or just get a desktop to play games....

Alternately, you could go to your local auto supply store and rig up a liquid coolant system for your laptop

And while you're at it, get some cheapo metal plated with platinum and build a solid-state fuel cell to power your laptop

posted on June 4th, 2011, 6:54 pm

Or just get a desktop to play games....

thats a good piece of advice, and i agree with it. they will be cheaper for comparable gaming ability. and they are more standardised so fixing/upgrading is easier. and their parts are more likely to last as they arent all crammed into a small box.

you should really consider if u need the portability of the laptop. ie do you always use the laptop at a desk? if so a desktop wont hurt. i got my laptop as a laptop, not intending it for games (i was buying on a tight budget). now it just happens its years newer than my desktop and hence gets used as my gaming rig. im hoping to see if i get some money together for a real gaming rig soon. still sub 500 quid. but i could probably get a computer with a core i3 and fit my own graphics card if i hunt for some time.

posted on June 4th, 2011, 6:59 pm

Okay, so I've gone ahead and ordered the laptop.  It's super cheap but this is all I can realistically afford right now.  Maybe I won't be able to play online but I can make maps and it'll support my college programming needs.

Newegg.com - Recertified: COMPAQ Presario CQ62-209WM Refurbished Notebook AMD Athlon II Dual-Core P320(2.10GHz) 15.6" 3GB Memory 250GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi ATI Radeon HD 4250

I know that some laptops are easy to add more RAM to, while others are hard.  I think this machine isn't going to have any RAM problems though, if anything it'll be the video that struggles.

I ran countless comparisons and found that the laptops I was looking at (with the intel 4500M graphics) couldn't handle Starcraft II on low graphics, while this card could.  That seems like a decent comparison to Flops graphics needs, doesn't it?

The refurbished part makes me a bit nervous, but I bought a 2-year extended warranty which GUARANTEES it will last longer than my last 2 laptops...

Sometime I'll upload a picture of my current laptop.  It overheated and melted the case AFTER the video card broke and I disabled it.  Now one of my USB ports is literally unusable because it melted into a different shape.  So NVIDIA is bad but it isn't the whole problem.