Is it worth it? (Buying 2GB of RAM)

Hello, I currently own an HP Pavillion dv5110us. Here are my specs:

OS: Windows XP SP3 (x86)
CPU: Mobile AMD Sempron(tm) Processor 3000+, MMX, 3dNow, ~1.8GHz
RAM: 512MB
GPU: ATi Radeon Xpress 200M Series
VRAM (Shared): 128MB
Resolution: 1280 x 800 (32 bit) (60Hz)

Now I have a problem. You see, taking away 128mb from my RAM for my video card really kills me! I have a feeling that running off of 384mb of RAM is quite bad. So I've been looking around, and I found some RAM on eBay, the exact kind I need (SODIMM PC2700 DDR 333) for about $60 (includes s/h).

My question to all: Is this really worth it? How big of an increase in speed will I see? I can run games like The Sims 2 on all the highest settings, but it really lags. I can play games like Rigs of Rods just fine, but it lags really bad.

So if I got this 2gb of RAM, would I definitely see a difference in speed? 1920mb of RAM compared to 384mb? I'm not just a gamer, I'm also a person who uses photoshop at home, and it's really slow at times and even goes as far as to lock up my mouse and keyboard!

Thanks for your help, if you need anymore information let me know.

~~CL69~~

 

If you could get 2.5Gb+ that would be even better. But you will see a nice speed improvement from 512->2GB+.What OS do you have though? Do you have XP,vista or 7? Is it X86 or X64?

 

You don't say which OS you are running, so I'll presume it's XP. But 512MB is indeed pretty low, especially if your video is borrowing 128MB. More memory will DEFINITELY improve all-around performance. But I can't tell you that Sims2 will run x% faster or anything.

If you're leery of ebay, newegg's got a bunch of PC2700 DDR sodimm's for under $40 (shipping included), but they are only 1GB.

 

I am currently running on Windows XP SP3 X86.

But my laptop only supports 2GB, which is stated on the official HP website. Max for each slot is 1GB.

 

You definitely need to upgrade

 

You would see a massive improvement, I think. Best thing to do would be to buy a new notebook as that one seems rather old at his point, but if you can't pay for a new one, that upgrade should be enough.

And wow, you are the first person to join the forums in 2010 as far as I know.

 

It says He registered in 09 for me. I would upgrade to 2gb ram but I don't know how much game performance increase you would see. Your system will run faster for sure.

First person I've seen registered from Covina, CA. I grew up in Covina.

 

Yes!! multitasking will be so much faster, and I know that 2 Gb is the max for your system but I wouldnt even bother going higher cause of 32bit limitations. Adding ram is a great upgrade and yes it is worth it!

 

Thanks for the great responses guys, now I know that buying this upgrade is a good choice. =D

Also, I am dead broke. I just recently got $50 for Christmas, and I already had $10, so this is a once in a lifetime kind of thing for me. Hell, I would love a new laptop! But my Mom/Dad would absolutely flip if I asked them for another one, because just a year and a half ago this was $400 at the pawn shop! And the original starting price was $750! So yeah...It'll have to do for me as long as it can last. And yes, it was given to me for free...Another reason they would flip.

 

pretty pricey for used, the ram should increase some performance, mainly memory intensive apps is where you will see the improvement.

 

Well, there has been a huge change of events. OK, so I was supposed to get this $145 Gateway E-4500 over in Sun City tomorrow, but my mom was really concerned about how its so far and that the guy wanted me to go down there to check out the computer (not implying he's a weirdo or anything) but instead she gave me her Gateway GM5470E =D

But...I have to give up the laptop. Oh well, it's been a good run. Now I just need to figure out how to transfer all of my files without the use of USB ports...they're broken

Well, I finally get to have a new computer. I appreciate everyone's time and help here!

~~CL69~~

 

If your Ethernet port works, you can make a shared folder on your new computer and move the files via Network to the folder (or open up the entire drive for reading and writing, so you can move files to certain places on the new computer. If you have a Wireless Router, you can use the Wi-Fi connection, but its roughly half the speed of 100Mbps ethernet.

Or just get a crossover cable for 10 dollars.