RAM Chips and Video Card

[New Orleans Novice]

Hi ,

Re: RAM Chips and Video Card

How do you determine when to purchase more hardware in XP Home?

The Kernel Memory shows 54256 total. The Kernel Memory Pages shows 33460
while watching Foxnews Video: http://www.foxnews.com/video2/

The CPU 2.6 Ghz runs up to 75% - 100% most times while watching Video on IE
7.x.

How do you determine when you need to add more RAM chips or a Video card?
This PRESARIO S5100NX has 512RAM with onboard Video. The taskmgr shows
Physical Memory: 515608. When watching VIDEO on IE 7.x the Available memory
gets down to 65000.

If I buy more hardware, Video Card with 256MB and more RAM; 1024 that should
help it. But my main question is by watching TaskMgr how do you know when
the Memory is used up so much you need to buy more RAM?

Regards,

Novice in New Orleans, Louisiana, Enjoy Your Gumbo

COMPAQ PRESARIO S5100NX
XP Home; Service Pak 2
2.6 Ghz; 60 GIG HD
512 Ram, Wireless DSL
Creative Labs Audigy SE

 

[Bob I]

I would go for the video card first, as that will help with handling
video content AND free up current RAM.

 

[John]

Hi ,

Re: RAM Chips and Video Card

How do you determine when to purchase more hardware in XP Home?

The Kernel Memory shows 54256 total. The Kernel Memory Pages shows 33460
while watching Foxnews Video: http://www.foxnews.com/video2/

The CPU 2.6 Ghz runs up to 75% - 100% most times while watching Video on IE
7.x.

How do you determine when you need to add more RAM chips or a Video card?
This PRESARIO S5100NX has 512RAM with onboard Video. The taskmgr shows
Physical Memory: 515608. When watching VIDEO on IE 7.x the Available memory
gets down to 65000.

If I buy more hardware, Video Card with 256MB and more RAM; 1024 that should
help it. But my main question is by watching TaskMgr how do you know when
the Memory is used up so much you need to buy more RAM?

Regards,

Novice in New Orleans, Louisiana, Enjoy Your Gumbo

COMPAQ PRESARIO S5100NX
XP Home; Service Pak 2
2.6 Ghz; 60 GIG HD
512 Ram, Wireless DSL
Creative Labs Audigy SE

Since you have on board graphics which uses your RAM, I would inclined
to add more RAM first.

John.

 

[smlunatick]

Hi ,

Re: RAM Chips and Video Card

How do you determine when to purchase more hardware in XP Home?

The Kernel Memory shows 54256 total.  The Kernel Memory Pages shows 33460
while watching Foxnews Video:http://www.foxnews.com/video2/

The CPU 2.6 Ghz runs up to 75% - 100% most times while watching Video on IE
7.x.

How do you determine when you need to add more RAM chips or a Video card?
This PRESARIO S5100NX has 512RAM with onboard Video.  The taskmgr shows
Physical Memory: 515608.  When watching VIDEO on IE 7.x the Available memory
gets down to 65000.

If I buy more hardware, Video Card with 256MB and more RAM; 1024 that should
help it.  But my main question is by watching TaskMgr how do you know when
the Memory is used up so much you need to buy more RAM?

Regards,

Novice in New Orleans, Louisiana, Enjoy Your Gumbo

COMPAQ PRESARIO S5100NX
XP Home; Service Pak 2
2.6 Ghz; 60 GIG HD
512 Ram, Wireless DSL
Creative Labs Audigy SE

The best method to determine when is whenever you get fustrated too
often. The more you find that XP is choking on what you do usually,
then you need to consider adding component. You need to prioritize
the upgrades so that you do not spend too much.

Recommendation for priority upgrades:

1) RAM -- More RAM will help to run you applications better. 512MB
seems small nowadays.

2) Video card -- new technology and more video ram will help to
display more of the Windows porgrams on your monitor (better
resolution.)

3) Hard drive -- 60GB is considered a small hard drive. If you are
having trouble saving files, consider replacing the hard drive with a
large on.


Also, you must also consider the cost of any / all of the upgrades
first. If this will cause a price that it is greater than buying a
new PC, then buy a new PC.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi ,

Re: RAM Chips and Video Card

How do you determine when to purchase more hardware in XP Home?

The Kernel Memory shows 54256 total. The Kernel Memory Pages shows 33460
while watching Foxnews Video: http://www.foxnews.com/video2/

The CPU 2.6 Ghz runs up to 75% - 100% most times while watching Video on IE
7.x.

How do you determine when you need to add more RAM chips or a Video card?
This PRESARIO S5100NX has 512RAM with onboard Video. The taskmgr shows
Physical Memory: 515608. When watching VIDEO on IE 7.x the Available memory
gets down to 65000.

If I buy more hardware, Video Card with 256MB and more RAM; 1024 that should
help it. But my main question is by watching TaskMgr how do you know when
the Memory is used up so much you need to buy more RAM?

First, note that the memory being "used up" is never the issue.
Wanting to minimize the amount of memory Windows uses is a
counterproductive desire. Windows is designed to use all, or nearly
all, of your memory, all the time, and that's good not bad. Free
memory is wasted memory. You paid for it all and shouldn't want to see
any of it wasted.

Windows works hard to find a use for all the memory you have all the
time. For example if your apps don't need some of it, it will use that
part for caching, then give it back when your apps later need it. In
this way Windows keeps all your memory working for you all the time.

The issue with memory is minimizing the use (but don't mix up use with
just allocation) of the page file. If you are using the page file
substantially, that will negatively impact your performance. Page file
use comes about when you don't have enough RAM. The easiest way to
monitor page file use is with Bill James Page File Monitor. You can
get that at
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

If that shows substantial page file use, adding more RAM will improve
your performance. If it's doesn't, adding more RAM will do very little
for you.

Regarding the video card, except for those playing computer games, the
speed of the video isn't terribly important. The amount of RAM on the
video card can be significant if you want to run at a higher
resolution or color depth than your present card supports. Otherwise a
new video card will do next to nothing for you.

 

[New Orleans Novice]

Does this YouTube Video have a hidden bug?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsn2mADGmUo

While watching YouTube Video, does your PC run slow? Slower? Is it
YouTube? Or this one Video below? Or my PC? Or XP Home?

Watching Video slows it to a crawl. But 1024MEG memory is all it will hold.

When watching YouTube video it makes it worse. I watched this Video over
and over as a test then it would slow the CUP. What happends to yoru PC
when you watch YouTube video?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsn2mADGmUo

I added 512MB more RAM Chips and a new 256MB PNY VIdeo Card but it slows
with YouTube. You have a solution?

Novice in New Orleans, Louisiana, Enjoy Your Gumbo

COMPAQ PRESARIO S5100NX
2.6 Ghz; 60 GIG HD
512 Ram, Wireless DSL
Creative Labs Audigy SE

 

[New Orleans Novice]

I added a PNY 256MB. Thanks.

I would go for the video card first, as that will help with handling video
content AND free up current RAM.

 

[New Orleans Novice]

I added 1024MEG Crucial Ram. Thanks.

Since you have on board graphics which uses your RAM, I would inclined to
add more RAM first.

John.

 

[New Orleans Novice]

I ordered a new PC with Vista. Thanks.

 

[John]

I ordered a new PC with Vista. Thanks.

Now your troubles are really going to start.

John.