Memory

It's getting close to that time where I'm due to upgrade my computer again.

What do you think is the best size memory to get? 1GB? 2GB? More?

I'll be using XP. I don't want to spend money buying memory I don't need ... but don't want to scrimp by not getting enough.

Any advice please?

Broccoli

Well, I can tell you that Windows XP (32 bit version) only handles up to 4 Gigabytes of RAM.

So max the mutha out!!!

Computer memory, or credit card?

I don't have an infinite amount of cash to spend, so if 2GB is going to give me a 1% performance increase of 1GB, then I'll stick with 1GB... however if it's going to give me a 75% increase over 1GB then I'll go for 2. make sense?

Broccoli

go 2gig ram you'll notice way less swaps and grind noise and shouldnt be much of a price diffrence from 1-2gig ram, heck 4gig (2x204 is cheap now -.- moving over to ddr3 i guess prob why it fell so much this summer.

32bit windows do have 4gig max, but due to swap/bios/ect/stuff it will usually be 3.2-3.75gig, never 4098mb (4gig)

Dont get why they bothered making a vista 32bit 4gig ram in vista is like going back to 512 mb on a xp install, it eats ram and 4gig is highly recommended for it. (ok some motherboards can make it 36bit so they use itty bitty more ram but still -.-, 4gig+ is 64bit recommended )

You can never have enough ram : p my old 486 had 96 mb ram!

Mine had 16. That was an upgrade from 4. I still have the 256kb memory modules somewhere when I first got it with 1MB.

My first ever computer in 1981 had a 1K on board memory.

Broccoli

If you don't do a lot of other stuff while SL is going, 1GB should be a happy number.

If you're also running Poser or Photoshop or something else that is memory intensive while you have SL going, more would be better.

I tend to run quite a lot at once with SL, depending on what I'm doing, and don't really notice any big slowdowns or bouts of disc activity, with 768mb.

Broccoli

We must have very different settings then. If I load MSVC or something while SL is going, I get tons of disk activity when switching between apps.

Maybe I misunderstood the original question.

Simply "can I get away with 1GB or would 2GB be better, as I don't want to spend money I don't need to.

Broccoli

/me sees a typo in her 1st post above and fixes "If you don't do a lot of other stuff while SL is going, 2GB should be a happy number." to be "...1GB should be a happy number."




Sounds like you've got enough already.

If you want to turn up the settings in SL or maybe run other things on the machine at the same time, I'll stand by my original (corrected) comment.

for XP 3Gb is plenty unless you use stuffs like after effect or final cut which are designed to be able to handle more ram.

All your other programs are capped to a 2Gb memory allocation so one program will never go over 2Gb, 3gb give you room for all the small bits that run in the background

Do you want to minimize your immediate cost or your long term cost?

To minimize immediate cost, 1GB is fine. However, eventually you will need more memory and will need to upgrade to 2 or 4GB. Unless you plan ahead, every time you upgrade you have to replace the memory chips you bought earlier (because we generally buy the cheapest way to get what we want, which is filling all the slots with the lowest density modules, all of which we have to toss when we upgrade).

To minimize long-term costs, it's usually best to max out the memory. This extends the life of a computer at least a year or two (or more, from the minimum memory which is 512M these days -- definitely not enough already.)

Note that there are two ways to get memory. One is to get a computer with the memory already installed. The other way is to minimize the memory in the computer you buy and get memory on-line. Ask your friendly neighborhood nerd to help you pick out the right memory modules (make sure they have a lifetime warranty, from a reputable manufacturer). The nerd should do this for cookies or tea and a pat on the back, or a nice smile from the opposite sex. If you don't have one handy, post back and we can help (same price!)

Last time I looked at higher-end laptops, it saved as much as $400 to buy the unit with minimum memory and get memory on-line versus getting it loaded. This was for a laptop in the $1500 range for 512M memory, from brands like Sony, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Dell, and a few other majors. Things may be more competitive for desktops.

Also note that there is an in-between plan. Buy the computer with minumum memory, and fill half the slots with the largest modules. Later you'll be able to double the memory by filling the other modules with the same part. Make a note of the part you ordered, because usually you want all the modules to match. Furthermore, memory prices tend to go down, so this can be the cheapest option in the long run. But this is NOT what you'll get if you just order the computer with half the maximum amount of memory. They'll fill the slots with lower density modules.

