RAM Guidance

  • Thread starter Thread starter Henry
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Henry

Will I see a performance increase going from 1g to 2g of RAM on a
machine used for general purpose computing ?? Also, is it true that XP
PRO doesn't like all four slots filled (4x512) TIA for your help.
 
For normal day to day use with XP you won't see much difference between 1 GB
and 2 GB. With some graphics, video editing, or database programs you may
see a dramatic difference. XP doesn't care where the RAM is installed on
your motherboard. If the motherboard support dual channel RAM then the
motherboard may want to see four identical stick of RAM for the motherboard
to work at it's best.
 
Henry said:
Will I see a performance increase going from 1g to 2g of RAM on a
machine used for general purpose computing ??
Click to expand...

depends what you mean by "general computing" - if what you mean is email,
web surfing and reasi=onably simple document creating, then probably
not.....



Also, is it true that XP
PRO doesn't like all four slots filled (4x512) TIA for your help.
Click to expand...

Where did you get this from?
 
Henry said:
Will I see a performance increase going from 1g to 2g of RAM on a
machine used for general purpose computing ??
Click to expand...


Highly unlikely, although it depends on what you mean by "general purpose
computing ." In fact, 1GB is probably already more than you need and you
wouldn't see a performance decrease by going to 512MB. Here's my standard
advice on how much RAM you should have:

This is *not* a one-size-fits-all situation. 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.
Go to http://billsway.com/notes_public/winxp_tweaks/ and download
WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That should give you
a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how much more.


Also, is it true that
XP PRO doesn't like all four slots filled (4x512) TIA for your help.
Click to expand...



No, it's not true.
 
Henry said:
Will I see a performance increase going from 1g to 2g of RAM on a
machine used for general purpose computing ?? Also, is it true that XP
PRO doesn't like all four slots filled (4x512) TIA for your help.
Click to expand...


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

Unfortunately there is no ready way of determing actual paging file
usage provided with Windows XP - it does not have an equivalent to the
'Memory Manager - Swap File In Use" reporting provided by the System
Monitor utility in Windows 95/98/Me.

There is a free utility that you can download and run which will
provide this information for you. It was written by MVP Bill James and
you can get if from
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm or from
http://billsway.com/notes_public/WinXP_Tweaks/

If that utility shows actual page file usage of 50 mb or more on a
regular basis then that is indicative of fairly significant paging
file activity. Adding more RAM will reduce or even eliminate entirely
this activity thereby improving performance.

This apples regardless of how much or how little RAM is currently
installed in the computer, at least up to the 4 gb RAM maximum for
Windows XP.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
 
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