Max RAM for Presario 3800+

  • Thread starter Thread starter gplantam
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gplantam

I'm considering buying a SR5110NX Compaq Presario Desktop with an
Athlonâ„¢ 64 Processor 3800+. It comes with 120GB hard drive and 512MB
DDR2 memory. If a PC's speed is only as fast as its weakest link, how
much RAM can I add before it reaches its maximum speed for the
processor? I think it has 4 slots, but I'm not positive.

Thanks,
Greg
 
I'm considering buying a SR5110NX Compaq Presario Desktop with an
Athlon™ 64 Processor 3800+. It comes with 120GB hard drive and 512MB
DDR2 memory. If a PC's speed is only as fast as its weakest link, how
much RAM can I add before it reaches its maximum speed for the
processor? I think it has 4 slots, but I'm not positive.
Click to expand...


No, it doesn't work the way you surmise.

You get good performance if the amount of RAM you have keeps you from
using the page file, and that depends on what apps you run. Most
people running a typical range of business applications find that
somewhere around 256-384MB works well, others need 512MB. Almost
anyone will see poor performance with less than 256MB. Some people,
particularly those doing things like editing large photographic
images, can see a performance boost by adding even more than
512MB--sometimes much more.

If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory
will decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance.
If you are not using the page file significantly, more memory will do
nothing for you. For *most* people running Windows XP, 512MB is more
than enough.
 
512MB should be more than enough for general use using Windows XP.
If you plan to upgrade to Windows Vista some time in the future you might
consider buying it with at least 1GB of memory.

JS

I'm considering buying a SR5110NX Compaq Presario Desktop with an
AthlonT 64 Processor 3800+. It comes with 120GB hard drive and 512MB
DDR2 memory. If a PC's speed is only as fast as its weakest link, how
much RAM can I add before it reaches its maximum speed for the
processor? I think it has 4 slots, but I'm not positive.

Thanks,
Greg
 
512MB should be more than enough for general use using Windows XP.
If you plan to upgrade to Windows Vista some time in the future you might
consider buying it with at least 1GB of memory.
Click to expand...


Or maybe even 2GB for Vista. Alternatively he could buy it with less
now, but make sure he can easily upgrade it to more later (don't have
all the slots filled).
 
2GB can't hurt as what is acceptable today is yesterdays history and Vista
does like more memory.

JS
 
Thanks, everyone, for the info. I've had tons of problems running
Skype on my old limited memory PC (with DSL). I've also been unable to
get Linux to run on it, even after completely formatting it (using
Parted Magic). I'm assuming that it's a memory shortage that's the
problem. I need a new PC anyway.
 
You're welcome
Just remember that it's your money and you only get to spend it once, so
research and asking for advice never hurts.
As a suggestion; make a list of what is important to you in the way of
hardware/software and where you can make trade offs (example: more memory
vs. drive size or graphics card options, etc) to fit your budget.

JS
 
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