More Memory ?

[Theslaz]

On XP Home Edition I have three slots on a Dell XPST550 with 512 MB memory
installed. I could add two new (256 MB) chips to go to768 MB. What would I
gain in performance?

If I add this up; me thinks you would have 1 Gig of memory. ( 512 now;
plus 256 x 2 added ). You would gain plenty by doing this. Coincidence
has it; that I just did that upgrade to my wife's computer this past
week. Hers was running especially slow lately; added the memory; ( was
at 512 removed the 512 and added 1 Gig at $40.00 ) just like a new
computer now!

 

[db.·.. >]

yes, you will likely see
an improvement especially
if you have a number of
processes running all the
time, like an antivirus,
spywares, etc...

in addition if you are
utilizing graphic or photo
shop softwares, you may
even want to have a gig
of memory.
--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces

 

[Unknown]

You of course would have a Gig of memory and will notice a definite increase
in performance. Not great but a definite noticeable increase.

 

[Twayne]

On XP Home Edition I have three slots on a Dell XPST550 with 512 MB

memory installed. I could add two new (256 MB) chips to go to768 MB.
What would I gain in performance?

First, with RAM so inexpensive right now, it'd be better to go for a
full Gig of RAM.

By Increasing RAM, you:
-- Might not notice any difference. It depends on several things, but
mostly the types of programs and services you have running all at once
and how must your pagefile is being used.

-- Might notice a LOT of difference! Almost everything on the machine
might become or seem and actually be anything from a little faster to a
lot faster. It depends on all the same things mentioned above, and
others not mentioned.

If you are running any graphics or video applications you will likely
see a noticeable improvement when you use those. But, when those aren't
running, you may not notice much improvement in other programs, or some
others, or all others.

The key is to find out whether and how much your pagefile is being used
and when. Ideally the size of your pagefile will be nearly constant and
fairly small but never nothing. It will always be in use, even when
it's not needed.
There are lots of free monitors available that will let you watch
your pagefile and to see what it's doing. Perhaps someone will jump in
here with a URL; I don't seem to have one handy but Google will show
several of them. SourceForge and Sysinternals at MS I'm pretty sure
have decent pagefile monitors.

OTOH, RAM is so inexpensive these days it wouldn't hurt to go to a Gig
right away. XP loves a Gig of RAM. More than 1 Gig doesn't usually help
much unless you're an intensive user. Eve if you don't need it now, it
might be very useful tomorrow when you install that greatest app on
earth<g>.
Your 768 of RAM would be in the same boat, but not as forward looking
as a Gig of RAM and may or may not be enough.
Basically, you can't have too much RAM but on the other hand, you can
waste money on RAM you don't need. More RAM won't hurt; though it may
not help either. Thus my previous comments about the pagefile use being
a good indicator to use.

For RAM information and pricing I've found crucial.com to be an
excellent starting point. They even have an access feature that can
look at your current RAM and advise which RAM sticks are the ones you
need for your machine. They also answer queries from visitors.
Excellent site, IMO. Lots of other places exist too but IMO are not as
thorough as crucial is.

HTH

Twayne

 

[Gerry]

Whether you will see any improvement will depend on the extent which the
system presently makes use of the pagefile. There is no automatic
presumption that it will improve system performance as some of your
replies suggest. Memory also may not be a bottleneck.

What is the CPU speed?

How much RAM?

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?

You can get more accurate information on pagefile usage using
pagefilemon, a small freeware utility.

Use page file monitor to observe what is the peak usage. Start it to run
immediately after start-up and look at the log. Pagefilemon takes
snapshots. You need to run it at the beginning of the session at then
run it again at intervals throughout the sessions. The log is Pagefile
log.txt. If you right click on the file in Windows Explorer and select
Send to, Desktop (Create Shortcut). The same applies to
XP_PageFileMon.exe.

A small utility to monitor pagefile usage:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

Note that programs using undo features, particularly those associated
with graphics and photo editing, require large amounts of memory so if
you use this type of programme check these first observing how the page
usage increases when they start and whether the usage decreases when you
close the programme.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[tooh]

On XP Home Edition I have three slots on a Dell XPST550 with 512 MB memory
installed. I could add two new (256 MB) chips to go to768 MB. What would I
gain in performance?

 

[Ken Blake]

On XP Home Edition I have three slots on a Dell XPST550 with 512 MB
memory installed. I could add two new (256 MB) chips to go to768 MB. What
would I gain in performance?

Maybe nothing, maybe a little, maybe a lot.

How much memory you need when running XP depends on what apps you run, but
almost everyone needs an amount somewhere in the 256-512MB for decent
performance. For some people, for example those who edit large photographic
images, more than 512MB--even much more--can be required for good
performance.
If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory will
decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance. If you are
not using the page file significantly, more memory will do nothing for you.

Go to http://billsway.com/notes_public/winxp_tweaks/ and download
WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your page file usage. That should give you
a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how much more.

 

[Theslaz]

Maybe nothing, maybe a little, maybe a lot.

How much memory you need when running XP depends on what apps you run, but
almost everyone needs an amount somewhere in the 256-512MB for decent
performance. For some people, for example those who edit large photographic
images, more than 512MB--even much more--can be required for good
performance.
If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory will
decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance. If you are
not using the page file significantly, more memory will do nothing for you.

Go to http://billsway.com/notes_public/winxp_tweaks/ and download
WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your page file usage. That should give you
a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how much more.

If one determines that their page file usage is excessive. What is the
solution?

 

[Daave]

If one determines that their page file usage is excessive. What is the
solution?

Quoting Ken, "If you are currently using the page file significantly,
more memory will decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your
performance."

 

[Ken Blake]

If one determines that their page file usage is excessive. What is the
solution?

"Excessive" is a strange word for it, but, as I said, if the amount of
usage is significant (more than a very small number), adding more RAM will
eliminate or reduce it.

However, be very careful not to mix up page file usage with page file
allocation. It's *usage* that hurts performance, not allocation. Having a
big page file doesn't hurt you unless you are actively using it. Run the
program I recommended above to determine actual usage, not allocation.