Question about small upgrade? 1

[Antcomp]

I have my uncle's pc and he wants to make it a bit faster and im sure he dosnt wanna spend anything on it, it seems to lock up when using 2 progs or more and load them up slowly, so here's the deal:
1.3ghz p4cpu 1300mhz, 128mb ram. A regular dell dimension 8100. what would be the best thing to do w/o changing the whole mobo and cpu? basically i believe the ram would be the solution. i can get him 2 512mb chips or 2 256mb chips, which means his 128mb chip is useless unless i get another 128 mb chip to pair with it. but with a 1.3ghz cpu would 512mb be sufficent or can he still benefit much from 1gig?

 

[stduc]

I would have though 512 would be enough - but whats the O/S?

Defragging the hd and then removing the swap file - re-booting - re-defragging and finally setting up a manual swap file that is around 3*real memory can work wonders!

 

[rclarke250]

If he is running XP, then you will need more memory. And you can mix and match mem modules in p4 systems, unless you have a board that supports dual channel. Unless you are running high end games 512 should be plenty.

 

[franklin97355]

Most dimm's don't require you install them in pairs.

 

[Antcomp]

yea i wasnt sure about the pairs b/c im more familiar with the dual channel, so if i get him 1 512mb chip i can just add that with the 128mb chip he already has? from what i can tell he has 2 64mb chips and i dunno what the other chips are maybe just blanks if they do that but someone please inform me on this b/c all 4 slots are taken up. 2 of the chps are slightly bigger.

 

[franklin97355]

Go to the Dell site and check the manual.

 

[paparazi]

Antcomp

Some of the above replies won't be correct.
I did a quick Google and straight away it came up with this page that indicates this setup uses Rimms (RDram) which i believe means you have an Intel 850 chipsetbased motherboard? which also means that the memory is fitted in pairs.

Read your manual or contact Dell

http://www.4allmemory.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=search.memorySearch&model_id=17280

Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[franklin97355]

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dsleest/specs.htm?c=us&l=en&cs=&s=gen#memory

I stand corrected. I ASSUMED it was dimms

 

[kmcferrin]

And the Rambus memory is more expensive on top of that.

Regarding the amount of memory, generally the more you have the better. If you have a slower CPU, then having more memory is even more important, especially if you are multitasking.

If you are running Windows XP or 2000, go into Task Manager, select the "Performance" tab, and compare the Total Commit Charge figure to the Total Physical Memory figure. The Commit Charge is how much memory you're using (physical and virtual) while the Physical indicates how much RAM is installed. If you are regularly using more memory than you have installed, then you would probably see noticeable improvement by adding more RAM.

 

[cdogg]

Yes, all the early P4's ran with Rambus RDRAM or PC133 SDRAM. DDR didn't enter the picture for Intel until the Northwood hit shelves above the 2GHz mark.

If you have Windows 98 or ME, which is likely in an older system like that, then 256MB should be enough. If slowness is still an issue, then I recommend you scan for spyware/adware and also run a registry repair utility. I like Registry Mechanic, which will do a full scan and remove a lot of junk that has accumulated over the years. There is a trial version that removes some stuff it finds, but buying it unlocks some needed scan areas.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[shannanl]

Antcomp,

This is your lucky day. I have 4 stick of 128mb Rambus. I will never need it. It is yours if you want it. Does he have 4 slots for memory? If so, you could go up to 256mb with these. Or you could purchase bigger sticks but they must be used in matching pairs. 256mb should be enough for up to Win XP unless he is a serious gamer. Rambus must be used in pairs and if the slots are not filled there is a kind of null ram that must be used (can't remember name right now). Anyway, let me know if you want it.

Shannan

 

[kmcferrin]

I disagree with the assessments that 256 MB of memory "should be enough" based on the OS. While the Windows 95/98 will certainly consume less memory with just the OS running than would a system running Windows 2000/XP, the real determining factor of how much memory you need is going to be based on the size and memory requirements of the applications that you run. I frequently run applications that utilize several times the amount of RAM that the OS utilizes. If that memory were being swapped out to disk all day long I would never get anything done.

 

[cdogg]

kmcferrin,

Think you're opening a can of worms here...

I don't think I would necessarily disagree with you, but there is more to the story behind the "safe" recommendation of 256MB.

Vcache in Win95/98/ME is responsible for memory management and is quite inferior to the memory subsystem used in the NT kernel. In fact, it is limited to 800MB of total space. Microsoft warns that amounts over 512MB can cause problems (MS KBQ253912). Tests that I've read over the years suggest that amounts over 256MB showed diminishing returns, and amounts near or greater than 512MB actually hurt system performance.

If you read the FAQ below, you will also see how MS suggests the use of the MAXFILECACHE entry to limit vcache. Doing so does allow Windows to work without errors, but it does not magically cause the OS to use the extra RAM efficiently. It can't if vcache is limited.

My old FAQ: faq615-1638

You can take that for what it's worth. Truth is that it's a moot point to argue, since anyone with concerns should upgrade to XP or another more modern OS, that can efficiently handle larger amounts.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884