2Gb's enough for Vista?

[nmorson]

Could anybody advise me of the required amount of memory for Vista? I
know what it says on the box, but I have 2Gb of memory at present.
Another 2Gb is relatively cheap at the moment but is it really worth
it?

Many use is:
Ripping DVD's to DivX, CD's to MP3
Surfing the Internet
Small amount of gameplay (Quake 4, Doom 3)
Occasionally rendering video

Thanks in anticipation for any advice
Bear

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

I find 2GB to be a "sweet spot" for normal use, but having an additional 2GB
for video and gaming certainly won't hurt.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Kue2]

The More memory you can give Vista the better it will perform.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Could anybody advise me of the required amount of memory for Vista?

There's no such thing. As with any other operating system, it depends
on what applications you run.

I know what it says on the box, but I have 2Gb of memory at present.
Another 2Gb is relatively cheap at the moment but is it really worth
it?

2GB is sufficient for most people running ordinary business type
applications. I know nothing about the games you play and can't
address those, but otherwise, I don't see any compelling reason for
you to get more.

 

[flambe]

32 bit Vista can sort of use 3 gbs of RAM. Sort of because the memory above
2gbs has limited use.
64 bit Vista can see 4gbs or more of RAM. Unfortunately it cannot run very
many programs or peripherals and is subject to the same disc access
problems, or worse, than 32 bit Vista.
It is unlikely you will see a performance improvement with increasing RAM
beyond 2 gbs because what slows Vista down has nothing to do with RAM.
That which slows Vista the most is any operation which involves accessing
the hard drive.
Hence very fast hard drives in RAID 0 with very large caches and an Intel
Quad Core, which largely uses only one core for actual work but has access
to that massive L3 cache, are the only hardware tweaks that can have any
kind of effect on improving speed in Vista.
The most cost effective way to speed up your computer would be to delete
Vista and install XP--that is not a sarcasm but a point borne out in all
objective comparitive speed tests.

 

[Drew]

currently running 4gigs and box is smokin fast with just about anything I
throw at it...

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

The More memory you can give Vista the better it will perform.

A commonly repeated statement, but not an accurate one.

If you are currently using the page file (which is on the hard drive,
mechanical, and therefore slower than RAM), then more RAM will reduce
or eliminate that use and improve performance. If you are not using
the page file, more RAM will do next to nothing for you.

That's why the correct answer to questions like this is always that it
depends on what applications you are running.

 

[Dustin Harper]

2 GB is enough for what you are going to use it for. But, if you start
suffering slowdowns with the gameplay, or using the pagefile too much, you
might splurge for another 2 GB.

I have used 2 GB with no issues, but with a game like FSX, I did notice an
increase in performance. Only because my game used that memory.

 

[keepout]

Could anybody advise me of the required amount of memory for Vista? I
know what it says on the box, but I have 2Gb of memory at present.
Another 2Gb is relatively cheap at the moment but is it really worth
it?

Many use is:
Ripping DVD's to DivX, CD's to MP3
Surfing the Internet
Small amount of gameplay (Quake 4, Doom 3)
Occasionally rendering video

Thanks in anticipation for any advice
Bear

And not one mention of the fact that any memory over 2 gigs on a 32 bit system
is like teats on a boar hog. Decoration only.

And you'll most likely be totally disappointed when you slow down, find the
additional $200.00 of memory only shows .3 gigs extra.

No one knows how to configure 4 gigs to work on a 32 bit machine.
Memory can't be returned.

 

[Dustin Harper]

~3.2 will be seen, rather than the ~2.2 you say. Still, depending on the
usage, it can make a difference.

--
Dustin Harper
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.VistaRIP.com | Vista Resource & Information Page

Could anybody advise me of the required amount of memory for Vista? I
know what it says on the box, but I have 2Gb of memory at present.
Another 2Gb is relatively cheap at the moment but is it really worth
it?

Many use is:
Ripping DVD's to DivX, CD's to MP3
Surfing the Internet
Small amount of gameplay (Quake 4, Doom 3)
Occasionally rendering video

Thanks in anticipation for any advice
Bear

And not one mention of the fact that any memory over 2 gigs on a 32 bit
system
is like teats on a boar hog. Decoration only.

And you'll most likely be totally disappointed when you slow down, find the
additional $200.00 of memory only shows .3 gigs extra.

No one knows how to configure 4 gigs to work on a 32 bit machine.
Memory can't be returned.

