Help with adding RAM to my new laptop.

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  1. Posts : 7,730
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
       #11

    whs said:
    More RAM means you're not using the pagefile so much
    With 4GBs of RAM, the pagefile is only used by some very special programs. That btw. is the same with 8GBs of RAM. Those programs do not use the pagefile because there is not enough available RAM, but for other reasons. With normal processing, the pagefile is never used.

    The best performance boost these days is upgrading to a SSD.
    SSDs are gereat for general performance increase. Games, however, generally do not acces the disk very often. So even an SSD will not buy a lot. Best boost for games is a fast CPU, a super graphics card and fast RAM.
    Can't argue on that one Wolfgang as I never use games. :)

    Thanks for putting me right.
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  2. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #12

    So you have plenty of RAM, don't you.
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  3. Posts : 2,606
    Windows 7 Pro X64 SP1
       #13

    HS5964 said:
    Ok, so there's not any speed ratings or anything like that when it comes to RAM? Just get some that fits and it's plug and play?

    Thanks for the reply.
    1333 is a speed rating. (PC-10667).

    I agree with the other posters that going to 8GB may not help much, if gaming is your purpose.

    On the other hand, for less than $50....
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  4. Posts : 12
    Windows 7 64 bit, home premium
    Thread Starter
       #14

    whs said:
    I really doubt it. Do the following - when you run a game, look into Resource Monitor > Memory tab. That will show you on the colored bar how much RAM is being used. You will probably be amazed how little that is.
    I did as you said, and I dunno, I may be reading the info incorrectly, but with my game running (Along with all my other normal programs), it seems as if the system is using up a little more than 3/4's of the total ram. Now keep in mind, even with all my programs and the game running at one time, it was running smooooooooth as butter with all the graphics at max settings. I'm posting up a screen shot of Resource Manager both with the game running, and without the game running. Tell me what y'all think.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Help with adding RAM to my new laptop.-ram.jpg   Help with adding RAM to my new laptop.-ram2.jpg  
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  5. Posts : 10,994
    Win 7 Pro 64-bit
       #15

    The snips of your resource monitor show over 3GB RAM in use while the game is running and a bit less than 1.5GB when it's not. The thing about Windows 7 is it's much better at utilizing available RAM compared to previous operating systems. RAM is always faster than a pagefile/virtual memory running on a mechanical hard drive so if RAM is available, 7 will use it. If you upgrade to 8GB, it wouldn't surprise me if RAM usage remained pretty much the same.

    For me, the biggest advantage to upgrading now is the low prices on RAM and making sure your computer can handle more memory intensive games that are sure to come out in the not too distant future.
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  6. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #16

    As Lee says, if you want to plan for the future, an upgrade may be OK. But for the time being you are fine. 8GB would provide more RAM for caching, but that is not such a big deal.

    Considering that the RAM upgrade would cost you around $50 and an SSD is $100, I would rather go for the SSD. That would give you a lot more overall benefits.
      My Computer


 
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