2GB DDR2 to a 4GB DDR2 - what's the diff?

Hi guys, just wanna know does upgrading from 2GB DDR2 RAM to a 4GB make any difference? Does it help processing power in any way or better loading and stuff? I'm currently lagging out in my games (especially FPS ones) so I'm wondering if adding another 2GBs of RAM will change that.

 

Upgrading from 2 to 4 GBs of RAM will most likely have zero to little impact on framerates. RAM helps overall system speed as it reduces the need for the computer to access the hard drive.

 

Your lagging because you have a weak graphics card.

 

Right. So what will be noticeable after the upgrade though? Faster program start-up? Or a bigger cache for programs - reducing load times?

 

I actually can run my games quite smoothly when it starts but it tends to lag after a while during play (maybe 5-10 minutes later) and it gets a little aggravating. I'm not so sure if it's because my graphics card is overheating or it's because the memory getting moved all around is not at its optimal best.

 

Well... check. Are you using over 2GB of memory while playing? Upgrading my ram actually did help my fps when i used to play world of warcraft... this might have been because of addons?

 

Well I opened the Task Manager and the memory used seems to be around the 500-700 MB range, but I'm on Vista and I don't know if it's a task for my laptop to run both at the same time.

BTW, the game in question isn't even a massive one like Crysis - it's only F.E.A.R.

 

I've played crysis and I noticed that 4gb will give you significantly more frame rates than 2gb. When I played with 2gb, there was lots of hard drive action. But when I played with 4gb, there was no hard action. I think hard drive movement is a good indicator of whether you need ram or not.

 

only task manager while playing fear and see how much ram you are using.

 

As someone already mentioned, slowdowns in performance after a certain time is a strong sign of overheating. The 2GB RAM that you now have should be more than sufficient for gaming as most requirements don't go over 2GB.

 

What should I do if I find the graphics card is overheating? Does that usually happen to laptops? I only see performance slowdowns when I play FPS games - when I'm on Spore or Sims 2, there's no slowdown at all.

 

Take procedures to cool it... Cooler, arctic silver..

 

Ah sounds like your laptop isnt cooling anything properly. Acers are known for this. Maybe after monitoring your temps you might need to buy a notebook cooler with fans on it to help cool the laptop down.

 

There are a couple of suggestions along with what has already been said, namely:
- clean it out for dust
- apply HQ thermal compound such as AS5
- use a cooler
- defrag your hard disk
- keep your laptop on an incline to give the underside better air circulation

 

I've read up on Arctic Silver, but where do I get it (can it be bought in your standard computer store) and how do I apply it onto my laptop insides?

I actually have a cooler, but I doubt it's helping a lot. I did try keeping my laptop on an incline though - that was when the laptop last lagged during Blu-Ray playback. It helped, but I can't imagine having to prop up a book underneath it every time I want to play a game or watch a Blu-Ray disc. CPU overheat much?