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PC hardware: Why all the hype for installing lots of RAM?
- 10/30/09 3:38 PM
Agreed...
by rx7racerca - 10/31/09 2:42 PM In reply to: Why the hype by scleungI think you've pretty much nailed it - people who have been computing for more than the last half-dozen year, when RAM has been cheap and plentiful, are used to the days when RAM was typically in short supply and seldom kept up with demand. That would include most salespeople. RAM is cheap, easy to add, and an easy answer for performance problems that may stem more from downloading loads of auto-starting programs and crapware.
128 or 256MB of RAM used to be loads too , and in a few years, 2-4GB will sound stingy, but for now, for the vast majority, it should be enough for now and a couple or three years. I remember a friend getting a VIC20 back in Jr. high, and the two of us running it out of memory with the code we wrote in the first night he had it (I think it had 16k with an expansion module).
Can't have too much RAM...
by Wolfie2k5 - 10/31/09 11:56 PM In reply to: Why the hype by scleungJhampa -
You've got it wrong. It's NOT simply a matter of "Get More RAM" being a generic solution. It actually DOES work. If you've got a system with say, 512 MB of RAM and you upgrade it to 1 GB, you'll clearly notice the difference immediately.
Why's this?
It's simple. When you've got a limited amount of RAM, Windows (and all other operating systems for that matter) uses a swap file more intensely - that is, it takes the stuff it isn't using right at that moment and writes it off to a swap file. The less RAM you have, the more reads and writes it makes to the swap file.
Memory is faster than mechanical hard drive - therefore - speed DOES increase when you add more RAM.
Read before you write
by scleung - 11/1/09 5:03 AM In reply to: Can't have too much RAM... by Wolfie2k5Wolfe
You should read before you write. Read the question. He was asking why the hype about RAM. He already has 3GB of RAM so do you still think adding more RAM will speed up the system? I'm repeating myself again with the following statement. Any idiot down at Best Buys could give this "text book" advice, "Get more RAM". But there are other things you could do to speed up the system after you have enough RAM. Also, I don't just work on one PC. I set up an entire system for running a business. RAM is not the only thing in this world that could make things work better.
buying a new lappy!!`
by saurabhkale1 - 11/1/09 9:10 AM In reply to: Why the hype by scleunghi guys m planning to buy a new PC with a core 2 duo t6600, and 3GB ram. what do you guys think or suggest anything. i want to run some demanding applications (not graphics) on it. the software which i want to run demands at least 2 GB of ram. so will it be sufficient if i get 3GB of ram or should i go for 4GB? i would have a windows 7 machine. please help me out. bye thnks!
upgrade!
by wasyed - 11/1/09 10:50 AM In reply to: buying a new lappy!!` by saurabhkale1You'll probably notice the system slow down with 3GB. 4 GB should be better especially if the software you'll be using demands at least 2GB. Consider this, you're software will use 2GB and you'll be left with 1GB for windows 7 and all thigns running in the background. That really isnt much. I would go for 4GB, and I'm assuming its not too much more in cost to do so.
Fully agree
by betsbert - 11/1/09 2:12 PM In reply to: Why the hype by scleungshop assistants in the likes of PC world have not got a clue wat they R talking about, 1 told me recently there was no such thing as a "mini" SD card, if U have a PALM treo like me U will know there is.
as 2 ram 32bit systems only read 3.5 Gig Approx so unless U R running 64bit it is a waste of time U R better off increasing the hard disc size
Paging File
by ken1129 - 11/2/09 6:10 AM In reply to: Why the hype by scleungWith RAM being so cheap and new computers coming with 4gigs or more, do you still need a paging file or can it be turned off?
Pagefile
by johnw2 - 11/11/09 10:40 AM In reply to: Paging File by ken1129Move it from C to a different physical drive if possible. If you only have 1 HDD like on a laptop I would just set it's size forcing more usage of your RAM which is much much quicker. To do this in Vista and I think it's much the same in XP go to Control panel>system>advanced settings>Advanced tab>Settings in the Performance area>advanced tab>change in the virtual memory area and there you are. Google for amount to set for, most say 1.5 times your amount of memory. I think I would try much less. I set mine at 10% but then I have 12Gb of RAM on this new I7 setup.
John W./rodan1
Pagefile vs RAM
by johnw2 - 11/11/09 10:29 AM In reply to: Why the hype by scleungA lot of what should be ram usage goes to pagefile which is probably set by your computer on your sys. Pagefile is much slower than ram as it is using your HDD for ram. You should do 2 things, move pagefile from the C harddrive to a completely different physical drive so it keeps c from doing double duty; accessing your program AND accessing pagefile at the same time, also set the size of your pagefile thereby forcing more usage of ram which is by far faster than your hard drive. Google how to do these on our OS and read a little on pagefile to get a better understanding of it.
John W/rodan1
Misinformation
by yourpcmedic - 10/25/09 9:00 AM In reply to: Why all the hype for installing lots of RAM? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The hype is because, while it true that if your system is deficient on Ram, it will run slower than it has to, a large number of people also get a temporary repreive from mismanaged ram and malware infection by adding extra Ram.