 

[MICHAEL]

Could anybody advise me of the required amount of memory for Vista? I
know what it says on the box, but I have 2Gb of memory at present.
Another 2Gb is relatively cheap at the moment but is it really worth
it?

Many use is:
Ripping DVD's to DivX, CD's to MP3
Surfing the Internet
Small amount of gameplay (Quake 4, Doom 3)
Occasionally rendering video

Thanks in anticipation for any advice
Bear

I believe Ken, Dustin and Rick have provided you with
the best responses. In my experience, 2GB really
seems to be plenty. But, if you just want to go with
4GB instead, it won't hurt, and may help in some
circumstances. Just don't expect some sort of amazing
performance increase.


-Michael

 

[Frank]

...The most cost effective way to speed up your computer would be to delete
Vista and install XP--that is not a sarcasm but a point borne out in all
objective comparitive speed tests.

That is just not true in actual usage. If all you go by are "test" then
you're being mislead and you are misleading.
Frank

 

[keepout]

It is unlikely you will see a performance improvement with increasing RAM
beyond 2 gbs because what slows Vista down has nothing to do with RAM.
That which slows Vista the most is any operation which involves accessing
the hard drive.

The windows pagefile.sys is directly related to the size of memory. The more
memory whether it's useful or not means a larger pagefile.sys and slower drive
access...

 

[Ian D]

Could anybody advise me of the required amount of memory for Vista? I
know what it says on the box, but I have 2Gb of memory at present.
Another 2Gb is relatively cheap at the moment but is it really worth
it?

Many use is:
Ripping DVD's to DivX, CD's to MP3
Surfing the Internet
Small amount of gameplay (Quake 4, Doom 3)
Occasionally rendering video

Thanks in anticipation for any advice
Bear

At the present low prices of DDR2 I'd go for another 2 GB,
in fact, I did. If you ever decide to go 64 bit you're all set,
and another consideration is that in the future as DDR3
takes over, DDR2 will become more scarce and more costly.
Just compare the present prices of DDR and DDR2. Even
if you only get an extra GB or so under Vista 32, it will still
help with such activities as video and photo editing.

ID

 

[thetruthhurts]

That is just not true in actual usage. If all you go by are "test" then
you're being mislead and you are misleading.
Frank

Ok Einstein, ignore factual data and go by what?

 

[Frank]

Ok Einstein, ignore factual data and go by what?

Einstein...LOL!
Are you suffering from an inferiority complex?

Usage in actual production machines.
What most computers are actually used for.
Frank

 

[nmorson]

Thankyou all but I didn't mean to promote a flame war. I also didn't
know that 32bit Vista could only see (or make use of) 3Gb. At present
all is running well and unfortunately I cannot go back to XP (much as
I would like) as I need Vista for my job. Thankyou to all who
responded - I think I may just save the £35 ($70 or so) and spend it
on a night out!

Bear

 

[keepout]

Thankyou all but I didn't mean to promote a flame war. I also didn't
know that 32bit Vista could only see (or make use of) 3Gb. At present
all is running well and unfortunately I cannot go back to XP (much as
I would like) as I need Vista for my job. Thankyou to all who
responded - I think I may just save the £35 ($70 or so) and spend it
on a night out!

Bear

And sometimes advice actually takes effect. Best move.. As for 3gb. You need to
get memory in pairs
2 x 256 = 512
2 x 512 = 1024 1 gig
2 x 1024 = 2048 2 gig
2 x 2048 = 4 gigs of which 90% is useless on a 32 bit machine.

 

[Pete]

Ok Einstein, ignore factual data and go by what?

I own a Vista and XP machine, both with 2gigs of RAM.
XP is much faster for what I do. That's all I can say.
-Pete

 

[Drew]

Hmmm...90% of 4gigs is useless in Vista...reads like a typo to me !!

Thankyou all but I didn't mean to promote a flame war. I also didn't
know that 32bit Vista could only see (or make use of) 3Gb. At present
all is running well and unfortunately I cannot go back to XP (much as
I would like) as I need Vista for my job. Thankyou to all who
responded - I think I may just save the £35 ($70 or so) and spend it
on a night out!

Bear

And sometimes advice actually takes effect. Best move.. As for 3gb. You need
to
get memory in pairs
2 x 256 = 512
2 x 512 = 1024 1 gig
2 x 1024 = 2048 2 gig
2 x 2048 = 4 gigs of which 90% is useless on a 32 bit machine.