Date: 12/05/06 (Computer Geeks)    Keywords: php, html

Found this link while doing research. Even a casual user not caring about doing fancy things to their machines can find use in this article:

http://www.3dcgi.com/performance/performance.htm

Using the technique described you should be able to find out whether your cpu is limiting your graphics card, or the other way around.

Note: This is an old article so while the technique is still valid, the numbers are outdated. Baseline Windows XP nowadays is pretty much 1GB of RAM (2GB for optimal high-end gaming), with 2GB for Vista, even more for gaming under Vista.

2GB of RAM: Do We Really Need That Much?
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/2gb-ram.html

It's official: Vista Gamers will need 2GB of RAM
http://forevergeek.com/windows/its_official_vista_gamers_will_need_2gb_of_ram.php

I saw a table somewhere (I can't find the link again) where the most memory intensive application (the game "FEAR") takes up 2.5GB for optimal performance under XP Pro. That is the most extreme scenerio. However, Windows 32-bit has a memory limitation which would not utilize 4GB if installed, but only a bit under 3GB. So the maximum practical amount of RAM to install for 32bit versions of Windows is 3GB, not 4 (I have always wondered why my old HP workstation has an odd 3GB hard install limit on the memory banks and not an even number like 4- now I think I understand). This is how to install DDR for 3GB:

2x1GB in the pair of slots that you usually install when you only install 2 sticks (the slots should be color coded for the DDR motherboards, look at your motherboard's manual)
2x512MB in the remaining two slots

As for the infamous game "Oblivion", it is not as memory intensive (i.e. you'd "only" need 2GB instead of 2.5)- it largely depends on the graphics card.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1006687.html