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PC hardware: Why all the hype for installing lots of RAM?
- 10/30/09 3:38 PM
Not enough or too much memory?
by yoda8513 - 10/31/09 1:25 AM In reply to: DO NOT by yourpcmedicPeople, let's get down to earth shall we??? First the question asked was why all the hype about memory. It has absolutely nothing to do with malware, adware or viruses.
While it is true that you should probably use your maximum amount of memory that your motherboard allows, it also depends on what operating system you are running. For example, if you are running windows XP Home, or Windows XP Professional 32 bit OS, you can if your board allows it, put in up to 4 Gig of memory. Unfortunately, the 32 bit Windows XP programs will only recognize 3 Gig. Vista is the same when running the Vista 32 bit operating system. However, if you install Vista Home Premium 64 bit OS, it will recognize all the memory.
Speed of computers also depends on the CPU. If you are still running a single core processor it will be slower than a dual core, core 2 duo or quad.
I myself have found a difference in Intel and AMD. The newer AMD's run as fast as Intel units but are a bit cheaper in cost.
I have two systems. One is intel, core 2 duo @ 2.66. The other is an AMD 7750 X2. With the AMD I am using Vista Home Premium 64 bit and 4 Gig of Ram. The intel has XP home with 4 Gig of Ram. The 64 bit flies and all memory is recognized..
why more than 3,072 gb
by varain999 - 10/31/09 4:32 AM In reply to: DO NOT by yourpcmedicwhat is important is speed ,but if you run 800 mhz is enough,because most of motherboard dont go til dan,mijn is til 1600mhz but i work whith a quad intel q9650,otherwise you need when you run a 64 bit xp ,there you can go for more than 4gig,my i have a xp black 64 bit and 16 gig,speed is avsome,depend your connection,i have a 24mb/s connection is not constant but not less than 13mb/s and i pay 40€ a mand ,unlimited download,than guys is not a question of money is logic to not overload a pc with more than hi need,your supply can have a probleme,use a goed 500 will be enough for you desktop,not to much not,just enough,you start a new pc,pay atention on the box should be a miditower no suplly,than a suplly 500,than a motherbord look for what you want a intel of a amd i now intel,a core 2 will be enough,ram supported min 800 mhz if it is more no probleme,than how big is ,if is 4gig is goed,processor a core2 for 2gig will be enough,ram buy only 4gig at 800mhz,graphique card a min 512 with 128 will be good if you are not gammer,if you are than try nvidia 260,or shapire radeon 4850 and you will be satifait,if you need a sound card ask your dealer,verry important use only atx format for your mother board otherwise will be very dificult to put all this togheter,buy an extra fan white low noise max 25db,a 120 will be enouhgh,never buy a home edition from xp all are verry slow ,but a professional,you want a 7 ok but take a proffesional the rest a dificult to use and verry slow,you need a dvd take direct a dvd not dvd rom,dont buy twice,you need a screen try a flat one you spaare somme money consomption on electricity will be reduced at more than 50%,you need a keyboard and a mouse,ordinary key board with cable,a mouse with min 800 dpi laser will be just fine,and now you start step by step first mother board ,than processor with cool paste,than cooler,than your supply,and
good luck,hi i am varain
More Ram Less goat
by thejdawg569 - 10/31/09 4:12 AM In reply to: RAM Usage by cj_in_paIf you didn't have windows you wouldn't need ram, slim install of winxp runs fine with 256 if you speed tweek it. same with 512 for vista if you stop the bells and windows. But why would you put a Holley double pumper carb on a yugo. People like to brag about the latest and greatest even though they can barely turn it on.
Yes we should throw money at it. Nice thing about ram if you sell the system you can always pull the extra and sell it on ebay. Ooohhh Rambus ram gotta have it remember that, now it cost more than DDR2.
just my thoughts.
vroom vroom ram it all the way.
why so much ram?
by nonnaurbiz - 10/24/09 8:41 PM In reply to: Why all the hype for installing lots of RAM? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
turn off page file, with that much ram u dont need it.
Turn page file off...
by kevin.talbot - 10/31/09 8:09 AM In reply to: why so much ram? by nonnaurbizI've tried turning off the page file with 4 GB of RAM but a lot of programs give error messages "insufficient virtual memory" if I make the page file too small no matter how much RAM I have.
The optimum thing I've found is make the page file size fixed (uncheck the "let window's optimize the page file size"), make it about 1 GB or less if you can, and make sure it's stored on a different physical hard drive drive from the system drive (C:) if you have more than one hard drive. Just making it fixed size helps a lot I've seen. Also helps to cut down on ever worsening fragmentation if the size isn't always growing and shrinking.
- Kevin
Make a small page file
by GlassDeviant - 11/13/09 8:26 PM In reply to: Turn page file off... by kevin.talbotWindows is meant to have a page file, because if it crashes the first part of the space is used to provide a kernel memory dump that a technician can use to figure out what went wrong. This has to be on C: for the kernel dump to work.
Put a small (256MB) page file, make it the same size in the minimum and maximum boxes, but have it there just to keep Windows and programs happy.
