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PC hardware: Why all the hype for installing lots of RAM?
- 10/30/09 3:38 PM
which OS are you using, which OS are you recieving?
by wasyed - 10/23/09 10:20 PM In reply to: Why all the hype for installing lots of RAM? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
You know, we are all giving our opinions however... Jhampa, we would give a better answer after knowing which OS you have, and of course which OS are you getting with the new PC? The amount of ram used by the OS itself is different on each version of windows, well on each version of any OS used for that matter.
So what are the OSes?
Jhampa, Since you arent going over 1 gig much of the time it sounds like you might have possibly windows xp or earlier.
??
operating system
by jhampa - 11/8/09 4:35 PM In reply to: which OS are you using, which OS are you recieving? by wasyedHi,
I was on holiday so missed replying sooner. It is XP on my current system and W7 for the new one.
JS
Excuse me, but this is a little funny...
by aaasolanki - 10/23/09 10:27 PM In reply to: Why all the hype for installing lots of RAM? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
While the rest of the world finds ways to minimize the RAM usage you are asking as to how to increase your RAM usage so that it does not get 'wasted'! You should be glad that you are using so less of RAM. Not sure what OS you are using, but had it been Vista you could have seen a lot of processes running and occupying more of your RAM. 2 GB is enough for most currently. 3 GB, 4 GB is just to future proof you!
I might be wrong here but I believe the OS takes a lot of RAM which is hidden to the end-user.
RE: Excuse me, but this is a little funny...
by wasyed - 10/23/09 10:40 PM In reply to: Excuse me, but this is a little funny... by aaasolankinot wrong, but only partially right, the OS sometimes does take a lot of RAM but its not hidden. Majority of the stuff that gets placed in RAM are things that need to run for the OS and also programs you are using. The advantage of this? RAM is significantly fast compared to hard disk space, So the more RAM you have the more things that can get stored into the RAM so that it can be accessed blindingly fast. This translates to fast performance. Increasing your RAM usage has such a big advantage (provided you don't reach the upper limit of what you have available of course)
And it is true that for an average user (lets say primarily for internet browsing), one might not end up using lots of RAM. Jhampa did mention about film editing, more Ram might come in handy here. It will of course depend on the OS being used, the software, and so on.
I wouldn't go as far to say that 3GB and 4GB just future proofs you, however, aaasolanki you do make a pretty fair point.
XP or Vista?
by Sattamander - 10/23/09 10:55 PM In reply to: Why all the hype for installing lots of RAM? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
You must be running Windows XP if your RAM usage is that low. Your average user isn't going to need a ton of RAM since most users hardly utilize the full potential of their PCs. But if you are running resources hogs such as Vista or if you are doing audio or video editing, or running some higher end graphics packages you will find that you can't move without the multiple Gigs of RAM. Of course multi-tasking eats up a good chunk of RAM also. My ram usage starts peaking if I am listening to iTunes and working on some large update processes.
agreed
by wasyed - 10/23/09 11:05 PM In reply to: XP or Vista? by SattamanderI completely agree to everything you have said Sattamander. And you're right it Definitely sounds as if its Windows XP
More Mem
by AngryRaisin - 10/23/09 11:16 PM In reply to: Why all the hype for installing lots of RAM? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
If your RAM monitors show a very low RAM utilization there would be no need for you to get more RAM. Now I have seen Vista laptops with 1 GB ram and the performance is brutally slow. In those cases more memory was needed. Also if you are a PC gamer you will see usage scenarios where the game may use 2 GB alone. As you are not seeing those cases more memory is not for you.
No sound
by abcs - 10/23/09 11:30 PM In reply to: Why all the hype for installing lots of RAM? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have a Gateway 7330 GZ laptop, a few years old. It has Windows 7 Home Premium. But, it has these problems:
1. After a few minutes of use, it freezes up.
2. While the volume control shows as 100%, the driver is okay and current, and I've uninstalled and reinstalled the driver, while there are no external speakers, I've got no sound. The device is an Intel(r) 82801DB/DBM AC '97 Audio Controller.
