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    RAM problem, I think.

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by GRiNN, Oct 10, 2008.

  1. GRiNN

    GRiNN Newbie

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    Hey guys, I was told to come here because I've heard you guys are great with helping others out. I'm not really a computer genius, but I know a thing or two.
    Anyway, I just recently received my Lenovo T400 and I've noticed that my Memory usage never goes bellow 50%. I've cleaned up most of my computer and I just made some backup disks in case i wanted to get rid of all the ThinkVantage stuff (is that worth keeping, anyway?). My brother suggested that I install XP and see what the difference is, but I like Vista (don't hurt me) and besides, my desktop is XP and i like the change. Any advice on fixing this would really help.


    Here are my specs:

    Windows Vista Business 64bit
    P8600 @2.4ghz
    2 gigs of ddr3 ram
    ATi HD 3400
    250gig HD at 5,400 RPM
     
    GRiNN, Oct 10, 2008
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  2. Michel.K

    Michel.K 167WAISIQ

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    Welcome!

    What is the problem really?

    Vista uses ~50% of my ram too. But that's nothing bad, the memory should be used, or else it's just there being unused. Vista isn't like XP so don't compare memory-usage between the two.
     
    Michel.K, Oct 10, 2008
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  3. RedBeardedDevil

    RedBeardedDevil Notebook Consultant

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    Vista does use a LOT of ram, sometimes for seemingly nothing useful. A lot of built systems come with bloatware that really isn't useful, especially since most of it is trial based. You can probably request a copy of Vista from your builder and reinstall the OS and drivers. And you can turn off some services, etc. from running in the background that you don't need/use.
     
    RedBeardedDevil, Oct 10, 2008
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  4. nizzy1115

    nizzy1115 Notebook Prophet

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    Whats wrong with your ram being used? Its used to make everything you do faster. If its not being used its wasted.
     
    nizzy1115, Oct 10, 2008
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  5. GRiNN

    GRiNN Newbie

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    Thank you :)
    well i dont know, the problem is that i don't think i'm getting the same amount of performance as i should be. I recently bought CoD 4 and even on the lowest settings i'm still pushing about 20-40 MAX fps. However in Counter-Strike: Source i can easily get 60 fps with high settings and 2xAA and 4xAF. I figured that my lack of RAM available would be causing the problem, because my laptop's specs are more than adequate.
     
    GRiNN, Oct 10, 2008
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  6. Michel.K

    Michel.K 167WAISIQ

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    I think it's nothing wrong at all with your memory-usage to be honest!

    Performance won't drop that much with a smaller amount of ram, if you take out 1GB you should still have the same performance but instead it takes longer time to start up the games and load new maps etc. But the game-performance won't have anything to do with the memory-usage.

    Try using another set of drivers to your graphics card or chipset-drivers!
     
    Michel.K, Oct 10, 2008
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  7. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    go to the start orb, and go to the run command.
    Than type in msconfig
    From their you can shut off background processes in the startup and services tabs.
    That will help free your system resources up, so you are using less memory.
    If you are worried about memory usage, shut off aero, and your system will use like 400mb less memory. (I think the service is "windows vista operating system" )
    no joke, I would not tell you to shut off this if it werent true.
    This will shut off aero, and thus free up cpu, memory and gpu usage.

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Oct 10, 2008
    #7