I trust Microsoft's Pagefile choice
by Walter L. Johnson - 11/14/09 1:21 AM In reply to: Make a small page file by GlassDeviantUnless you really know your way around PC hardware, I think it is best to use the default paging file. That makes one less variable that could crash your system performance and leave you puzzled sometime in the future. The default options work for me at least until the system is at the end of its useful life and experimenting with overclocking won't matter since the decision to upgrade has already been made. Their are whole websites devoted to overclocking. The risk is always the heat generated. I also have variable CPU and Case fan speed that responds to the level of heat by speeding up the fans. It keeps systems I make quieter than most of the same capability, but adds a little to cost.
Fan speeds?
by TreknologyNet - 11/14/09 2:25 AM In reply to: I trust Microsoft's Pagefile choice by Walter L. JohnsonI have an A/V system with four fans that run at MAXIMUM. If I'm working with audio, I can drop the fans to lower speed. If a microphone is in use, then the fans can be stopped altogether--I've measured 20C temperature difference in the hard drives alone. Under normal circumstances I like a little noise to maximize the life of my CPU.
As for the page file, I agree that forcing Windows to push things into higher memory is a more reliable and faster solution than thrashing your hard drives.
Don't you find all those fans at Maximum Speed distract?
by Walter L. Johnson - 11/15/09 3:24 AM In reply to: Fan speeds? by TreknologyNetI know four large diameter fans can be relatively quiet, compared to the smaller and faster fans, but don't you find running four fans at maximum speed distracts from the Audio Visual experience of enjoying your system's sound output? I have yet to find a fan whose sound I enjoy!
Each component in your system is designed to run up to a certain temperature and it is not really necessary to cool that component down below that temperature. I won't go so far as to speculate that over cooling can damage performance as it may reduce fuel economy in a car, but why not run your system hotter for the sake of listening pleasure, as long as you stick within temperature specifications?
I can't stand even one of my PC fans running at full blast except during start up and when that happens I get inside the case and look for a loose wire because I have all my fans controlled by temperature sensors.
Peak Performance is Key
by say592 - 10/24/09 10:04 PM In reply to: Why all the hype for installing lots of RAM? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
You stated that you rarely utilize all of your RAM. However, you would probably notice if you simply dropped down to 1gb. Simply because you dont always use all of it does not mean its not being used. Actually, if you frequently used all of it, you would probably want more. For many people, two gigabytes is probably enough for most tasks. However, it may limit them if they try to run several programs, especially if they are running on a bloated system. Someone may idle at 500mb, but utilize 4gb+ once they start running more programs.
Personally, I can use 4gb up relatively easily when I multitask. I will almost always use more than 4gb if I am simply working in Photoshop and have music playing. Add in Firefox, Open Office, and shuffling around some files, and I would not even be able to function.
To put it simply though, Your millage may vary. If you run several programs, fancy desktop effects, or play games (or any combination) you will more than likely benefit from more RAM and you will see the benefit. If you simply browse the web, and you are running a well configured (lean) install of XP, you may not see much of a difference. 2
Firefox
by zgreenwell - 10/30/09 5:18 PM In reply to: Peak Performance is Key by say592My firefox takes up 300 MB of ram all by itself. Its because of ad-ons and multiple-tabs, but I like it that way. More RAM is good for me.
Ram
by lifelonglego - 10/30/09 7:33 PM In reply to: Peak Performance is Key by say592I have trouble understanding how people use so much ram. 3gb is plenty of ram for me to run Windows 7 with all features and effects, several powerpoint instances, 10+ IE tabs, Outlook(previously the biggest ram hog of all time), Paint.Net, MSE, and Zune(The new biggest ram hog of all time). I could have good performance with all that minus outlook and MSE on only 1gb of ram with Windows Vista. My biggest problem is my single core 2ghz processor, yet that isn't really a problem. With all the abve programs and a control panel applet running, I am using 1.5gb of ram. With visual studio and MSSQL Server, that jumps to 1.6gb. clearly, the problem is not the ram, but peoples mismanaged compuers. Also, I have found that the graphics card is fairly important with vista. At the school I go to, they have good pcs that are all running xp, yet are very slow. One only has to look at the software each one is running to see why. Quicktime, Sophos, etc. are all running and slowing it down. MSE is vary good because it doesn't kill performance, which I lie.
"3GB is plenty of ram for me...
by DGGerman - 10/31/09 3:40 PM In reply to: Ram by lifelonglegoThe people that are asking this are people that don't have 3GB!
Visual Studio and SQL? right
by GlassDeviant - 11/13/09 8:34 PM In reply to: Ram by lifelonglegoMaybe if you are writing tiny programs and using miniscule databases. I could easily use up 16GB of RAM and still need more when I am doing some heavy work, but I am stuck until my next upgrade as this board only supports 8GB.
You may be able to upgrade your motherboard
by Walter L. Johnson - 11/14/09 1:15 AM In reply to: Visual Studio and SQL? right by GlassDeviantI find it annoying that so many motherboards are so stingy with how much RAM they will support. The hardware always seems to lag the demands on RAM.
You might be able to buy a new motherboard that will support more RAM than your present one while using the same CPU and memory, but usually that windows of opportunity doesn't stay open more than a few months retail to two years online, because as CPU's get faster, memory gets faster.
The only hard part is convincing Microsoft the computer is still the same one if you hit the changes limit and have to call for a new product key. Frankly that is the only thing that has kept me from upgrading motherboards more often. A lot of people don't realize how key the computer motherboard is to the overall system.
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