RAM question.

T

TimeLady

I currently have 2 x 512MB RAM but would like to upgrade to 2 x 2GB, running
PC Doctor which lists all the hardware on the computer says I can take upto
4GB yet running Crucial (sp) scanner it says I can only have a max of 2GB,
which amount should I accept?

Win XP sp 3, fully patched.

Thanks in advance,
Time Lady.
 
B

Bod

TimeLady said:
I currently have 2 x 512MB RAM but would like to upgrade to 2 x 2GB,
running PC Doctor which lists all the hardware on the computer says I
can take upto 4GB yet running Crucial (sp) scanner it says I can only
have a max of 2GB, which amount should I accept?

Win XP sp 3, fully patched.

Thanks in advance,
Time Lady.
Click to expand...

Although,technically,XP will accept 4gb,it normally only uses 3gb(for
some strange reason).

I assume that PC Doctor is just telling you that your system(XP) is
capable,your motherboard might not accept it though.

I would rather trust Crucials 2gb assessment myself.I've never known
Crucial to get their assessment wrong before.

Bod
 
B

Brian A.

I currently have 2 x 512MB RAM but would like to upgrade to 2 x 2GB,
running PC Doctor which lists all the hardware on the computer says I can
take upto 4GB yet running Crucial (sp) scanner it says I can only have a
max of 2GB, which amount should I accept?

Win XP sp 3, fully patched.

Thanks in advance,
Time Lady.
Click to expand...

Providing us with the manufacturer and exact make/model of your PC would
better help us help you. Personally if it were me, PC Doctor would have
been in the trash before it was ever out of its packaging. The best place
to get the correct and proper information would be from the documentation
provided with the PC or the PC manufacturers support site.

--

Brian A. Sesko
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
 
S

Singapore Computer Service

Hello,

It depends on the motherboard. What motherboard are you using?

You can use CPU-Z to identify your motherboard -
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php - run the program, go to the Mainboard tab and
tell us the information under Motherboard Manufacturer, Model and Chipset.

If it is a branded one like Dell or Lenovo, tell us the model number of the
PC as well.
__
http://www.bootstrike.com/ComputerService/
Singapore Computer Home Remote On-Site Repair Service
http://www.bootstrike.com/VHSVideoConvert/
Video Conversion VHS Video8 Hi8 Digital8 MiniDv NTSC PAL
 
B

Bod

Singapore said:
Hello,

It depends on the motherboard. What motherboard are you using?

You can use CPU-Z to identify your motherboard -
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php - run the program, go to the Mainboard tab and
tell us the information under Motherboard Manufacturer, Model and Chipset.

If it is a branded one like Dell or Lenovo, tell us the model number of the
PC as well.
__
http://www.bootstrike.com/ComputerService/
Singapore Computer Home Remote On-Site Repair Service
http://www.bootstrike.com/VHSVideoConvert/
Video Conversion VHS Video8 Hi8 Digital8 MiniDv NTSC PAL
Click to expand...
I think you'll find that a Crucial scan checks the motherboard from a
known database.So the Crucial assessment will be correct by stating that
only 2gb is the most the m/board will take.

Bod
 
N

Nate Grossman

Bod said:
Although,technically,XP will accept 4gb,it normally only uses 3gb(for
some strange reason).
Click to expand...

It uses ALL 4GB. Some of that 4GB is reserved ONLY for system use.
The remainder is available for applications.
 
J

John John - MVP

Nate said:
It uses ALL 4GB. Some of that 4GB is reserved ONLY for system use.
The remainder is available for applications.
Click to expand...

No, because some of the addressing space under the 4GB barrier is
reserved for other hardware addressing it *cannot* use all of the 4GB,
some of the RAM is without address space and is unusable.

John
 
T

TimeLady

Brian A. said:
Providing us with the manufacturer and exact make/model of your PC would
better help us help you. Personally if it were me, PC Doctor would have
been in the trash before it was ever out of its packaging. The best place
to get the correct and proper information would be from the documentation
provided with the PC or the PC manufacturers support site.

--

Brian A. Sesko
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
Click to expand...

Second user system so no documentation, comp is HP Pavilion 3.6 GHz, came
with PC Doctor installed, comp has Recovery partition.

TL.
 
K

Ken Blake, MVP

I currently have 2 x 512MB RAM but would like to upgrade to 2 x 2GB,
Click to expand...


Why?

How much RAM you need for good performance is *not* a
one-size-fits-all situation. It depends on what apps you run. You get
good performance if the amount of RAM you have keeps you from using
the page file, and that depends on what apps you run. Most people
running a typical range of business applications find that somewhere
around 512MB works well, others need more. Almost anyone will see poor
performance with less than 256MB. Some people, particularly those
doing things like editing large photographic images, can see a
performance boost by adding even more than 512MB--sometimes much more.

Only rarely will going above 1GB in Windows XP improve things. What
apps do you run?

running
PC Doctor which lists all the hardware on the computer says I can take upto
4GB yet running Crucial (sp) scanner it says I can only have a max of 2GB,
which amount should I accept?
Click to expand...


I can't tell you how much RAM your motherboard will accept, but here's
the situation with regard to Windows:

All 32-bit client versions of Windows (not just Vista/XP) have a 4GB
address space. That's the theoretical upper limit beyond which you can
not go.

