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    Do You Need More Than 1GB of RAM?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by jh225, Jan 8, 2007.

  1. jh225

    jh225 Notebook Guru

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    Looking to get a 17" (HP or Dell) and was trying to determine if more than 1GB of RAM would be needed on a normal use laptop?

    Browsing, DVD watching, MS programs, light CAD, light gaming.

    HP uses the 7600 video card and dell is the x1400
     
    jh225, Jan 8, 2007
    #1
  2. Budding

    Budding Notebook Virtuoso

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    If you run XP, 1GB is good. If you run Vista, you'll need all the RAM you can get.
     
    Budding, Jan 8, 2007
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  3. otaku

    otaku Notebook Deity

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    1gig running xp should be fine I've rarely used more than that, vista will require more for sure
     
    otaku, Jan 8, 2007
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  4. count_schemula

    count_schemula Notebook Deity

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    Vista def wants 2GB. It seems to handle memory totally different than XP does.

    If you have a video card that uses shared memory, that could come into play.

    If "Browsing, DVD watching, MS programs, light CAD, light gaming" is true, then 1GB is fine. Try to get one 1GB stick if possible, but it might not be cost effective.
     
    count_schemula, Jan 8, 2007
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  5. rockharder

    rockharder Notebook Evangelist

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    XP Pro need 1GB. But I run everything fine in Linux with 512MB including 3D desktop Aero glass effect. :)
     
    rockharder, Jan 8, 2007
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  6. FenderP

    FenderP Notebook Deity

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    Normal usage, not really.

    I use 3GB in my laptop and even that is a bit low for me. I couldn't justify the cost going to 4GB.
     
    FenderP, Jan 8, 2007
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  7. Sleepy Guy

    Sleepy Guy Notebook Guru

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    1GB should be fine. Only gaming and video editing apps really require large amounts of ram. XP will run on 512 or even 256MB but you will be doing allot of waiting.

    Vista is a memory hog but I would bet money that you can run it on 1GB ram just you might miss out on the eye candy.

    Ok, on my new XPS 1710 with 2gb I am using 1415432 to my suprise with word, firefox (120mb at 15 tabs), itunes, excel, msn, and the dell install package (norton and all). I was surprised to see that but then my page files is 600mb.

    OMG 15% CPU constant usage. I guess the dell standard build is really that bad.
     
    Sleepy Guy, Jan 8, 2007
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  8. usapatriot

    usapatriot Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    I have 2gigs of mine and I run XP Home, but its mainly for gaming.
     
    usapatriot, Jan 8, 2007
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  9. jh225

    jh225 Notebook Guru

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    OK, so if Vista is going to need more RAM, does that mean that RAM prices will be coming way down or that custom builds will now start offering more RAM from the get go?

    I was going to order this weekend, but I have no problem waiting.
     
    jh225, Jan 8, 2007
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  10. wojtek_pl

    wojtek_pl Notebook Consultant

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    Yes, I do. Company Of Heroes alone needs more than 1 GB... I guess I'll have to upgrade some time... :)
     
    wojtek_pl, Jan 9, 2007
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  11. JM

    JM Mr. Misanthrope NBR Reviewer

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    Very true.

    I was working on a dv1000 that only had 256MB of RAM for nearly 2 years on XP, and man did I do a lot of waiting...

    >_<

    But, with XP, 512 should be fine. 1GB would be best.

    I agree that Vista needs AT LEAST 1GB of RAM to work well, preferably 2GB.
     
    JM, Jan 9, 2007
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  12. dietcokefiend

    dietcokefiend DietGreenTeaFiend

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    256MB in Windows XP will work, but have severe ram<>paging memory swapping issues. Moving up to 512MB will all but take care of that for most things up to intensive gaming. 1gb is nice, but you rarely will even top that. The only things that really use a ton of ram are photo/video editing, along with some CAD work, but if you do only light work like you said, you might not even use over 512MB of ram at a given time.

    Vista will probably make 1gb the sweet spot, but much more over that, who knows.
     
    dietcokefiend, Jan 9, 2007
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  13. skywalker

    skywalker Business Notebook FTW!!

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    For now 1GB is reqiured in order XP could run smoothly.
     
    skywalker, Jan 9, 2007
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  14. HM88

    HM88 Notebook Consultant

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    Sometimes I do :D
     
    HM88, Jan 9, 2007
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  15. boon27

    boon27 Notebook Evangelist

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    hehe, I still use 1gb of ram for playing current release games except fps.

    been using 1gb for few years in windows xp,I don't want less and don't need more.
     
    boon27, Jan 9, 2007
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  16. cosmic ac

    cosmic ac Notebook Consultant

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    Ram cost are cut in half about once a year you could consider using one gig now and upgrading later. http://www.freegeek.org would love to have your old ram
     
    cosmic ac, Jan 10, 2007
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  17. roor

    roor Notebook Deity

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    i went from 512 to 2gigs and it was a big jump. so much faster. photoshop loads so quick now. i'm glad i made the decision to 2 gigs instead of 1
     
    roor, Jan 10, 2007
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  18. flensr

    flensr Notebook Enthusiast

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    I had 1 gig ram and ran out while doing photo editing images from a 6mp digital camera using photoshop. Upgrading to 2 gig fixed that.
     
    flensr, Jan 10, 2007
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  19. saleen_mustang

    saleen_mustang Notebook Consultant

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    My dad 's new computer is 1gb athlon 3800 x2, radeon x1650 pro 512 mb and it runs fear almost at max. Also you do not need 1 gig to run xp smoothly. 256 can run xp laright and 512 is smooth. The computer we jsut had was 512.
     
    saleen_mustang, Jan 10, 2007
    #19