More RAM doesn't always amount to better performance

i have 8 gigs of ram in here and all i use this for really is browsing the web and chatting tell you what i tell you i wouldnt go back down to four either way

disable your swapfile and you'll see how more ram is WAY better.

ive got 8 gigs... while it may be a little un necessary, ( i got 4gb dual channel free) i enjoy it.
I agree, you wont see much of a difference in a program, but when you are running multiple program's / processes, constantly, it definitely helps, at any given time i am running 6 different applications, that i am switching between very frequently. ... granted the multi core processors help this as well

TripOG said:

i have 8 gigs of ram in here and all i use this for really is browsing the web and chatting tell you what i tell you i wouldnt go back down to four either way

If that's all you are using your machine for -- well in another life I'd love to sell you Double Glazing or Life Insurance as I'd be RICH.

You could do your browsing on a 512MB netbook quite easily -- Web browsing is normally so I/O bound (even Video streaming) you could probably run your web browser totally in the CPU's Cache areas -- with Zero RAM for all the amount of processing required.

Internet browsing speed has very little to do with the amount of RAM in your system.

Hi The Tez
I did say one use for more RAM was if you want to run a LOT of concurrent applications -- but you need a LOT of concurrent apps to make use of much more than 4GB of RAM however do remember that most applications are currently 32 bit so you've still got "Adress mapping" translations to perform as the 32 bit apps won't see an address > 4GB.

Remember Windows is designed as a single USER system. On a Multi-user server type system where multiple users need their own "Address spaces" then RAM IS required as I posted previously.

Typically desktop single user applications (apart from some hi intensive graphical games / video editing) are so I/O bound anyway that even if you do incur an amount of paging you won't really notice it with the speed of modern processors. Most of the time your computer is just sitting there waiting for user input.

I still stand by my thesis that for MOST typical users increasing RAM significantly (especially much above 4GB) won't yield any significant performance gain whereas fast Disks most certainly will.

Future applications and computer architecture might well change this but as of the current state of the art in single user OS design I stand by the OP.

Cheers
jimbo

This topic neatly touches on something that bugs me:

After startup my RAM usage lies at about 30%. Once I start working (I use Solidworks, Rhinoceros, occasionally other CAD/CAM software) the RAM usage creeps up to about 55%. Usually, if possible rather, I only run one application at a time. Sometimes however it's necessary to flip between three or four and I notice a dip in performance.

So here's my question to all of you: would it be worthwhile to exchange my 2x1GB RAM modules with 2x2GB RAM modules? Some say yes, some say no. My mind tells me it'll be slightly better but not mindblowingly so... I'd like to get some opinions before I spend money.

Bear in mind I'm actually very satisfied with my laptop, it's just that nagging lag...

baarod said:

To be completely honest -- it's your apps. The folks that put them out think they are the hot stuff but really they are just bit players. When you assume too much then there you are.

You think you can be a bit clearer... 'cos I have no idea what your point is...

Ok... upgraded from 2GB to 4GB... lets see...