RAM and GHz

[CartoonFan]

Ok, here's the deal. I got my computer to recognize its graphics card, and it can run Doom 3 about as well as it used to. But, there's a possibility that it may not recognize all of its RAM and GHz. (This is my XP, not my 98 I was talking about earlier.)

You see, I used to be able to play GrandFantasia (I know, laugh it up) on this Desktop, and successfully installed it a while back. But when I went to install it again today (since I wiped the machine recently), the progress bar didn't advance at all on the Installer/Downloader screen, and after checking the issue on Google, most people will say that this happens because the computer specs aren't up to GF's standards. (I already tried shutting down the firewall and all of my ports are forwarded correctly.)

So I checked GF's standards. It wants about .6 more GHz than I have on this desktop for the minimum performance. Now, bear in mind, my desktop was able to play this game just fine in the past, and it installed it just fine in the past. And I'm talking the near-past, so the game probably hasn't updated its graphics any since.

So this leads me to believe that the desktop is missing some of the GHz and maybe some of the RAM I installed in it as well. To be honest, I have no idea what GHz actually is. Is it possible for a computer to detect less of it than what's supposed to be there? Also, how do I make my computer acknowledge its own RAM? (Bear in mind, it used to be able to in the past, so it's not the wrong brand or type or anything).

Somebody said that in order to make my computer acknowledge all its RAM, I need to go into the BIOS and do something. If that is, indeed, what I have to do, how do I do it?

I'm not entirely sure if my computer recognizes all of its RAM or not. It has 1 GB of RAM according to System, but it may have had more, or it may not.

How do I go about making sure my computer recognizes all of its RAM and GHz that it used to?

[tSwitch]

On GHz: GOOGLE
It's impossible to mistake GHz on a processor, as it never changes.

RAM, however, -can- go bad, and if you've opened the computer recently one or more of the sticks might be loose or disconnected, or the plugs might be messed up.  Does your computer make any odd beep sequences when it loads?  Are you certain you had more than 1GB of RAM before? 

If you installed the RAM yourself, I hope it's the right type for your build or it won't work also.


If it's an XP computer, and my guess an old one because you haven't posted here asking about getting a new one, there's a chance that you actually do only have 1GB of RAM, because having more than that was a lot less common back then, mainly due to 32-bit architecture and the hardware of the time.

[Sophist]

People who honestly go by the specifications for every game are fucking stupid. FFXIV's benchmark said the game could be played at max with a score of 8800, which almost nobody could reach. Now, people who got scores like 5000 are playing at max. And NAM's right, your GHz never ever changes.

[tSwitch]

FFXIV's benchmark is broken as hell and their system reqs are too.  That's a bad comparison.

[Kokowam]

Yeah, I was like wth gay when I saw those benchmarks.

[CartoonFan]

@NAMKCOR: I haven't opened the computer up at all. I wasn't even the one who did the installation. The job was done for me back when I was in 7th grade, and whatever RAM I had worked fine a couple days ago before I nuked this system. So I guess this means I do have 1.00 GB of RAM. You're right, it would make sense given that this PC is that old. Well, it can still play Doom 3 just fine, so I guess whatever problems I'm having installing GrandFantasia are probably a server issue. Nice avatar btw.

@Dorothy: Y'know, I've always suspected that the system requirements for some of these games were a bit jacked up, but whenever I say that on a forum site (or in some cases, over tech support) the following responses insist that my computer's just weak, even if it was able to play the game previously. It's nice to know I'm not wholly wrong. Nice avatar btw.

[Kokowam]

Where's the love for my avatar and comment? Dammit, Arrow, where you at?

[tSwitch]

@NAMKCOR: I haven't opened the computer up at all. I wasn't even the one who did the installation.

So this leads me to believe that the desktop is missing some of the GHz and maybe some of the RAM I installed in it as well.

[Roph]

Also ignoring that Ghz doesn't mean much anymore.

A 2.5Ghz Athlon 64 FX can outperform a Pentium 4 at 5Ghz.

[Holkeye]

If you are a consistent PC gamer, you start to intuit which games you can or can't run based simply on performance. Those "score" things, and Windows ratings are for stupid people, and they're usually wrong. Also, having a game run in the past, and presently not finish loading are two completely different issues.

[Arrow]

Where's the love for my avatar and comment? Dammit, Arrow, where you at?

Whzza? Why was I summoned to this thread?

[Kokowam]

I had a Megaman avatar before and I wanted to get some love for my avatar, lol.