questions about ram

[slimpickins]

i was thinking about getting some ram, i only have 512, i waqs wondering if there are different types of ram, also is it better to get 1gb or 2x 512, anyone have any reccomendations for good makes and bad makes

plus, is it just ram thats gona speed everything up or is it my prossesor, e.g when i increase pixels in paint shop once i go above 650 dpi it takes about 10 seconds and if i go upto 750 it can take 30 seconds to change, thats for a4 size pictures

lastly will it speed up the time it takes me to make backups of my dvd's

thanks for anyhelp

[redwudz]

Use CPU-Z to determine the speed, type and brand of your memory and try to use the same.

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Or you can unplug the computer and pull out your memory to identify it, though some brands have hard to read labels.

To answer some of the other questions, you would have to know the make and model of your motherboard. Different MBs use different configurations.

In general, you won't see much speed increase past 512MB. There will probably be a gain if you are using programs that hold large files in RAM when they are working with them. Photoshop, or probably PaintShop, is a good example. Or some CAD-CAM programs. For video encoding or transcoding, very little improvement. Some improvement possible for editing.

Your biggest speed improvement would be by increasing your CPU speed. Second, having more than one hard drive, preferably on different ATA channels. This helps when you are moving files back and forth between drives. Multiple partitions on the same drive don't help.

[slimpickins]

i have 2 harddrives, my computer has 3.4ghz, i guess theres no easy way to increase that, whats the best way to speed up your computer

[Denvers Dawgs]

I like crucial.com for RAM....it also, helps you to figure out what types and how much you specific computer can take/use

[JerryB]

i was thinking about getting some ram, i only have 512, i waqs wondering if there are different types of ram, also is it better to get 1gb or 2x 512, anyone have any reccomendations for good makes and bad makes

plus, is it just ram thats gona speed everything up or is it my prossesor, e.g when i increase pixels in paint shop once i go above 650 dpi it takes about 10 seconds and if i go upto 750 it can take 30 seconds to change, thats for a4 size pictures

lastly will it speed up the time it takes me to make backups of my dvd's

thanks for anyhelp

Hi,
Like redwudz and Denvers Dawgs are saying you use the same kind of ram that you presently have!!! and to me that a must othoerwise you can encounter some usual problems..

Now adding ram will help a lot with adobe and extremely large pictures..... it always better to work from your ram than from the hard drive (virtual memory)

I don't know what dpi figure your starting out but when you change to a much larger value..... you can expect it take longer to finish...!! remember the softwar has to recalucuate and reinterpolate all those pixals... smile... and it can take time..... but things can effect how long...

note: if your scnning it best to setup your high dpi for the scan than to later have the software try to do it....

another important factor is your graphic card....... a good card with lot of ram makes a difference

another important factor.. programs running in the background...... they eatup a lot of perforamnce and hence I generally disable them when I am doing a lot of editing of large
graphics or m ultimedia stuff....

keeping your hard drive defrag..... helps a lot......

Yes cpu is a factor, everything goes thru it... and the faster the cpu the better....

now colors...... don't know how important it is for you to have 16bit hi color or 24/32 bit hi color..... but the more colors you have your graphic card set up for... the longer the system will take to process thing.....

Hard drive..... the sata 2's 10k rpm, a lot of faster than the ata's

Now those are the basics of what can effect the overall performance of a machine.. since you ssettle with your present machine for awhile some things your not going to be able to change without bucks!!! .... probably the most likely tweaking of your system you can do (fairly cheap..smile) .. is disable programs running in the background, do defrag, maybe disable some services type program that running..... that shuld get you some performance increase, adding more ram will definitely help, although changing to 16 bit hi color cangive you a speed boost..however looks like to me you need tostay in 14 or 32 bit... if your there already..

Well those are my thoughts

[Doramius]

If you have dual channel RAM, you might see some improvement. I would try to keep the speed the same, though I don't think they affect each other in speed if they are on different channels (don't quote me on that). If it's dual channel you probably have 2 or 4 slots and they may even be marked in different colors. Check your MoBo manual to make sure which channel is which. Again, IF you have dual channel capability, a 512 in dimm 1 and a 512 in dimm 2 might show a bit of results you're looking for. If dual channel is not supported, you may not see much improvement. It'll depend on what programs are accessing the bulk of your RAM.

