RAM Question

Hi Guys

I have a question about RAM that I hope you guys can answer for me, Right now In my PC I have 1.5GB of ram and was wondering if I add another 1GB stick ( I have one more open slot ) would I noitce that much of a increase in performance?

Im running windows XP also

Thanks
Jeremy

It depends entirely on what you're doing with the PC.

playing games mostly

1.5gb will happily run Solitaire for months.

Seriously, are you noticing slow-down after a while with the hard-drive continually thrashing (unless it's the Vista Indexing service or Windows Defender)? If so, then you'd benefit from more RAM. If not, you won't.

There comes a certain point with RAM where you'll never notice a difference. I couldn't tell, without checking, if my PC was running smoother with 2.5gb of RAM rather than 2gb.

Assuming your PC uses DDR2 RAM, then you could argue it's a no-brainer to buy more at the moment. You can buy 1gb of RAM for £15 now.

If you use Vista, the more you feed it, the better your overall PC will be, as Vista has SuperFetch, which uses up available RAM to pre-load the programs you use the most, so when you load it for the first time, the program's already in the RAM and loads up super quick (it frees up that RAM immediately if the system needs it for something else). For this reason alone I've got 8gb in my system - very little of what I do would ever use 8gb, but it's lovely having pretty much everything ready for me when I want it to be. Photoshop loads in about 3 seconds, as opposed to the ~15 seconds it would if it was loading purely from the hard drive. It makes the day-to-day experience so much smoother. 8gb's over the top for pretty much everyone but the power and in particular the creative user, but at the price DDR2 RAM is at the moment, if you've got £30 burning a whole in your pocket, stick some more RAM in, especially if you've got Vista.

No point getting more than 4gb for a 32-bit OS though, as it can only address around 3.5gb in most systems, and any single process can only address 2gb max. A 64-bit OS can address 16 exabytes. That's 17 billion gigabytes. 17,000,000,000gb. Even Norton Anti-Virus might be smooth with that.

gav schrieb:
-------------------------------------------------------
A 64-bit OS can address 16
> exabytes. That's 17 billion gigabytes.
> 17,000,000,000gb. Even Norton Anti-Virus might be
> smooth with that.

i wonder how big the case needs to be if you want to put that ram in. for sure the only computer with more ram than hdd space if you do that

Considering that the hard disk drives will soon be replaced by solid state drives (essentially flash memory), you'll be able to have more hard drive space than RAM easily enough.

Most motherboards are limited to 8GB RAM at the moment anyway. The 4GB limitation of 32-bit is decades old. It was formed when 48kb RAM was seen as more than enough. 64-bit is just a means of allowing development to have breathing space. In 2 decades time we'll probably not even be using RAM as we know it anyway, so vast quantities of RAM may hit the ceiling just as it has with 32-bit.

Thanks for the info Gav. it has been very helpful

Jeremy

How long is the estimated RAM price slump expected? Is it temporary - or, given the economic issues right now, is it likely to remain low for a few months yet?

I am about to buy some more ram myself along with two LG 22'' monitors but I am debating wether or not I should wait until uni begins should prices drop even more.

The only benefit of buying now is that for personal use I could learn maya and illustrator more thoroughly over the summer - but if cost prevails, I would choose to wait.


Jenson drives it like he owns it; Lewis drives it like he stole it

Prices were predicted to rise again months back, but it's never happened.

The RAM market has always been notoriously volatile. Prices suddenly drop and rise, often with little warning. That said, this is the most prolonged spell of consistent pricing I can remember, and if that potential rise in prices has passed, then you can rest easy and bide your time.

Don't quote me on it though. I'm the opposite of a business man.

Edit: can't see the prices dropping much more. A few quid here and there perhaps, but that'll be about it. They're almost giving it away as it is.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/2008 10:53PM by gav.

Cool - in that case I might opt and just go for it on the 4x1gb OCZ Platinum pack option and upgrade my mofo at once. Am thinking the ASUS P5E-V HDMI iG35 Socket 775 (I am not a gamer in the slightest, the odd rfactor fun nothing extreme). There have been good reports on the onboard graphics, so not being a gamer - is this acceptable on a purely work based user?

Kinda wish I hadn't bought the ASRock 4Core board way ago now, as it limits me to just 2gb of either ddr or ddr2 and not both. shame that.

But I guess it lasted me enough for the transition - all of one year LOL!

Mind you 2gb could still be nippy enough for all the photoshopping I am going to be doing. hmmm! Decisions!


Jenson drives it like he owns it; Lewis drives it like he stole it

danm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cool - in that case I might opt and just go for it
> on the 4x1gb OCZ Platinum pack option and upgrade
> my mofo at once. Am thinking the ASUS P5E-V HDMI
> iG35 Socket 775 (I am not a gamer in the
> slightest, the odd rfactor fun nothing extreme).
> There have been good reports on the onboard
> graphics, so not being a gamer - is this
> acceptable on a purely work based user?

Not even slightly if you're intending on using the onboard graphics for rFactor. It will turn around and laugh at you.

actually Gav I was also wondering If I upgrade my RAM does it all have to be the same speed? I have heard that it should be? how would I know what speed it was on the other sticks that are in my PC now?

Thanks Mate ( I'm not a real tech savy guy:P )

Jeremy

CPUz will tell you the speed.

It doesn't have to the be the same speed, but it will all run at the speed of the slowest stick. Some older boards can struggle with different types of RAM, but it's generally not something to worry about now.

If you get slower sticks, the PC may not boot the first time you switch it on, in which case you might have to set the timings and frequency manually. Refer to the specifications of the RAM you buy (it's not just speed, but the timings of the RAM - mainly CAS latency) and the motherboard manual for help on that.

Keep in mind that with RAM timings, slower means a higher number.