3. After a short time, usually 10-15 seconds, the cursor jumps to what's a previous location, meaning that you can easily type over something you've already typed. Thus, you have to place close attention. It may have something to do with a typing hand being in proximity to the touch pad, but I haven't confirmed this.
The machine is maxed out on RAM, which isn't much. It's also weak in the graphics area, rating a 1.0 windows experience in that area. Would you say it's time for me to migrate to a new laptop, or are the above problems solvable and thus can extend this laptop's usefulness for a couple of years or so?
I'm sorry
by wasyed - 10/23/09 11:46 PM In reply to: No sound by abcsI'm sorry but this question should not be posted in this thread. You should start a new topic in the forums because of the fact that we are trying to answer someone elses question and you're kind of hijacking the thread.
You should still be able to extend the laptops usefulness by the way, it sounds like very minor issues you have there but its hard to say because the freezing up can literally be caused by anything even a program running in the background. The sound issue could be anything, and the cursor jumping can be the touch pad being sensitive (same thing was happening to my fathers laptop)
But again, you have to ask this question elsewhere
Hard Drive is Congested/Full
by 3JGProductions - 10/24/09 3:57 AM In reply to: I'm sorry by wasyedThis is a congested/full hard drive. Go to Control Panel, ADD REMVOVE PROGRAMs, remove, any program you deem not needed, and, believe me there are some there, using a large amount of space on your hard drive, remove as many as posible, those you may never use. Don't know the size of your hard drive, however, if you run a lot of programs you might want to get a larger/bigger hard drive. This way you can run and saved more programs.
Totally inapplicable.
by Kees Bakker - 10/24/09 4:00 AM
In reply to: Hard Drive is Congested/Full by 3JGProductions
The thread is about RAM. The post you reply to, as already noted, is about laptop problems that are unrelated to (the amount of) RAM. And your posts is about hard disk size, which is totally unrelated to RAM and unrelated to the laptop problems discussed in the post you reply to.
Kees
Why Beat A Dead Horse, replace the RAM and Hard Drive
by 3JGProductions - 10/24/09 5:03 AM In reply to: Totally inapplicable. by Kees Bakker
Damage may occur for somethting we did to the computer. It may be old. Many times we try many solutions. I some cases end-users get disgusted and trash the machine and buy a new one. New state of the art hard drives today, work, better than the old ones, and so does the new memory sticks. I say, "why beat a dead horse", buy new ones and your computer will be up and runnig like new!
4Gb of memory - use 64-bit OS.
by darrenforster99 - 10/24/09 12:02 AM In reply to: Why all the hype for installing lots of RAM? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Having more memory is always a good thing, although once you get to 4Gb your OS might not be able to use it all. If you have a 64-bit OS like Vista 64-bit then yes it can use all 4Gb, although I run Vista 64-bit perfectly fine with only 2Gb (but I do also have dedicated graphics and audio RAM and GPU/APU).
There is one other thing that can sometimes take RAM for other purposes, this is Video RAM and Audio RAM.
If you have got an extra video card like a ATI Radeon or nVidia then that should have it's own RAM built into the card, like 512mb/1Gb/etc, if you've got a graphics card with shared graphics though (normally on-board graphic or laptop graphic cards have shared memory), this will take over some of your memory for this. If it's an onboard graphics card you can normally set the amount of memory you want the graphics card to use in the BIOS - the more you can spare the better.
This is also the same for audio, although unlike graphics card very few audio cards have their own RAM and the majority share RAM from the system, mainly the high-end ones like Creative Labs X-Fi series has it's own audio RAM.
Most of the time though you will get far better performance out of the system if you add cards for graphics and audio with dedicated memory rather than let them share off the system.
Just looking at the spec for the Dell 546, if you opted for the basic system with intergrated sound and video then that will be sharing your video and audio ram.
about atom processor
by mayurdhaygude - 10/24/09 12:19 AM In reply to: Why all the hype for installing lots of RAM? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
i want to know abt atom processor. whether it is better than core 2 duo or any oher processore in the market.
Re: atom processor
by Kees Bakker - 10/24/09 12:34 AM
In reply to: about atom processor by mayurdhaygude
It's a processor meant for netbooks: cheap, low power consumption, low performance. For that combination of features, there's no better line.
Kees
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