My Little Victory with a Technological Toy

[SW_PA_Couple]

For years I have been annoyed with the slowness of response of this desk-top computer. I would not have perceived a problem was I not exposed to other computers such as those I use at the office. But I'm thinking, so what, the company can afford bigger and better computers. Somebody says, get DSL. So I get DSL. No improvement. Somebody else says, get FiOS. So I get FioS. At first I think it's better... Then I admit to myself, no improvement.

Then somebody else again says, "Get more memory." At first I think he's referring to my growing propensity for searching for things I had ten minutes before. But what he is suggesting is that I buy DIMMs (dual in-line memory modules). Seemed like just another in a long list of poor advice. Then yet another person again says the same. So I buy DIMMs, two gigabyte worth, and stick them in.

Wow! What a difference. This desk-top formerly required twelve minutes to get cranked up after I turned it on. I sometimes waited twenty seconds for an e-mail message to appear or a Web page to assemble. Only sixty seconds are now required for start-up. Web pages assemble nearly instantaneously. The hard disk drive no longer rattles all of the time.

If I had known it was going to be this much better, I would have done it a long time ago.

~Michael

[VegasLee]

If you think two gigabyte worth is fun, you should try EIGHT. That gets real exciting.

[BiloxiCouple]

Originally Posted by VegasLee

If you think two gigabyte worth is fun, you should try EIGHT. That gets real exciting.

So bigger is better?

[SW_PA_Couple]

Originally Posted by BiloxiCouple

So bigger is better?

Oh, gee, great. Now I'm going to develop memory envy.

[warrencouple]

Yeah, RAM upgrades are a good way to get some better performance out of a PC. Truthfully, a RAM upgrade is about the best "bang for the buck," and on a normal home PC, can get you a couple more years of life, before a new PC might be needed.

Now, we need to get you to building your own PC from parts!

As for how much to upgrade the RAM, I'd say, it depends on your OS.

Win XP - 2-3GB
Win Vista (32-bit) - 2-3 GB
Win Vista (64-bit) - 4GB +

Or, the max your system will support. The reason for not going crazy in most machines, is, the OS won't address over a certain amount of RAM, so a 32-bit OS (XP, most Vista) won't be able to use RAM over 4GB. But, it's really less than that that it can use, as some of that addressing space gets taken up by other stuff, such as the memory in your video adapter.

One way to picture it, is the RAM is a small file card box. Any and all memory MUST go in the file box. So, in the case of a 32-bit OS, the file box can hold up to 4GB of RAM. But, as I said, the video adapters built-in memory (if it has any, some use the system RAM) also has to go in the file box.

A 64-bit OS (not common on machines over about 2 years old, and needs to be explicitly ordered even today) can address far more. How much more, depends on the OS. Vista Ultimate (64-bit) can address up to 128GB of RAM. Good luck, though, finding a system that will let you plug that much RAM into it!

(Yes, I'm a geek, deal... )

VegasLee is right, though, a PC with 8GB is fun!

Jason

[NCfuncouple98]

We bought a brand new desktop for our kids, and while we ordered it with Windows XP it was right at the time that Vista became standard on all Dell's. Unbeknownst to us, it arrived with Vista. (UGH, a whole nother thread required on that one!). We doubled the RAM. It was better, still slow. So we bought more. Much better. But I agree with Vegas Lee here, in this case bigger is better. We are now looking to upgrade it once again! The computer itself is less than 2 years old, great processor, etc. It just requires more RAM to run that God-awful Vista program!!!

[fun4Ds]

Who uses Windows 7 ?

[warrencouple]

Originally Posted by fun4Ds

Who uses Windows 7 ?

I'm actually planning on loading the RTM on my laptop at some point, probably today...

I'm pretty much certainly going to be loading it when it comes out, got in on the pre-order deal for 7Pro, going to put that on my main PC.

Jason

[SW_PA_Couple]

Originally Posted by warrencouple

VegasLee is right, though, a PC with 8GB is fun!

It's a Dell Dimension 4600. There are a sufficient number of slots to accommodate four 1 GB DIMMs. But it would not have been effective to fill all four. The Windows XP would only be able to address about 3.2 GB. And the video adapter does reserve some of the addressable range. I did not shuffle the original SIMMs into the unoccupied slots as I am made to understanding that no RAM on a particular bus will go any faster than the slowest memory you stick in a slot.

This afternoon I discovered that Google Earth moves really quickly -- very much improved in its three-dimensional mode and when it assembles real-looking buildings.

[sweet_tna]

Hmm . . . might have to consider doing that for our pc. Then again, it should probably be replaced, as it dates back to the Pentiolithic era.

Glad a techno-recommendation finally worked out for you!

=)

[slevin]

I have been running Win7 for quite a while now; it really runs great. It uses less resources than Vista (bit less ram, bit easier on the processor) and there are a bunch of small seeming UI changes that I really miss when I use an XP or Vista machine. If you haven't seen it I definitely suggest getting it rather than Vista or XP when upgrading/updating.