But you can't use the entire 4GB of address space. Even though you
have a 4GB address space, you can only use *around* 3.1GB of RAM.
That's because some of that space is used by hardware and is not
available to the operating system and applications. The amount you can
use varies, depending on what hardware you have installed, but can
range from as little as 2GB to as much as 3.5GB. It's usually around
3.1GB.

Note that the hardware is using the address *space*, not the actual
RAM itself. The rest of the RAM goes unused because there is no
address space to map it to.
 
B

Brian A.

Still not enough info, HP has many different Pavilion models, hence the
reason of asking for "exact" make/model. Select your model (Series) on the
page and it will take to a page with the documents and downloads for that
model.
http://h20180.www2.hp.com/apps/Nav?..._client=S-A-R163-1&h_page=hpcom&lang=en&cc=us

or if the link wraps/breaks: http://tinyurl.com/38ofql

--

Brian A. Sesko
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
 
U

Unknown

Why do you continue with this same erroneous statement. The hardware
uses both address space AND actual Ram. If the CD is run via DMA
actual RAM is being used.
 
B

Bruce Chambers

TimeLady said:
I currently have 2 x 512MB RAM but would like to upgrade to 2 x 2GB,
running PC Doctor which lists all the hardware on the computer says I
can take upto 4GB yet running Crucial (sp) scanner it says I can only
have a max of 2GB, which amount should I accept?
Click to expand...


You should heed Crucial's advice. You should also get rid of PC
Doctor; like most applications of its ilk, it's little better than snake
oil.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
 
T

TimeLady

Ken Blake said:
Why?

How much RAM you need for good performance is *not* a
one-size-fits-all situation. It depends on what apps you run. You get
good performance if the amount of RAM you have keeps you from using
the page file, and that depends on what apps you run. Most people
running a typical range of business applications find that somewhere
around 512MB works well, others need more. Almost anyone will see poor
performance with less than 256MB. Some people, particularly those
doing things like editing large photographic images, can see a
performance boost by adding even more than 512MB--sometimes much more.

Only rarely will going above 1GB in Windows XP improve things. What
apps do you run?




I can't tell you how much RAM your motherboard will accept, but here's
the situation with regard to Windows:

All 32-bit client versions of Windows (not just Vista/XP) have a 4GB
address space. That's the theoretical upper limit beyond which you can
not go.

But you can't use the entire 4GB of address space. Even though you
have a 4GB address space, you can only use *around* 3.1GB of RAM.
That's because some of that space is used by hardware and is not
available to the operating system and applications. The amount you can
use varies, depending on what hardware you have installed, but can
range from as little as 2GB to as much as 3.5GB. It's usually around
3.1GB.

Note that the hardware is using the address *space*, not the actual
RAM itself. The rest of the RAM goes unused because there is no
address space to map it to.
Click to expand...

I wish to have more RAM due to the computer slowing down & sometimes the cpu
is at 100%.

TL.
 
T

TimeLady

Brian A. said:
Still not enough info, HP has many different Pavilion models, hence the
reason of asking for "exact" make/model. Select your model (Series) on
the page and it will take to a page with the documents and downloads for
that model.
http://h20180.www2.hp.com/apps/Nav?..._client=S-A-R163-1&h_page=hpcom&lang=en&cc=us

or if the link wraps/breaks: http://tinyurl.com/38ofql

--

Brian A. Sesko
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
Click to expand...

Model EG 761AA-ABU which isn't listed, have searched recently on the site &
my model is no longer listed nor can I find any downloads there.

TL.
 
D

dennis

Unknown said:
Why do you continue with this same erroneous statement. The hardware
uses both address space AND actual Ram. If the CD is run via DMA
actual RAM is being used.
Click to expand...

He is not talking about DMA, he is talking about MMIO.
 
K

Ken Blake, MVP

I wish to have more RAM due to the computer slowing down
Click to expand...


You haven't given us nearly enough information to tell you why the
computer is slowing down, and you haven't replied to my question "What
apps do you run?"

If the computer is slowing down, a factor *could* be your not having
enough RAM, but my first guess would be malware infection. What
anti-virus and anti-spyware programs do you run? Are they kept up to
date.

& sometimes the cpu
is at 100%.
Click to expand...


Not having enough RAM will *not* make the CPU run at 100%. Getting
more RAM will not solve that problem. If it's at 100%, it is very
likely that my above guess about malware infection is correct.
 
B

Brian A.

I currently have 2 x 512MB RAM but would like to upgrade to 2 x 2GB,
Model EG 761AA-ABU which isn't listed, have searched recently on the site
& my model is no longer listed nor can I find any downloads there.

TL.
Click to expand...

Is this it?
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/prodinfoCategory?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=1162706

If it is the specs are here:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...01&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=1162706&lang=en


--

Brian A. Sesko
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Similar Threads

Added more RAM but not all is listed on My Computer > Properties 14
Ram limit on motherboard ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA 4
USB Camera and Scanner Show Problems in Device Manager 3
Laptop RAM specs/compatibility 4
Ram for Toshiba notebook A100-331 2
which ram for Toshiba Equium A100 - 331? 2
XP Ram Question 10
Laptop memory upgrade 2

Top