Going from 2GB to 3GB RAM

How do I know if I would benefit by going from 2GB to 3GB RAM? I have C2D T9600 2.8 GHz, Mobility Radeon HD 3470, 500GB 7K HD. Mostly used for playing old games (2002 or older), Internet, Engineering software (Visual Studio, Verilog, VHDL, EE CAD, Matlab, Mathematica), Blu-ray movies, DVD ripping, Microsoft Office and Visio.

I have Win XP SP3. The new RAM is actually 4GB but since I have 32bit OS, I could only use about 3GB out of 4GB. I won't upgrade to Win 7 anytime soon because I just don't like the GUI and stuffs.

 

Maybe open a few of the programs that you use and then check task manager to see how much ram you have free.

If you are using all of your ram, you should upgrade.

If you are using a lot of your ram, try to find some software to log the amount of ram being used and see if you ever max it out.

I guess if you never use all of your ram then you wouldn't need to upgrade.

 

I think that CAD and Visual Studio would benefit from the extra 1GB...

 

I agree here

Although what Moral Hazard says is right too - if you never max it out...

On the other hand, if those programmes have their own temp file...
Photoshop CS might not max it out, but will benefit from more RAM as it will use its own temp file...

 

You can also use eboostr4 to use your "unusable" ram so you can fully utilize the 4GB ram that you(ll) have.

 

Yeah, open up all of your programs you would normally use at once, open some large files, and check your available RAM. If it's close to 0, upgrade. If not, it'll likely be a waste.

I have a hard time getting XP here at work to use up more than 1gig, actually. Even with multiple large drawings open in AutoCAD. 3D models are another matter entirely, though. I can start paging to disk before the model even opens!

 

Is it not a problem if you mix and match the modules? 1x1Gb and 1x2Gb and from a different manufacturer?

 

I upgraded my ram from 2 gigs to 3. I didn't notice it during cod4. First I didnt plug it in correctly and only had 1gig, which I did notice, but the diference between 2 or 3 is maybe like 1-2 seconds when I try to boot siw.
To answer the question about different manufacturers, my 1 gig ram is from hyundai electronics, the second one is from an unknown manufacturer (got it at replacedirect.com). And it works fine so I doubt it matters. Just make sure you buy the correct ram (ddr2: 667 mhz or 800 mhz, ddr3: 1064 or1333 mhz, and so on)

 

Shouldn't be a problem in modern chipsets.

Maybe there is a tiny loss in performance, but nothing you'd notice.

 

Yes, technically, it should not be a problem. Most RAM modules sold are able to work with most other modules without an issue in almost any system (given the RAM modules have the same, base 'specs').

Because I need to depend on my machines as much as possible, I have always bought 2 identical sodimm modules, removed the original RAM, tested the machine overnight with the new modules and MEMTEST or lately IntelBurn Test and once passed (to my satisfaction), I simply sell off the old RAM.

What does this ensure (hopefully!)?

First, that there will not be any incompatibilities between modules that may show up as random crashes. Especially when I'm able to source matched 'kits'.

Second, that any benefit of dual channel memory is operating at the highest level possible for my chipset/motherboard solution. This may provide up to 10% performance difference, but usually more like 5%. Note this is not an overall performance difference, just for the Memory subsystem.

For me, those two reasons above are enough to go through the trouble of buying two modules and selling off the old. YMMV.


BTW, those same tests I run on brand new systems too, to ensure the new computer is as stable as I need.

See:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/IntelBurnTest-v2.3-download-2047.html

 

get 4GB of ram... it will help for sure... also if u can , get windows 7 ...it will run way faster than xp... and if u don't like the GUI , u can easily change to a windows xp like GUI...