Adding 256mb of RAM?

  • Thread starter Thread starter robinoz
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robinoz

I am running a AMD Athlon XP 1.67MHz computer with
Windows XP Home.I often have several editing programs
running at the same time sapping memory.

My solution was to add another 256mb of memory making
512mb of RAM. But after having done so,I am barely
noticing any difference,are there any tweaks I need to do
after adding it?(I was told to just bang it in)Or a way
to test before and after performance?

Please???lol
 
Hello

Remove the memory and see what happens, also was it working better
before you added the memory. Also another issue when you add memory
make sure that it is the same speed as what you have installed already.

Alvin
You can also run msconfig and see what applications are loaded at
start-up.

Just type START then RUN then TYPE msconfig CLICK OK
 
robinoz said:
I am running a AMD Athlon XP 1.67MHz computer with
Windows XP Home.I often have several editing programs
running at the same time sapping memory.

My solution was to add another 256mb of memory making
512mb of RAM. But after having done so,I am barely
noticing any difference,are there any tweaks I need to do
after adding it?(I was told to just bang it in)Or a way
to test before and after performance?

Please???lol
Click to expand...

If XP sees it, you are done.

I hope the new RAM stick matches the MB and the old RAM stick;
mismatched RAM can cause crashes and undetected data corruption.

But it is most likely that you added RAM to a PC that already had
enough to handle your workload. Unless the amount of swap file
in use went down as a result of adding RAM, the added RAM was a
waste of money.
 
Yeah Alvin it was matched for speed etc from Compaq,I was
expecting real time movie editing etc to work a bit
quicker,not miracles so I suppose only small gains are
realistic then?

Cheers
 
Hi Bob
The specs were all matched,I also ran 3DMark2001
benchmarks b4 and after and only raised score by 10 or so
points...Im a bit dissapointed mate!lol
 
robinoz said:
I am running a AMD Athlon XP 1.67MHz computer with
Windows XP Home.I often have several editing programs
running at the same time sapping memory.

My solution was to add another 256mb of memory making
512mb of RAM. But after having done so,I am barely
noticing any difference,are there any tweaks I need to do
after adding it?(I was told to just bang it in)Or a way
to test before and after performance?

Please???lol
Click to expand...

Adding more memory can noticeably improve performance only if the
added memory results in reduced usage of the virtual memory page file.
Therefore if the page file is not currently being used to any
significant extent then adding more memory will not provide a
significant improvement.

Remove the 256 mb of RAM that you added (temporarily) and download a
free page file usage monitor from
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm or from
http://billsway.com/notes_public/WinXP_Tweaks/ and run that to see how
much actual page file usage is occurring on your system with the
original 256 mb of RAM in place. Try it with a normal to heavier tha
normal load of application programs and data files.

If the actual page file usage exceeds 50 mb then there is almost
certainly a significant amount of paging activity occurring and more
RAM should reduce this and therefore improve the overall performance.

Also note that if the actual page file usage exceeds 256 mb, which is
a possibility, then you might want to serious consider adding even
more RAM to the system. If that is what the utility reports then
reinstall the second 256 mb module and repeat the page file usage test
with the full 512 mb of RAM in place. And again if the actual page
file usage exceeds 50 mb with a normal load of applications and data
files then you need to consider adding further RAM, preferably an
amount at least equal to the amount of actual page file usage that is
reported.

Good luck




Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."
 
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