Thank goodness for more ram - old computer shines

[yoda313]

Yep finally upgraded the ram on my old celeron single core that I use for surfing and word processing.

I had another single core that I wasn't using in storage. I figured what the hell and checked the type of ram that it used. It was the same pc3200 that my active desktop uses.

So today I finally opened up the unused computer and did the swap. Unfortunately it used two 256mb sticks. I have one 512mb in my active desktop. Yes I know mismatched ram isn't the best situation. However with 776 (760 according to the boot screen) makes a world of difference.

The extra 50% of ram makes everything run so much more smoothly. XP loads a lot more efficiently. I don't feel like I'm waiting forever just to get to the point where I can load firefox. I can even do video on the web better! Before it would have a lot slowdowns and I thought it was my wifi. However I do have a wifi nic card and a belkin antenna so I really should have the ideal connection for wifi without a repeater (the router is on another floor).

This has been a nice addition. I'm glad I thought of it. Saved me at least 10.00 plus shipping. I was browsing ebay once I found out what ram my desktop took. 10.00 plus shipping seemed to be the going rate for bottom pricing of 256mb pc3200 ram.

I may one day upgrade to a full gig with a matching 512mb stick. But for now on the cheap this has been a great addition.

It feels like a new computer

[redwudz]

If the motherboard is a micro-ATX, adding additional RAM can make quite a difference as some of the system RAM is being used by the graphics chips. Most times if you don't have enough RAM, the OS uses boot drive space to help with processing and this can make the PC run slow. If you see the HDD light flashing a lot, additional RAM may help.

With XP, I haven't seen much of a performance increase going from 512MB to 1000MB, but there is probably some.

I've seen a couple of Vista laptops with 256MB and I was surprised they would even run. I put 4GB in my laptop (W7 64bit) and that did seem to help performance.

Having two (Or more) matched sticks of RAM can also give you a bit of performance boost, if your motherboard supports a dual channel RAM setup.

It's also interesting that new RAM, such a DDR3, costs about the same as DDR2 or DDR. But with DDR or DDR2, sometimes you can get a deal off Ebay for used RAM.

[yoda313]

If the motherboard is a micro-ATX, adding additional RAM can make quite a difference as some of the system RAM is being used by the graphics chips

I don't know if its a micro-atx or not. Its a large emachine desktop.

Also I have a nvidia video card so the graphics should be handled by the card not the motherboard. Fyi its an ancient card with 256mb ram on it, pci model.

Having two (Or more) matched sticks of RAM can also give you a bit of performance boost, if your motherboard supports a dual channel RAM setup.

I don't know if it does. Would emachines be sophisticated enough to support that? It does have two slots for ram but does that automatically mean its dual channel? And do they have to be the exact same size and brand and make for it to be dual channel or is it merely the same ram speed and mb that matters?

For right now I think I'm happy with the extra ram I have installed. If I find a 512mb stick in a garage sale or at a good used price I may jump on it. But this cannabilizing of ram from the computer I'm not using seems to be just the trick I was looking for.

[redwudz]

It may not have dual channel capability. Dual channel 'may' give you a few percent performance increase, I've seen differing information on how much. But for dual channel operation, the RAM sticks have to be matched, usually at the factory.

Probably with your PC, adding a second 512MB stick would improve performance a bit, but may not be very noticeable with just surfing or word processing. Still, probably worth adding it if you find a cheap RAM module.

Beyond sufficient RAM, I've found a 5% - 10% overclock of the CPU gives a fair amount of performance boost without overstressing the system too much. But with that PC, probably not something you want to mess with.

[yoda313]

But with that PC, probably not something you want to mess with.

Yeah I don't think overclocking a stock emachine single core celeron from 5 years ago is a good idea. I don't think emachinces now what "overclocking" means anyway

Still, probably worth adding it if you find a cheap RAM module.

Yep but unfortunately play money is a little tight right now hence the hijacking of the ram. But something might pop up. In the meantime this solution is more than adequate.

Thanks for the dual channel info. If I was really interested I still have my manual somewhere and theres always emachines.com - maybe later....

Thanks.

[yoda313]

I just got a used computer in a garage sale. It has two 512mb pc2700 ram sticks. Would that be better than unmatched 512 and 256? I could swap the ram. Would the difference between 2700 and 3200 negate the boost of matching ram sticks?

edit - the computer has pc3200 512mb and 256mb. I'm considering swapping that with the 2700 that are 512mb each.

[redwudz]

Are you sure the two sticks are really matched or just two of the same? It also depends on how the other PC handles them. In the past, faster RAM chips came off the same production lines as slower ones. During testing, they segregated them by speed. So the 2700 sticks may run just as fast as the 3200 sticks. Many variables.

I'd just plug them in and see what happens. You can see their settings in the PC with CPUZ: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

And you could run a benchmarking program to see how they perform in real life.

[yoda313]

I'd just plug them in and see what happens. You can see their settings in the PC with CPUZ: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

Sounds good. I have used cpuz before.

And you could run a benchmarking program to see how they perform in real life.

How do you mean? I've never run one before, I wouldn't know what to look for.

Are you sure the two sticks are really matched or just two of the same?

I don't know. I haven't looked at them closely enough to know for sure. I'll swap em in and check em out and see how they handle.

[yoda313]

Well I didn't do a benchmark of the previous set of ram I was using on this particular computer (the 776mb ram computer) but from a feel standpoint the two 512mb sticks feels a bit faster than the mismatched 776 set. I don't know if they are truly matched and I seriously doubt my celeron pc that I"m using it on has dual channel capability. But it does feel a bit faster than the 776 and light years faster than the single 512 I was using for so long.

Definitely a good upgrade. Although these are 2700 sticks and the mismatched 776 were 3200 ram. I may have a small efficiency dip but I think the extra total ram is helping.

I can multitask much better now. At least playing music and surfing isn't a chore with slowdowns (not that I too many slowdowns before but it seemed sluggish).

I think for now I'll leave the 2700 1gig set in the machine for awhile. If anything seems out of place after awhile I may revert to my previous setup.

[lordsmurf]

I dumped 8GB into my Mac.
That made a difference.

[yoda313]

Try putting win7 on it to help out too

(mac hater speaking hear of course )

[zzyzzx]

I only have 512 + 256mb RAM in my pc and it's fine (with Windows 2000)

[redwudz]

W2000 or W98 can run on 512MB RAM. Vista and W7 really can't.

[zzyzzx]

Shouldn't this be in the Computer section

[yoda313]

Shouldn't this be in the Computer section

It's more of a water cooler type chat than anything serious. Since I've already done it it doesn't need to be in the open forum.