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    Memory question please help

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Nikkolas, Apr 29, 2009.

  1. Nikkolas

    Nikkolas Notebook Geek

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    hi all i have a general memory question converning toshiba a305s6916 and x83vb-x2 from asus both come with 4 gigs of ram and ive seen other systems that are upgradable to 8 gigs.

    My question since most laptops are vista 64bit is this is 4 gigs enough on a laptop with a dedicated video card for casual world of warcraft gaming some video and photo editing and small 3d rendering? or would i ever NEED to make sure i can upgrade the ram from 4 to 8? i mean on my desktop with 1 gig of ram i do all those things it takes a little longer but i can still do it.....and my desktop video card sucks please advise asap
    thanx
     
    Nikkolas, Apr 29, 2009
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  2. beige

    beige Notebook Deity

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    man i play WOW with medium settings on my HP DV5 , windows vista 32bit installed and only 4gb ram
    but don't forget to get a good video card like 9600m gt 512 mb
     
    beige, Apr 29, 2009
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  3. Nikkolas

    Nikkolas Notebook Geek

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    hey beige this toshiba has a dedicated 512 meg video card
    ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3650 which dv5 and how is it?

    Im also checking back here every 10-15 mins
     
    Nikkolas, Apr 29, 2009
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  4. jboy41

    jboy41 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Its hard to say when 8gb of ram will actually make a difference. For gaming memory isn't really going to help performance unless you dont have enough.
    Your graphics card is of course easily the most important and after that your processor.
    Also faster speed on your ram is more important for performance than size of your ram. For instance 667 vs 800 vs 1066 etc.
     
    jboy41, Apr 30, 2009
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  5. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Memory speed is a marketing gimmick. There is no difference in DDR2-667 and DDR2-800 and DDR3-1067 in real life performance. Going 2GB to 4GB would give you a noticeable difference in your tasks; however, 8GB is unnecessary.

    For day to day tasks, the biggest improvement you will see is investing in a SSD since the hard drive is the bottleneck in any system out there. You should get a mid level processor (P8600 to T9550 is around optimal price to performance ratio) for your photo/video editing and 3D work.

    Though some programs also take advantage of a good GPU (if you do serious work, consider a business machine w/ a Quadro or FireGL). The 3650 is a bit weaker than the 9600M GT (though it also depends on memory type: DDR2 or GDDR3). It should be fine for WoW though.
     
    sgogeta4, May 1, 2009
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