tell me exactly how more ram helps, even if you dont use big programs

[here4yagurlz]

tell me. no games running, but how does more ram help in general? from say 512 to 1gig or 1.5 for ex.

[sleepyguy]

Depends what apps your using. RAM is just fast memory and HD is just slow memory. Plain and simple. The more you have of fast memory the less your system has to access the slow memory to cache the data.

working with photoshop/databases/videoediting/etc will definetly help if you have lots of ram. I don't do these things but I run vmware and that eats up alot of ram.

tell me. no games running, but how does more ram help in general? from say 512 to 1gig or 1.5 for ex.

[ShadowVlican]

tell me. no games running, but how does more ram help in general? from say 512 to 1gig or 1.5 for ex.

there will be no difference from 512 to 1.5GB if all you're doing is word processing

my celeron with 256MB feels the same as my xpm with 1GB when i'm just typing documents for school

only when you start to do memory hogging and intensive stuff like gaming, video editing, multitasking, etc will you feel the difference

[ProfessorChaos]

my celeron with 256MB feels the same as my xpm with 1GB when i'm just typing documents for school

only when you start to do memory hogging and intensive stuff like gaming, video editing, multitasking, etc will you feel the difference

There is def. a difference when loading programs...and rendering video,audio,images,etc.

theres a bigger diff in loading times if u have a fast hdd tho(or a RAID array)

[here4yagurlz]

programs:

winamp
mp3
msn
email
firefox
word
antivirus
dvds
photoshop
illustrator
indesign
flash

[here4yagurlz]

There is def. a difference when loading programs...and rendering video,audio,images,etc.

theres a bigger diff in loading times if u have a fast hdd tho(or a RAID array)

i have a 4200rpm hd, as its a laptop.

also should mention, i do like to multitask. on my 512 right now, im able to run 12-15 firefox browsers, photoshop with about 5 files open, winamp, 4 windows folders, msn, thunderbird, anti virus and still have 200mb free.

but lets say i leave photoshop or other big programs in idle for few hours, when i go back to it, itll take some time to refresh it. also going back from file to file in PS can lag at times, while hearing the h.d. scan.

[here4yagurlz]

when it says so and so mb is free, is that just a #? meaning even if it says 200mb is free, doesnt nessecarily mean itll run smoothly.?

[CodecX81]

i have a 4200rpm hd, as its a laptop.

also should mention, i do like to multitask. on my 512 right now, im able to run 12-15 firefox browsers, photoshop with about 5 files open, winamp, 4 windows folders, msn, thunderbird, anti virus and still have 200mb free.

but lets say i leave photoshop or other big programs in idle for few hours, when i go back to it, itll take some time to refresh it. also going back from file to file in PS can lag at times, while hearing the h.d. scan.

12-15 browser windows.. gah! I hope u mean tabs..

I'd say with your multi-tasking needs, 512 more would really help. You are probably limited to 2gigs of memory since its a laptop (only 2 ram slots) But for what you with it..The more memory you install, the less time your computer will need to 'wake up' after being idle with all that open.

[here4yagurlz]

12-15 browser windows.. gah! I hope u mean tabs..

I'd say with your multi-tasking needs, 512 more would really help. You are probably limited to 2gigs of memory since its a laptop (only 2 ram slots) But for what you with it..The more memory you install, the less time your computer will need to 'wake up' after being idle with all that open.

ya i guess tabs would be alot better on the resources eh?

ummm, ya suppose 512 more wouldnt hurt. just dont wanna get it unless ill notice a difference.

[MrWizard]

More ram isn't always necessarily good. You could have 2 gigs of ram, but if you have a crappy processor, then you will get a bottleneck.

[here4yagurlz]

More ram isn't always necessarily good. You could have 2 gigs of ram, but if you have a crappy processor, then you will get a bottleneck.

true, mine is 1.6centrino. a buddy of mine told me, i would notice much more performance increase going from 4200 to 5400 rpm hd, as opposed to the ram. and both are priced around the same.

[ShadowVlican]

i have a 4200rpm hd, as its a laptop.

also should mention, i do like to multitask. on my 512 right now, im able to run 12-15 firefox browsers, photoshop with about 5 files open, winamp, 4 windows folders, msn, thunderbird, anti virus and still have 200mb free.

but lets say i leave photoshop or other big programs in idle for few hours, when i go back to it, itll take some time to refresh it. also going back from file to file in PS can lag at times, while hearing the h.d. scan.

ok... if you're running all that... of course more ram will help..

[CodecX81]

Also consider the size of your page file

c:\pagefile.sys

If its big, its either set that way by default, or your computer is dumping the contents of your RAM into it to make more room for other applications.

Trust me on this..On my PC I had 512 for a long time, and I put in another 512 stick. when I had 512 I could alt+tab out of full screen games or something and it'd chugg away until I was at my desktop. Now when I alt+tab out of the games, it'll be as quick as switching between say MSN and Firefox.

In an XP environment, I say there are huge gains from 512 to 1024.

[here4yagurlz]

ok you how sometimes on some computers u get choppiness when multitasking? like say u open a window and part of it will open and show up part by part at a time? as opposed to an instant load up. or when u drag windows and u can see a trace or frames get caught behind? ghosting effect.

i dont get it but on my desktop i do.

is that from slow cpu or not enuf ram?

[here4yagurlz]

Also consider the size of your page file

c:\pagefile.sys

If its big, its either set that way by default, or your computer is dumping the contents of your RAM into it to make more room for other applications.

Trust me on this..On my PC I had 512 for a long time, and I put in another 512 stick. when I had 512 I could alt+tab out of full screen games or something and it'd chugg away until I was at my desktop. Now when I alt+tab out of the games, it'll be as quick as switching between say MSN and Firefox.

In an XP environment, I say there are huge gains from 512 to 1024.

ok thx

my page file i was told min. should be 1.5x your ram size and max. 3x the size.

So 512 would be min. 768 and max. 1536.

1gig would be 1500 min and 3000 max.

Is that correct? what if i went with a larger max. size, is that better? like 10,000.