HTH

One gig will do you fine. I ran it for a long time and could run The GIMP, open my browser (IE) and only notice a small performance hit. I hear you on the price..........I just upgraded my RAM to 1.5 gigs. I only have two DRR2 slots (and two DDR slots........but you can't mix them) and I had two 512 meg cards installed. So my choice was spend 200 USD for two new cards to get 2 gigs or spend 100 USD and get one and replace one of the 512 cards with a gig card. I did the latter........I have seen an increase in performance over the gig. But I'm not going to BS you and tell you I got a 50% increase......more like 20%. Using the "alt-cntrl-del" trick and clicking on "performance" I now get about 40% CPU usage where I used to get about 52 or 53% (P4 dual core, 3 gig processor). Memory usage used to hang around 800 megs and now runs about 600 megs (I guess that's because of the not having to swap to the HD so much).

I would say if you are 768 megs now, you should see a nice performance boost..........nothing spectacular but a noticable improvement.

I'm quite sure that the board/processor speed increase is likely to provide more of a noticeable performance boost, but it sounds like probably 2GB is going to be easier - and I can put another 2GB in at a later date if necessary.

I'll just go into PC World (yes I'm UK based), find a techie guy, and say "heres £300" ($600), I need a new board, good processor, fan, and 2GB of memory, help me; bat my eyelids and see what they come up with. This will, however, be after the payday at the end of this month

Broccoli

Hihi youre in UK, id recommend http://www.komplett.co.uk

4 gig ddr2-6400 - £152.00
2 gig ddr2-6400 - £74.00
2 gig pc3200 - £68.00

But you could get a decent upgrade to from them, memory right now is at a all time low \o/

2 gig ram - £58.00 | (4 gig ram comparrison(2x204 £161.00))
e6600 cpu - £140.01
abit pb9 motherboard - £72.00

would cost you = 212.01£


you would want a new vid card tho, a 8800 320mb card ~ £220 , why id recommend a 8800 card?, just cause they are very silent and fast , no i mean its reallly quiet compared to the old fan types noisy O_o

You would probably need a powersupply/case (450-500watt pref), ati's x2900 card is a powerbeast why i wouldnt recommend it, and its not very quiet either (ok so i like pc's not sounding like a helicopter -.-)

I already have a 256mb AGP graphics card that is more than adequate for the purpose, as is the soundcard - but I think you might be right about needing a new PSU as well. Might just be easier to get a new case all in one.

Broccoli

AGP doesnt fit 99% of the new motherboards ~.~

Only one i know of that has agp 8x is am2 , dont think any core2duo ones have them left.

Hmm I'll have to check that; part of the eyelid battering in PC World I guess. Much easier to get someone to recommend a matching set for me.

Broccoli

If you are looking for an incremental upgrade, go for 2GB memory. If you are only looking for a stop gap, save your money and update key components, MB, memory, GC, CPU all together. Seriously, forget PC World, most of their techie guys are failed Big Mac floor cleaners, use Dabs.com

Shameless plug for a site I love to shop at for PC Parts:

www.newegg.com

Ok things didn't quite go to plan.

Seems that no new motherboards come with AGP slots, so once I'd done all my calculating of costs, with a decent new graphics card it was just less hassle to just buy a complete new box - with Vista already installed saving me $100 in a year or so anyway.

I only went for a 1GB memory at the moment as I was spending about $400 more than I really wanted to; it is an easy upgrade after all.

ADVENT T9408 DESKTOP PC

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E4300
1.8GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2MB Cache
Genuine Windows Vista(TM) Home Premium
1024MB RAM Memory
320GB Hard Drive
Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer Drive
128MB nVidia GeForce 7100GS Graphics
8-In-1 Media Card Reader
6 USB Connections

Upgrded Nvidia Geforce 7600GT (256mb) PCI-Express graphics card

Around $1000.

I spent a lot of time with the tech guys working out to make sure it would run Second Life (after all, the main reason I wanted to upgrade) because of Vista, and it worked perfectly first time.

The biggest hassle was setting up the modem so I could get online. Quite the quandary when Windows asks you if you want to go online to search for new drivers for the modem that you can't get online with because you don't have new drivers. Thankfully I was just able to download the ISP setup software from their website and stick it on a memory stick to run it.

I'm now patching World of Warcraft, to see how that runs... but SL works great. I was getting 40fps on all settings enabled and draw distance 200.

Broccoli

Looks like you are set for the next six months....... until LL move the goalposts again and again....
I wouldn't throw away your copy of XP just yet lol...
Looks a good solid setup... GL with that.

So far everything runs very very nicely, and I hope that LL hurry up and make Second Life Vista compatible properly. I do still have my 'old PC' intact with XP running and will probably hook up my old monitor and run both together. With an 8mb broadband connection, there's plenty of capacity there.

Broccoli