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    Anybody running Vista with 1GB RAM?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by dtownash, Nov 9, 2006.

  1. dtownash

    dtownash Notebook Enthusiast

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    How's it handle?

    how much RAM do you use on average?

    I've heard that running Vista with anything less than 2GB RAM is going to mean you won't get "as fast as possible operation of the OS." Is there any truth to this or is 1GB enough RAM?
     
    dtownash, Nov 9, 2006
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  2. Gautam

    Gautam election 2008 NBR Reviewer

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    Not true - Vista ran fine for me with 1GB of ram (I have a 2.0 ghz Pentium M-Centrino). I also briefly upgraded to RC1 and tested with 1.5GB (current spec) of ram. Of course, 2GB would be the best.
     
    Gautam, Nov 9, 2006
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  3. dtownash

    dtownash Notebook Enthusiast

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    How much RAM did you consume on "regular average" when running Vista? I consume about 200MB on average with my xp Pro.
     
    dtownash, Nov 9, 2006
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  4. Gautam

    Gautam election 2008 NBR Reviewer

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    Hmm...don't remember the physical memory values. I do remember that I only had at max about 35 processes, and the CPU usage never really shot up beyond 10% for normal tasks (email, web browsing, watching dvds, listening to music, etc). I know that doesn't help you much. I was never into benchmarking that much. I can tell you however, that RC1 deals with memory a lot better than Beta 2, and presumably RC2 would improve on RC1.

    You should be just fine running Vista with 1GB of RAM. If you have two sticks used, and want to upgrade your RAM, you can get a 1GB cheap for less than 60$ if you do the right searches. Then you can sell off the old 512 on eBay and make back a bit of the cash you just spent.
     
    Gautam, Nov 9, 2006
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  5. ed22

    ed22 Notebook Consultant

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    With 896MB RAM, Vista RC2 used between 44 to 55% of physical memory, with no programs running.
     
    ed22, Nov 9, 2006
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  6. mobius1aic

    mobius1aic Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    God ****. Vista is even more of a hog than I previously thought.
     
    mobius1aic, Nov 9, 2006
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  7. azntiger1000

    azntiger1000 Notebook Deity

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    Yea it's pretty bad right now. I too had the RC2 and then my computer has 1gb ram and high 400 and low 500mb of ram was used.
     
    azntiger1000, Nov 21, 2006
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  8. dtownash

    dtownash Notebook Enthusiast

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    My XP pro uses 175MB RAM at idle with no programs on startup.

    So I can expect Vista to use around 500MB RAM at idle with no programs starting at bootup? Anybody have an exact number?
     
    dtownash, Nov 21, 2006
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  9. miner

    miner Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Yeah, pretty much. It takes a bit more when loading the startup services but it settles down to about 450 - 500MB.
    [​IMG]

    It goes down a bit to around ~415MB if I close the windows Sidebar which is by default set to run at startup.
     
    miner, Nov 21, 2006
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  10. Jumper

    Jumper Notebook Deity

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    51 processes? Please tell me you had stuff running...
     
    Jumper, Nov 21, 2006
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  11. miner

    miner Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    I didnt have too much stuff running. The only thing other than the taskmanager was the windows sidebar+quicklaunch buttons. A clean Vista installation if I remember correctly had ~40 processess running.
     
    miner, Nov 21, 2006
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  12. saleen_mustang

    saleen_mustang Notebook Consultant

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    Wtf you guys have vista? I thought it comes out in january
     
    saleen_mustang, Nov 21, 2006
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  13. NetBrakr

    NetBrakr Notebook Deity

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    They are running Windows Vista RC1 or w/e beta edition.

    JC
     
    NetBrakr, Nov 21, 2006
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  14. Teranfirbt

    Teranfirbt Notebook Consultant

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    on my desktop Vista runs 42 processes on startup using 500 megs of ram.
     
    Teranfirbt, Nov 21, 2006
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  15. shinji257

    shinji257 Notebook Deity

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    I installed Vista RTM (yes I have legit access) and I had approx 48 processes running. This was with the sidebar and the task manager running. It also reported approx 43% memory consumption. I need to reinstall since I screwed up the last time and I will let you know for sure later on. I have 1GB ram.
     
    shinji257, Nov 21, 2006
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  16. dtownash

    dtownash Notebook Enthusiast

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    Miner, how did you post a picture of your Task Manager? I'm curious as to how one goes about doing that?
     
    dtownash, Nov 21, 2006
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  17. dtownash

    dtownash Notebook Enthusiast

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    Anybody know if Vista uses the same amount of RAM at idle no matter your total RAM? For example, does Vista use 1GB RAM on idle if I have 2GB total RAM but only 500MB RAM if I have 1GB total system RAM?

    Basic question: will one get faster response/performance from Vista with 2GB RAM even if one can run all his processes while using less than 1GB RAM?
     
    dtownash, Nov 21, 2006
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  18. shinji257

    shinji257 Notebook Deity

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    Vista's memory consumption should not go up when you upgrade to 2GB. A friend install Vista RTM as well and he has 2GB. It showed approx 25% memory consumption on his system.
     
    shinji257, Nov 21, 2006
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  19. Gator

    Gator Go Gators!

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    See this is what you get when Microsoft's programmers start adding their autobiographies to the kernel...in BCD...
     
    Gator, Nov 21, 2006
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  20. JadedRaverLA

    JadedRaverLA Notebook Deity

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    The amount of memory being used by Vista at idle is somewhat dependent on how much memory you have available, along with other factors. To keep the comparison even, I have IE7 running on 2 different machines, and very similar software installations on both. Right now I have Task manager up on a desktop with 1 GB RAM and it is using 653 MB, and on my notebook with 2 GB RAM which is using 865 MB. On both systems, almost all the remaining memory is being used as cache. Oh yeah, and the desktop shows 54 processes running, the notebook 53.
     
    JadedRaverLA, Nov 21, 2006
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  21. miner

    miner Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Vista Home Premium & above(I think, not too sure) have a new Snipping tool program which makes taking screenshots of the desktop with any programs very easy. Although I must say it wasnt too hard in Win XP either.
     
    miner, Nov 22, 2006
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  22. dtownash

    dtownash Notebook Enthusiast

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    How do you do it in XP?
     
    dtownash, Nov 22, 2006
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  23. LFC

    LFC Ex-NBR

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    Printscreen button, then open up Paint or whatever you use then paste.
     
    LFC, Nov 22, 2006
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  24. valohim6

    valohim6 Notebook Enthusiast

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    is it not a good idea to run vista on a lptop if you are a heavy gamer?
     
    valohim6, Nov 22, 2006
    #24