WindowsXP Pro and RAM

[Michael D. Alligood]

There are some that say anything past 512 is a waste. I am not sure about
that. In my opinion, with the cost of RAM pretty cheap today if you have the
means to upgrade, by all means... Gaming is the major reason individuals max
their RAM.

--
Best of luck!

Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCP, CCNA, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW A, CIW CI

 

[BRH]

My WindowsXP Pro system presently has 640 Megs of PC2100 RAM installed
and seems to be running fine.

In an effort to tweak the last bit of speed out of a slightly aging
system (Epox 8Kha+ motherboard), I'm wondering whether upgrading the RAM
to 1Gig of PC3200 RAM would be worthwhile.

The system is used for just about everything -- gaming, web-surfing,
finances, digital photography, burning home videos to DVD's etc.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Jim Macklin]

Adding PC3200 would be a waste, it will only run as fast as
the mobo will allow. To upgrade, consider a new CPU or
video card upgrade. More RAM won't make it faster unless
you are using more than the 640 now.


--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.


"BRH @comcast.net>" <"bhoenig<no-spam> wrote in message
| My WindowsXP Pro system presently has 640 Megs of PC2100
RAM installed
| and seems to be running fine.
|
| In an effort to tweak the last bit of speed out of a
slightly aging
| system (Epox 8Kha+ motherboard), I'm wondering whether
upgrading the RAM
| to 1Gig of PC3200 RAM would be worthwhile.
|
| The system is used for just about everything -- gaming,
web-surfing,
| finances, digital photography, burning home videos to
DVD's etc.
|
| Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
|
| Thanks.
|

 

[Ken Blake]

My WindowsXP Pro system presently has 640 Megs of PC2100 RAM
installed

and seems to be running fine.

In an effort to tweak the last bit of speed out of a slightly aging
system (Epox 8Kha+ motherboard), I'm wondering whether upgrading the
RAM to 1Gig of PC3200 RAM would be worthwhile.

There is no answer to this question that's right for everyone.
Despite what some people may tell you, the only correct answer is
"it depends."

Additional memory provides a benefit only to the extent that it
keeps you from using the page file. With 640MB, you may already
have more RAM than you need, and any more will do nothing for
you. How much memory *you* need depends on what apps you run, but
almost everyone needs at least 256MB for decent performance. For
some people, for example those who edit large photographic
images, more than 256MB--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. Go to
http://billsway.com/notes_public/winxp_tweaks/ and download
WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That
should give you a good idea of whether more memory can help, and
if so, how much more.

 

[Alex Nichol]

My WindowsXP Pro system presently has 640 Megs of PC2100 RAM installed
and seems to be running fine.

In an effort to tweak the last bit of speed out of a slightly aging
system (Epox 8Kha+ motherboard), I'm wondering whether upgrading the RAM
to 1Gig of PC3200 RAM would be worthwhile.

It all depends on *your* workload, but my guess would be a marginal
improvement if any. See my page www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm and use
the tool linked from the 'How big a page file' section to see how much
*actual* use of the file you make in practice under normal load for you.
If only 20 MB or so, adding RAM will do nothing (the system 'parks' a
bit in the file anyway). If more - say 100MB - that suggests a little
more RAM than that - ie to 768MB - would be of some help. But don't
expect a spectacular improvement even then