Thread: RAM Upgrade??????

HI,
I was surprised if a RAM upgradeto 3.0 GB would create any difference on my computer. I have 1.5GBnow. I am not a gamer. This is what I have now from Specify.

Adding much more RAM may not take noticeable improvement.

My method to find if more RAM is required is to monitor the swap file. If I am watching a much more of swap activity then I might think I want more RAM or I have so much stuff running. How to monitor the swap file in XP?.......no idea. I could tell how to do it on W7........but that might not be of much value. May be a XP user will be along to afford the "how to's"

XP 32 bit will not run that much better from 1.5 to 2.0GB and the Athlon 64's I run into are fairly finicky. If you are appearing for few speed bring a feel a that new 750GB HYBRID HDD.

Since you apply DDR, not DDR2 ram, you may not gain much while it will assist. What I am concerned about is the fact that your PC maybe too old like it applies 3 slots. There were timing issues that greatly effected older mtbds. and a completely populated RAM setup varied in results. You are best bet is to setup 2Gb of RAM and watch how that works for you. On top of that does your mtrbd. setup let 1Gb RAM in a RAM slot because the 512mb maybe the top level it lets.

Install 1 1Gb ram stick on the other two remaining or install 2x1Gb ram sticks alone and watch where that gets ya. IMHO, you will be pushing the setup, though the XP-32bit will accept 3gb and if the mtrbd. Does let 1Gb per slot, then everything should be the same or similar speeds, etc., for best results. But, as already stated you may not gin much but this upgrade maybe the best you can do.

I always had 2G with XP. when I updated to W7 I went to 4g. after that fiasco and back to XP, I do not think I have noticed much difference in running except maybe a little with games – but I probably would not recommend it due to unless you have something that actually requires it. Auto cad, photo shop etc.

DDR Memory has become actually expensive, and depending upon other factors, such as Hard Drive speed, CPU speed, and the amount of software that you are running on your XP machine, it may not be very noticeable. If you actually need to speed up your XP PC, then by everything spend the money and install all the RAM it will manage, but be aware that you may have to clean up your hard drive of any software bloatware you may have, and you might even consider finding a newer, faster hard drive, and start with a fresh install of the operating system.

Of course, everything of this is going to incur more expense, like hard drive costs have gone way up, and the DDR memory as well is not cheap. If you actually need a faster machine then acquire a new Windows 7 64 Bit PC on DDR3 memory, and a fast SATA hard drive or as well an SSD hard drive. Wish this assists.

But will it help? Yes. depends upon what you are doing & what you are appearing for. Doubling the amount will assist. Do not purchase RAM above what your board can manage, that is new RAM in an old RAM slot. It is not going to work & you will fry something.

You said you are not a gamer, but RAM hungry things are: Pictures, DTP, Videos, & Multi-tasking. I detected a greater improvement in doubling the RAM in both of my XP towers. Watching that you have a very common three slot configuration, feel at your owner's manual to be certain you do not require to setup a sure way. Otherwise, only remove the first stick , slide the new one in & move all over.Be certain to turn the power off, unplug the unit, push the power button on to discharge the electricity, touch the metal case & R&R.

Keep in mind that you are not going to have a memory usage of 22% by doubling it, but you will increase the amount available. You would not be able to go "Weird Science", but you will remark that you can do more. Always make certain to clear your RAM when you are tackling a big project. Reboot, use Task Manager to watch what you may need to toggle off for the moment.

I doubt it, XP was plan to run on 128 mbytes minimal, 256 mbytes normally. I detected the biggest difference to bet among 256 mbytes and 512 mbytes.

I would say that upgrading from 1.5 GB to 2 or 3 GB of RAM in Windows XP is a waste of money, and will not perceptibly improve performance. In fact, you would probably love a performance enhance various orders of magnitude higher by easily backing up your data, reformatting your hard drive, and re-setting up your operating system and application software. Purchasing a new hard drive might assist too, particularly if yours is acquiring old, and accumulating bad sectors.

Windows XP is designed to run satisfactorily on 512 megabytes of RAM, and will run very well on 1.0 GB of RAM. You get a slight performance boost upgrading from 1.0 GB to 2.0 GB, but anything above that will NOT increase performance, and in some cases can actually hurt performance. Considering how expensive the DDR memory that you use has become, I would not bother to upgrade a DDR-based system above 1.0 GB unless I was being afforded the memory for free.