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A gig of RAM for strat games with lots of units, and RTS's, has been standard for years now, since well before Starcraft.
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Well before
Starcraft? A
gig?
Standard?
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Heck yeah. Total Annihilation, AOE2, and CIV2 all needed as much memory as you could get, or you could expect pauses. Total Annihilation let you get up to 500 units per side! All 3d models. Civ2 was just a hog. AOE2 had plenty of units and big maps. You bet 1 gig was standard for a good experience. I noticed a HUGE jump in playability from 512 megs to 768, and a smaller one from 768 to a gig, but it was there both times. 512 was hopeless in many RTS's once you got online and were past the beginning and the unit counts got high.
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I seriously wouldn't expect smooth play out of any game these days with less than a gig of RAM, and that prescription goes back all the way to my Total Annihilation days in what, 1997 I think.
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1997? My god, what kind of computer did you have and how much did you spend?
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I don't remember what I was running then, but I've always bought or made computers one step below the maxed out CPU, which is always going for an outrageous premium even if it's just a little faster than the next step down. I think at the Total Annihilation days I was running either a Riva TNT card or the GeForce3 Ti500, can't remember which. Whichever, it was the top one at the time. Everything was pricey those days, too, but video cards hadn't hit the 400 and 500 range yet. I think they maxed out at more like $250. However, sounds cards and especially RAM were very pricey, as were hard drives and CD's.
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Edit: It came from
Linksville!
[/ QUOTE ]I never click on unexplained links from strangers. Mommy warned me about those.