2 gig mem in xp enough?

I don't mean to sound like I'm being a dick Wayne, I hope I'm not coming across that way!!

I know that you know your stuff from all the posts of yours that I've read, but I was just stating that I definitely saw an increase in system performance when moving from 2GB to 4GB, it made a huge difference when it came to multi-tasking.
 
DavyBoy said:
I was just stating that I definitely saw an increase in system performance when moving from 2GB to 4GB
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The only way that I can see you saw an increase in system performance moving from 2GB to 4GB is:

  • Your normal working data set was approx 2GB and over
  • The upgraded memory was running at a higher frequency
  • The upgraded memory had tighter timings

DavyBoy said:
it made a huge difference when it came to multi-tasking.
Click to expand...

Hmm what is multi-tasking? . . . is it running MS Paint, MS Word, Outlook and IE and flicking between them? . . . . . is it running Adobe CS, Adobe Premier, Adobe After Effects? . . . is it running multiple games and alt-tabbing between them?

As long as your data set is within physical memory (including O/S) then an individual is all sorted . . . if the data set exceeds the physical memory then the PC will not blow up but the HDD light will flick on, the hour glass will appear over the mouse and the extra memory storage space that is needed is created in the swap file, its not ideal

I haven't seen a Huge difference in any computer hardware the past several years, I think the last thing was probably switching from a 19"CRT to a 24" LCD, now that is what I call a Huge difference! :p

If jonny nOObzilla reads posts like yours they will build up expectations beyond what they will get . . . . these forums are full of people disappointed because their expectations haven't been met and their is only one reason for this . . . their fellow forum members have exaggerated the performance claims . . . .
 
DavyBoy said:
I don't mean to sound like I'm being a dick Wayne, I hope I'm not coming across that way!!
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Your not, your just stating things as you see them, unfortunately your experience has been very different from my own so I am trying to draw a conclusion from your experience! :)

If you understand where I am coming from I think you will agree these forums are full of people with massively overspecced machines, of course there is the element of ePeen but there are some folk who believe they actually need all the kit because otherwise their PC experience will be hadicapped and laggy, slow etc

Everyone can do what they want, I will try to keep it real and on a real world level and hopefully clear the hype fog away and save people money, also the real winners are the hardware manufacturers who sit back and rub their hands with joy as all the profits come in from selling people stuff they don't actually need! :p

The Story of Stuff
 
Like I said Wayne, the RAM I upgraded to was the same type as the 2GB I was using previously.

And by multitasking, I mean having large files being copied, browsing the net, editing images in photoshop, and listening to music whilst switching between photoshop and my web-browser.

When I would try and do anything along those lines with 2GB of RAM, anytime I tried to switch between apps, it would take ages for the app I was switching over to appear on the screen again, and when I wanted to go back to photoshop or whatever app I was running, it would again take ages to appear.

Once I stuck another 2GB into my system, this was no longer an issue, things would appear pretty much instantly.

If that isn't a performance boost, then what is it??

As for running multiple games and alt-tabbing between them, I don't see what the point in that would be, the reason for alt-tabbing out of a game, in my case, would be to check my instant messenger whilst I was playing a game, or to go look at a walk-through in my web browser for the game that I was in the middle of playing.

If I was to try doing that with 2GB of RAM, I found myself waiting forever to get back to my browser, and then when it came to going back into my game, sometimes it would end up crashing, or again, it took ages to return to the game, once the extra 2GB of RAM was installed, this was no longer a problem for me.

Anyway, this doesn't seem to be going anywhere, as you are just nitpicking for reasons that are unknown to me???:rolleyes:

All I know is there was definitely a performance gain whilst using 32bit XP and using 4GB of RAM over 2GB, it doesn't matter what you say, I witnessed the gains for myself, if you didn't, then obviously 2GB of RAM was more than enough for whatever you use your PC for, I personally preferred using 4GB, and I would recommend using 4GB over 2GB any day!!! :P
 
I know what you mean by people having over-specced machines for what they use them for, myself being one of them!!

I don't NEED a core i7 920 o.ced to 4GHz, but I chose to buy this hardware, as I had cash to burn, and I wanted a new toy to play with, tbh though, I will probably keep this CPU for a couple of years before I decide to change it again, so I personally think that it was money well spent..

I do agree with most of what you're saying, but I still can't deny the performance increases I saw when using 4GB of RAM, and I doubt that I am the only one who has this opinion.
 
DavyBoy said:
And by multitasking, I mean having large files being copied, browsing the net, editing images in photoshop, and listening to music whilst switching between photoshop and my web-browser.

When I would try and do anything along those lines with 2GB of RAM, anytime I tried to switch between apps, it would take ages for the app I was switching over to appear on the screen again, and when I wanted to go back to photoshop or whatever app I was running, it would again take ages to appear.

Once I stuck another 2GB into my system, this was no longer an issue, things would appear pretty much instantly.

If that isn't a performance boost, then what is it??
Click to expand...
It's called having enough Physical memory for your personal data set.

Btw I'm not nitpicking but rather getting you to clarify the exact details from your experience, you initial claim was pretty vague in terms of details, thanks for taking the time to clarify! :)

I've got several office/photoshop machines spread around the London area being manned by furious multitaskers and the systems only have 512Mb installed . . . I checked the task manager on a few of them and saw one or two had logged up to 765MB of peak memory useage so I reckon I will get those upgraded to 1Gb heh! ;)
 
I was sorting out a friends desktop the other day, an old AMD 3800+ single core, with 512MB of RAM, and it was killing me trying to do anything with that system, it was running Vista however.

I couldn't do anything with that system the way it was, I ended up fitting 2GB of some old RAM I had lying around, and that seemed to speed things up a little.

With the 512MB installed, it was like a snail, even trying to browse through folders while I was uninstalling an app, it was near impossible!!
 
gentlemen...

im not quite sure how to put this... but memory is gooooooooooooood :)



ok no seriously, switching between the game and desktop etc is really torture when you dont have enough ram... i mean i work with photoshop/flash/premiere all at once and on my 2GB XP laptop sometimes switching between them takes the computer a few seconds to respond... but when I work on my 4GB pc, it does it instantly...

the actual work itself though, i.e. applying filters etc, that doesn't improve because the images and stuff i work on aren't exactly huge canvasses etc

but i do think there's a general agreement amongst computer users that Vista/7 users should have at least 2GB ram... I installed Windows 7 Pro 64-bit on my sister's Mac Mini that had 1GB ram and it was S.L.O.W... very slow switching between IE and MSN and Word etc... but when I put 2GB in it then it was comfortable...

hey maybe DavyBoy is working for OcUK trying to get people to put more orders for memory though ;) hehe jus kiddin
 
512MB of good fast memory is perfectly useable on Windows XP for the non power-user, 1GB is better especially for the casual gamer and 2GB is pretty fat

1GB of good fast memory is perfectly useable on Windows 7 for the non power-user, 2GB is better especially for the casual gamer and 4GB is pretty fat

beyond that I would consider Specialist
  • High End Gamer
  • Media Content Creation
  • Virtualized Enviroments
  • Etc
 
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