upgrading laptop memory/

[foxracing]

Ive searched google for generic advice, but im still a little confused. my laptop uses about 1 gig of memory all the time, and about 1.5 when im multitasking with occasional max out, maybe twice a week.

 

I have the original 2 gigabits (two 1gb pair) of memory, and am thinking of paying 64 USD for a pair of 2gb chips for a total of 4 gb. But ive read a 32 bit windows vista can only really use 3gb of memory. So does it make sense to pay 64 usd for this or am i wasting my money? I like to save every dollar i can for trips, but this seems that it could make my life a little less frusterating.

 

thaaaaaaaanks

[ProudAussie]

I upgraded my memory from 2 to 4gb yesterday but mines a desktop. I did read that you can only go to 3gb with your laptop so in my opinion your wasting your money if you want 4gb.

[Woofiee]

Ive searched google for generic advice, but im still a little confused. my laptop uses about 1 gig of memory all the time, and about 1.5 when im multitasking with occasional max out, maybe twice a week.

What kind and model computer do you have? Vista can address upwards of 8Gb of ram, but it depends if you're in 32-bit or 64-bit mode.

[Unique]

Ive searched google for generic advice, but im still a little confused. my laptop uses about 1 gig of memory all the time, and about 1.5 when im multitasking with occasional max out, maybe twice a week.

 

I have the original 2 gigabits (two 1gb pair) of memory, and am thinking of paying 64 USD for a pair of 2gb chips for a total of 4 gb. But ive read a 32 bit windows vista can only really use 3gb of memory. So does it make sense to pay 64 usd for this or am i wasting my money? I like to save every dollar i can for trips, but this seems that it could make my life a little less frusterating.

 

thaaaaaaaanks

 

If you are still runing Windows Vista you should consider upgrading to Windows 7. The performance difference is huge, especially notisable on laptops. It's true that a 32-bit windows OS can only utilize 3gb RAM, so the upgrade will only help your laptop performance a little bit. I would reinstall the laptop with Windows 7 if I were you

[Droppinfuknloads]

This all depends on how cheap you want to be. To be honest, if your computer is only using 1.5-2 gigs of ram and your sure of this then 3 gigs will be fine. A lot of the time you can't even tell the difference if its something like 1 gig extra. It's not going to make your computer faster, it's just going to let you multitask more. I upgraded from 4 gigs of ram on my laptop to 8 and I couldn't really tell the difference. I then upgraded my PC from 12 gigs of ram to 24 gigs and it was pretty much overkill. I couldn't tell the difference then either. You will have to get 64 bit vista or win7 though to use that 4th gig. I recommend trying it out with 3 gigs first and if it doesn't help then add the fourth. No need to fix what's not broken. I'm not expert but I've been building computers for about 2 years now, so I know a little something.

[foxracing]

I always thought if i upgraded to windows 7 it would become slower. I remembered how 98, xp, vista etc all had the new super duper computers in mind when they built the os.

 

I have a dell xps m1330 vista and i am pretty sure its a 32 bit like 99.9%.

[nomen1]

if you're memory tops out at 1.5GB and you have 2GB in there, don't look to RAM to increase performance. Its a waste of your money because you dont need anymore RAM

Next step for a slow machine is general housekeeping. to get the max out of your device get windows updates. get a decent AV solution get the updates and run it. There's some top AV progs out there with a one months trial , so you can install it , clean your laptop and chose not continue with subscription if you're not happy with it. uninstall free browser toolbars and unused applications and see where you're at.

[nrvous]

It is worth it to go from 2gb to 4gb even in a 32bit OS. Obviously if you have a reasonably solid laptop (not an atom based laptop) that has a good dual core or the like, then maybe even going to Win7 64bit might be better. If you want to make it even faster, swap out the drive for a middle of the road SSD drive.

 

Paying $64 to go to ~3.37 gb of RAM from 2gb is worth it.

 

If your memory allegedly tops out at 1.5GB and you know this only by using taskmanger and assumedly you are watching this for an hour or so... you still will want more than that in RAM as the OS prefetches data (on boot) and you really don't want it running out to the disk instead and while actually running your system you probably want to limit the OS swapping out pages of memory as much as possible. It will still happen but (up to a point) more RAM may limit this. This becomes potentially less of an issue with an SSD drive as it is significantly faster than a spinning drive but of course, still slower than RAM.

 

also heed the advice of others... if you open up task manager and you have more than 60 processes running.... well, maybe you should uninstall some crap. AV, uTorrent, IE (or other browsers), are the usual hogs with AV being number 1. But even the little monitor apps (adobe updater, etc) can take cycles. Be especially cognicent if you only have 1 processor (not a core2 duo etc).

 

If you are using windows XP then this is your fastest OS option (arguably). If you have Vista, most people here would suggest going to windows 7 (as it is faster than Vista) and if you can (if your laptop supports it) you should chose the 64bit version IF you ware going to add more RAM. Re-installing the OS every few years especially if you like to cruise the pron sites or other untrusted sites (anything but pattaya-addicts.com ;)), is usually a good way to get your computer back to tip top speed.

[seans]

upgrade to windows 7

 

For Windows 7, the maximums usable memory is:

• Starter: 2GB
  
• Home Basic: 8GB
  
• Home Premium: 16GB
  
• Professional: 192GB
  
• Enterprise: 192GB
  
• Ultimate: 192GB
  

for vista 32 bit processing

32-bit processor can take 2^32 B = 4 GB, but at most it take 3 GB "because they are 1 GB for reversed addresses

[BMN14]

You can install 2x2Gb in your computer but think to format it, and installing windows 7 Home Premium ;)