Ram Size

Which is the optimum RAM SIZE to enhance performances of an oldish PC (still Pentium 4- clock speed 1.7 GHz). Currently I have a 256 MB RAM on it.
Which are the other factors to take into account to enhance performances?
Thanks in advance.

 

If your running XP i'd say 1GB is enough if your using any heavy duty apps such as PS..

 

GENERALLY - You can increase performance by installing more ram and a faster HDD....but I dont know what you can do for that computer..!!
Do a clean install, if system has bloatware installed, defragment the HDD every fortnight and cleanup the registry every week....
Goto www.memoryx.com or www.crucial.com and run a scan on the system to check how much ram it can take..!!
Or download PC Wizard 2008 or Everest Pro....and they will also give you an idea of how much ram that system can hold....

 

The optimum RAM size depends on the operating system;

XP runs best with 1GB while Vista runs best with 2GB.

 

I would agree with 1 gig, as there is nothing else much you can do with that PC. What are you planning to use on that computer? Is it a notebook?

 

Well if it's old and you don't mind voiding your warranty you can put a slight overclock to it. Just watch your temps.

 

I'd say filling its maximum capacity would be optimal . It wouldn't hurt to take it apart and clean out any old dirt and dust. Consider upgrading the hard drive, as others said, if you really want to invest that much money into an old system.

Consider using nLite (or vLite) to remove unneeded services from the Windows install cd, then fresh install. You could hunt around for processor upgrades that would work in your machine.

The most significant thing you can do to keep a well running computer is to use it wisely. Don't load it up with trash from the net.

 

Having 1gb of memory is fine with XP, but it is beneficial to have 2Gb or whatever your laptop maxxes out in memory, so you can run those more demanding processes.
The adobe CS3 suite can use over 1gb of memory, so if you are into that kind of stuff than the more ram the faster your system will run.

However if your harddrive is slow, it would be more beneficial to upgrade the harddrive than the memory.

K-TRON