m11x RAM query - is 2GB enough?

I ordered my m11x a couple of days ago from DELL whilst it was on a £120 discount offer. The computer has been configured with the Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor and a 320GB 7200rpm HDD, at the time of purchase i believed that 2GB of ram would be sufficient because from what i hear Windows 7 is better optimised than Vista only realising later that the 64 bit version installed would consume much of the RAM. Now, i don't know much about computers so i ask you all will fulfill my gaming needs? I intend to install the likes of Mass Effect 1+2, Dragon age, Bioshock 2 etc....

In the case of an upgrade, will the m11x support 1x1GB + 1x2GB sticks to boost the system to 3GB of RAM? Judging by the DELL support documents (

HTML:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/Alw_lp_M11x/en/mm/mm_en.pdf

p.63) the only possible ways the total memory can be configured is 2GB,4GB and 8GB.. this seems silly but it's something i'd also like clarified by someone unlike myself who knows that they're talking about.

I'd appreciate any replys - especially from those who already run the m11x on 2GB ram.

 

Err... M15x comes with options of 3gb, 4gb, 8 gb.

Heard from my friend that only same ram sticks support dual channel, not sure myself.

 

Bottom line with today's systems, I would stick with 4GB. Don't worry about it for now - purchase a 4GB kit (2x2GB) when the system arrives. You'll have your original 2x1GB sticks. Plop them in a box or give them away to a family member.

 

For RAM it's best to have matching pairs from a single kit, example being 2x2GB or 1x1GB or 2x4GB. True that Windows 7 is more optimized than Vista but for gaming you'll definitely want to go with 4GB minimum since me sitting here just surfing the web has already used up 25% of my 4GB and installing games will cost me about 85% total usage. Your configuration will be 1x1GB so if you want 4GB you'll have to get a new kit or you can add your own single 2Gb for a total of 3GB, but I don't recommend that since it could cause performance issues. Hope this helps.

@denogun, OP said M11x, not M15x

 

I'd definetely upgrade to 4GB if you get the opportunity.

But whether 2GB is enough really depends on your usage.

I'm still running 2GB on 64-bit Win7 but I feel the strain at times. Some games, particularly Dragon Age Origins that you mentioned, will use up a lot of RAM. When I stop playing DAO, sometimes it takes over a minute for my laptop to recover and start working properly.

On the other hand, I'm still running all my games fine. It's definetely a lot better than it was when I was using Vista. The only downside seems to be that my system does chug at times when exiting games, and sometimes during games while it's moving stuff onto the page file to free up more RAM.

Still, I'd recommend 4GB if you can get it. My 2GB does make multitasking while playing games very hard; I generally have to close everything (apart from iTunes and HWMonitor) before running a game.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I generally never multitask while gaming opting to close all non-essential programmes beforehand. I'll definitely consider purchasing 2x2gb sticks at the cost of £114.. an additional cost of £34, a costly mistake but i'm less upset due to the savings i made on the offer.

 

I was in the same dilema when choosing the ram £80 is a lot for an extra 2gb, but decided to fork out for more in the end after researching 2 vs 4gb for a while. In games framerates are usually increased by a fraction but the main benefits are the greatly reduced loading times like evilc mentioned.

 

consider keeping them for your guarantee.