Another one for the techies - Memory upgrades

[EvilPie]

I've decided that 3 pcs which I use are all running too slow and are in need of a bit of a boost.

I've been looking at the cost of memory upgrades and this seems a fairly cheap and easy place to start.

I've been on a memory website that scans your pc and tells you what you have and how much you can potentially install.

My question is regarding where to get memory from.

Are all memory chips of the same spec the same?

If I got a 256bit 2Gb memory chip for £20 is it likely to be the same as one from somewhere else which is £30?

Will there be speed differences at all? Will one be manufactured to last longer?

Also any recommendations on where to buy from?

Cheers

[Longines]

If you're OCD about PC gaming then RAM speeds matter, otherwise it's irrelvant.

Buy from www.crucial.com/uk. Free delivery, lifetime warranty, free returns if you use their scan-and-suggest tool and it's not the right spec.

[EvilPie]

If you're OCD about PC gaming then RAM speeds matter, otherwise it's irrelvant.

Buy from www.crucial.com/uk. Free delivery, lifetime warranty, free returns if you use their scan-and-suggest tool and it's not the right spec.

There's no games on any of them but lots of programs including AutoCAD on 2 of them.

Crucial was the one I went to for the scan thing.

[Longines]

RAM speed won't make a difference to CAD programs; you just need a lot of it. Do you have 64bit versions of Windows? If not then you're limited to less than 4GB RAM.

Another option; consider changing your hard disk to a SSD. My current laptop has one and it just flies.

[EvilPie]

Hard disk changes seem a bit of a hassle tbh. Do you have to reinstall loads of stuff including windows?

I'm not great with this sort of thing but I think I can plug in a RAM chip.

So the 128bit / 256bit thing is the speed and if I'm not playing games that won't make a difference?

2 of the machines are 32 bit windows versions and it told me I could only have 4GB on those.

If I just put the max possible RAM in every machine will I see a difference in pc performance?

[Longines]

Hard disk changes seem a bit of a hassle tbh. Do you have to reinstall loads of stuff including windows?

Yes.

So the 128bit / 256bit thing is the speed and if I'm not playing games that won't make a difference?

RAM speed is usually quoted like this:
PC2-5300
PC3-8500
PC3-10600

The bit after the dash is the speed. There will be a virtually unnoticable difference running -8500 instead of -10600. Not sure where you're getting 128bit/256bit from?

2 of the machines are 32 bit windows versions and it told me I could only have 4GB on those.

That will be because that PC hardware was only designed to cope with a maximum of 4GB.

If I just put the max possible RAM in every machine will I see a difference in pc performance?

Depends. If RAM is currently a bottleneck then yes. If it isn't then no. What versions of Windows are you running?

[EvilPie]

Sorry my bad. It was 128 or 256 Meg x 64. Nothing to do with bits. Oops.

DDR2 PC2-5300 • CL=5 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR2-667 • 1.8V • 256Meg x 64 •   •  Part #: CT519120

That's the suggested 4GB kit for the PC I'm on now.

It currently has 1GB which is 2 x 512 and is a machine that runs CAD.

2 machines run XP, the other vista. The vista one says it can take 8GB.

Is there a way of finding out if RAM is a bottleneck?

Thanks for all your help by the way.

[StuartHopkin]

I used to mess about with RAM and stuff on our work computers, never saw a huge difference in anything.

PC's are so cheap now that your best just buying new ones if its more than 2 years old.

[outragous76]

I used to mess about with RAM and stuff on our work computers, never saw a huge difference in anything.

PC's are so cheap now that your best just buying new ones if its more than 2 years old.

this

[EvilPie]

I used to mess about with RAM and stuff on our work computers, never saw a huge difference in anything.

PC's are so cheap now that your best just buying new ones if its more than 2 years old.

Yeah I thought about that possibility.

It's £42 for 4GB of RAM though so I thought it was perhaps worth a try.

[smashedagain]

I used to mess about with RAM and stuff on our work computers, never saw a huge difference in anything.

PC's are so cheap now that your best just buying new ones if its more than 2 years old.

Yeah I thought about that possibility.

It's £42 for 4GB of RAM though so I thought it was perhaps worth a try.

put the £42 towards the new machine.
  [ ] i am an expert

[millidonk]

I used to mess about with RAM and stuff on our work computers, never saw a huge difference in anything.

PC's are so cheap now that your best just buying new ones if its more than 2 years old.

Yeah I thought about that possibility.

It's £42 for 4GB of RAM though so I thought it was perhaps worth a try.

put the £42 towards the new machine.
  [ ] i am an expert

Saw this going for £45 down the market. A lil out of your price range atm.

[Graham C]

I'd have thought going from 1gb of RAM to 4gb would be quite noticable.   Going from 4gb to 8gb, maybe not so noticable (although I may be wrong).  I'd buy the RAM if you don't really want a new computer, £42 is a lot cheaper than £400-500+ or whatever you want to spend on a new one.

[ ] I am an expert too

[Longines]

It currently has 1GB which is 2 x 512 and is a machine that runs CAD.

Yikes. Surprised it works at all.

http://www.whiz-tech.com/guides/ram.htm shows how to check how much RAM is currently in use on Vista and XP. I'm going to guess the Peak figure on your CAD machine is waaay over 1000000 i.e. it would like to use way more than 1GB if it had the chance.

When RAM gets really low Windows can automatically start to use part of the hard disk as extra RAM. This is stupendously and unbelievably slow. If that is happening then you'll hear the hard disk spinning like crazy for minutes on end and be able to make cups of tea while you wait for screens to refresh. In this scenario additional RAM will make a *huge* difference to performance. Even if yours hasn't quite reached this stage yet, taking the 1GB machine to 4GB should be noticeably quicker.

PS The fact your PC takes DDR2 RAM and not DDR3 shows it's relatively old technology so there's a good chance the processor will be fairly slow by modern standards as well, in which case Sturart's advice is spot on.

[Paullie_D]

Sorry my bad. It was 128 or 256 Meg x 64. Nothing to do with bits. Oops.

DDR2 PC2-5300 • CL=5 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR2-667 • 1.8V • 256Meg x 64 •   •  Part #: CT519120

That's the suggested 4GB kit for the PC I'm on now.

It currently has 1GB which is 2 x 512 and is a machine that runs CAD.

2 machines run XP, the other vista. The vista one says it can take 8GB.

Is there a way of finding out if RAM is a bottleneck?

Thanks for all your help by the way.

I can't tell from all that above but unless you are running the 64-bit version of Vista the PC can't use more than 4GB of whatever memory you might install.