I have an oldish system which does what I need. I will probably build a new better one sometime this year.
However for now ...
I have recently started using three applications which I need to run concurrently. According to Windows 2000 task manager they are using a total of about 1.3GB of memory. My system has 512MB of RAM which till recently has been plenty but now I am getting a lot of paging and obviously things are too slow.
I think I need to get my RAM up to 1.5GB
Currently I have two 256MB sticks in two memory slots running dual channel. The sticks are rated at 400MHz but the dual channel operations seem to drop it back to 266Mhz. I have one free slot.
I am seeking opinions:
1) Add extra 1GB memory to the third slot. Will pretty much stop paging. Memory will all probably run at 400MHz. Maybe bad - different sized RAM, different manufacturer RAM, probably different characteristic RAM. Bad - not dual channel so may benchmark slower. Good - real world performance massively better due to no paging. My gut feeling says that although is the cheapest option it is a bad move and may lead to problems. The PC runs 24 hours per day with processor flat out at 100% most of the time.
2) Replace existing RAM and fill all three slots up with identical (not matched) 512MB sticks. It upsets me to scrap perfectly working RAM but it is maybe 4 years old now so I have had my use. I get the benefits as above but I lose dual channel. This option is slightly cheaper than the most expensive option. What actual difference would losing dual channel make to, say, a modern graphic intensive game? Should I worry?
3) Replace the two current sticks with two new sticks of 1GB RAM assuming there is no such thing as 3/4 GB sticks. I'm looking at crucial stuff. Matched if possible. Retains Dual Channel. Gives me more memory than I really need, though I guess you can never really have too much. Most expensive.
NB No overclocking - everything run at nice cool stable stock.
I have to admit I don't like (1), tempted by (2), probably go for (3) for peace of mind unless anyone responds strongly for another option.
Thanks in advance.
However for now ...
I have recently started using three applications which I need to run concurrently. According to Windows 2000 task manager they are using a total of about 1.3GB of memory. My system has 512MB of RAM which till recently has been plenty but now I am getting a lot of paging and obviously things are too slow.
I think I need to get my RAM up to 1.5GB
Currently I have two 256MB sticks in two memory slots running dual channel. The sticks are rated at 400MHz but the dual channel operations seem to drop it back to 266Mhz. I have one free slot.
I am seeking opinions:
1) Add extra 1GB memory to the third slot. Will pretty much stop paging. Memory will all probably run at 400MHz. Maybe bad - different sized RAM, different manufacturer RAM, probably different characteristic RAM. Bad - not dual channel so may benchmark slower. Good - real world performance massively better due to no paging. My gut feeling says that although is the cheapest option it is a bad move and may lead to problems. The PC runs 24 hours per day with processor flat out at 100% most of the time.
2) Replace existing RAM and fill all three slots up with identical (not matched) 512MB sticks. It upsets me to scrap perfectly working RAM but it is maybe 4 years old now so I have had my use. I get the benefits as above but I lose dual channel. This option is slightly cheaper than the most expensive option. What actual difference would losing dual channel make to, say, a modern graphic intensive game? Should I worry?
3) Replace the two current sticks with two new sticks of 1GB RAM assuming there is no such thing as 3/4 GB sticks. I'm looking at crucial stuff. Matched if possible. Retains Dual Channel. Gives me more memory than I really need, though I guess you can never really have too much. Most expensive.
NB No overclocking - everything run at nice cool stable stock.
I have to admit I don't like (1), tempted by (2), probably go for (3) for peace of mind unless anyone responds strongly for another option.
Thanks in advance.