[slimpickins]

will ram speed up the time it takes to make back-up copies with a transcoder and what about dvd rebuilder with cce

[RabidDog]

Actually adding more RAM will def help. I recently went from 512mb to 1gb and now the PC responds faster. This probably becoz I have about 10 items running at the same time. AV, IE, FF, p2p, TV sched, shrink etc etc. But it will also help in photoshop and such like. Also backing up DVDs will be slightly faster. crucial.com have a free download program which scans and tells you what ram to buy, but it always recommends the most expensive option. Incidentally I am far happier with 1gb of ram @ pc2100 rather than 512mb @ pc2700

[slimpickins]

pc2100?, so if i take care of ram, i have 2 seperate hard drives, what else do u suggest

[slimpickins]

so, im at 512 now, do u recomend i spend 150pounds and get a 2gig ram card

[slimpickins]

http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.asp?Mfr%2BProductline=Dell%2BDimension+%2F+Dime...ries&submit=Go



this is the site that has all the different rams, are they all the same system

[slimpickins]

i have a dell dimension 8400, how do i know the maximum ram i am aloud, my computer has really been letting me down recently, its 15months old with no upgrades so she deserves some attention

[slimpickins]

i have a ddr2 512 mb on dual channels

[slimpickins]

pc3200 200mhz, im probably gona open a new thread to see what all this means

[slimpickins]

also, the pc3200, i think i have 2 of them cos 2of 4 slots are occupied, same info different serial numbers, does this mean i have dual processors

[Doramius]

i have a ddr2 512 mb on dual channels

I take this to mean you have a total of 1GB of RAM (2x512MB modules) 1 is on 1 channel and the other is on the other channel. You need to make sure they are on separate channels. DDR2 PC3200 RAM is pretty good. AS long as you don't have a bad memory module, you shouldn't be experiencing too much problem in speed because of RAM. Your system probably holds up to 4GB total RAM at 1GB per slot.

Now it probably won't speed up the back-up of your DVDs. That should rely mostly on your DVD & HDD drives. Even on a top pf the line state of the art machine, if your DVD drive is only a 4x and your HDD is 5400RPM, you're gonna be waiting a bit longer than you might with a 10000RPM SATA HDD, and a 12X DVD drive.

[slimpickins]

i think i only have 512
3200 is good but there are quite a few above the list on that

[Morse2]

Hi Doramius;

>>>...if your DVD drive is only a 4x...<<<

Don't forget "riplock" - if your drive is riplocked, you're stuck at 2-2.4x as your max speed for DVD rips, no matter what the theoretical top end is. Either hacked firmware (use at your own risk!) or Lite-On drives are NOT rip-locked.

Hi Slimpickins;

After you buy your new memory sticks don't forget to to test 'em out with Memtest 86. Google it for a free download and leave it running overnight (you have to burn it as an iso-image on a CD then you boot from it). If Memtest picks up any faults in your memory, RMA IMMEDIATELY. Of course with more than one stick this means separate tests, but the "leave it running overnight" thing really does work wonders at smoking out gremlins from unstable systems.

Good luck and all the best!
Morse

[Doramius]

riplock is for stability. You can still get Burners that burn faster than 2-2.4. It's nice to get an older burner and "upgrade" the firmware and burn 8x or 16x DVDs. just don't be surprised if once in a while you get a bad burn or your burner wears out faster than normal. :/

[slimpickins]

my burner burns a disk at 16x in about 8-9 mins

[INFRATOM]

Looks like subject has changed since you Question, When you build a computer you care about quality because you can optimize and match in pair cases but now buy the cheapest you can get ofcourse better brand you have less chance of bad memory all together. If you open few programs at the same time you may need more RAM in these days 1gig is a good figure. go to task manager see how much RAM is being used . Your pixel problem is resolution not RAM issue.

[Super Warrior]

I like crucial.com for RAM....it also, helps you to figure out what types and how much you specific computer can take/use

Yeah for compatableity going to crucial.com to learn EXACTLY what kind/type of memory your comp uses is great...but thats all. Their memory is WAAAY over-priced.

Just upgraded my laptop with a 512MB DDR2 stick from newegg.com for $30. Crucial wants $70!!

For less than $70 i could have gotten a 1GB DDR2 stick.