RAM, or Random Access Memory is the memory that programs reside in while running. A windows XP machine using standard consumer applications, a simple anti-virus software (rather than the overbloated security suites), and is free of malware and bloatware, will run well on 512MB ram. More than that is typicly overkill for a well running system. Windows Vista 32 bit likes 2-3GB Ram, and Vista 64 Bit runs well with 4GB. The nu,bers for Winodws 7 are the same as Vista.
There are a number of things you can do to streamline system performance. Contacting a REPUTABLE (Generally a company without the word GEEK in their name) computer professional to perform maintenance on an annual basis is your best bet.
RE: Please no GEEK
by scleung - 10/25/09 9:57 AM In reply to: Misinformation by yourpcmedichahaha I like your suggestion about look for a company without the word GEEK in their name!! My friend told me that she hired GeekSquad or GeekPatrol, I forget exactly which, from Bestbuy to work on her computer. She told me that they didn't know crap. She said I know a 1000 times more than what they know. At the end, they charged her like a $100 and her problem was really fixed.
Reason for Mucho RAM
by 46hillbilly - 10/30/09 7:33 PM In reply to: RE: Please no GEEK by scleungTry running most late Games without at least 2GB of RAM and it will ruin your day. And Dell sold me a PC that has I stick of memory that worked; 1/2 of 512mb. Bad Jacks for Mic and such.
I use 4GB RAM now for the games and just for temp storage's needed in Games. The hardrive is over 580GB for the many uses I put this through. And Best Buy is a mis-nomner I fear where Tech help is concerned. Circuit City was No better.
East Indian tech I could rarely understand and were limited in training with Dell.
Geek Squad
by mwooge - 10/31/09 11:22 AM In reply to: RE: Please no GEEK by scleungI, too, had a bad experience with Best Buy's Geek Squad. It wasn't just a difficult repair, they were rebooting the machine while it was still booting. They should have known better. It's a good way to screw up the registry, and that's what happened.
After the computer would no longer boot, they said the HD was bad and wanted to charge me for a new HD and OS installation. Instead, I bought a new HD at CompUSA and did a restore from my BU.
As for my "bad" HD, it was easily restored and is curently my emergency BU drive.
WHO'S THE REAL GEEK?
by bobh2009 - 11/2/09 8:58 AM In reply to: Geek Squad by mwoogeI love this thread. I laugh whenever I hear or read ANYONE make a pat statement about why something is wrong with a computer. Of course there are the obvious things...it's unplugged, a cable is loose or a manufacturing defect in a main component. Any real computer geek, like me, knows the truth. If you have computers long enough and fix them yourself and you claim to know exactly what you did that solved the problem you are liar. You may know what part or setting you changed that made it work again but you don't know what caused that part or setting to fail and when it happens again 6 months, 6 weeks or 6 hours or 6 minutes later and you have to replace the same part again have you really solved the problem?
It seems that most of the people posting complaints are novices at best yet quite alot of them have great explanations why the Geek Squad was wrong. Someone handed one individual a hard drive and said "your hard drive was bad" after putting in a new hard drive and reinstalling the OS. Was it really a hard drive issue? Or was it an OS issue? Was the hard drive software dead or hardware dead?
I loved this post. One person refers to the Geek Squad and states words to the effect, "They were rebooting while the computer was booting. This is a great way to mess up the registry". Wow! What enlightenment. I don't claim to know everything but I do believe that I can boot and reboot all day long, at any point of boot up, and never cause my registry to fail or become corrupt. I may get a message about the system shutting down unexpectedly at worst but nothing more terrifying than selecting "start in normal mode" happens. And if the machine is taking that long to boot isn't it likely that the machine already had some pretty severe registry or startup program issues? This person went from not having a clue and hiring Best Buy to solve a problem to analyzing registry problems!
Most of the cases here are similar to that. Someone who isn't capable of anything computer related, beyond pushing the on button, offers clear, concise highly technical explanations AFTER they claim they are ripped off.
Anyone who has spent hours searching for the solutions to crashes, blue screens of death, machines that are dead upon power up and whatever knows that offering blanket statements about what was causing a problem is an exercise in "WAG"...wild ass guessing.
I guess it's just human nature when people pay for help to become geniuses when the person they hire doesn't immediately point at the machine and say "oh look, your memory is bad..." or whatever the case may be. If only it were that simple!
My point is that if the folks blaming Best Buy are so brilliant why are they hiring someone to fix simple problems?
And to the bigots out there, I've spent many hours on the phone with very articulate, "AMERICAN" sounding tech support reps sitting in the United States that had no clue. Like the Geek Squad employees so many people are complaining about. And I have spoken with many reps in Delhi or Bopal or wherever that solved problems in minutes that the "AMERICAN" tech rep had no clue about. It's funny how nationality has no bearing on experience and knowledge.
Misrepresentation
by scleung - 11/2/09 10:56 AM In reply to: WHO'S THE REAL GEEK? by bobh2009No one expected Geek Squad to know everything there is to know. I can't speak for everyone but my posting about Geek Squad is for the purpose to point out that just because those people work at Best Buys doesn't mean they are expert. However, if you go by my standards, then they are idiots. For example, my friend's computer has a broken PS/2 plug so her keyboard didn't work. Geek Squad told her she needed a new motherboard which cost $150. My friend came to me and I told her to get a USB to PS/2 converter. Got it online for a few bucks. That's the difference between idiots calling themselves Geek Squad and a professional like myself.
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