# Do I need more RAM to make my computer run faster?



## U2XS (Jan 6, 2007)

Hey guys, I've got a question that I think is related to RAM, but I am not entirely sure. My computer is not running as fast as I think it can. So I would like to know how to make it run faster. 

On most occasions I don't have a problem with it. However at times I have programs running (that I think hog ram) like Photoshop, Winamp, Outlook, a few tabs on firefox and Macromedia Flash running all at the same time. Here my computer begins to slow down and even seems to freeze for a few seconds.

So, I understand that the question I am asking -"Do I need more RAM to make my computer run faster?" - is not an easy one to answer and that it depends on a lot of variables. Here is a screenshot of my computer system information (msinfo32). Hopefully that will give you everything you need to help me: http://www.sergprotector.com/techSupport/screenshot.jpg

Thank you all for your help! If you need more information, please let me know what to provide.

P.S. If you can not answer the question directly, please forward me to any tutorials or information that may help. Thanks


----------



## 8210GUY (Aug 29, 2006)

If you could confirm it's 512 ram you currently have ?
And what is your motherboard\CPU ?

But photoshop is definitely a resource hog, as is any graphics editing software, so if you could afford 2 gig of ram you should certainly see a difference, but whether that alone is enough is another matter.
Give us the above info and we can advise more, if your set up is capable dual ram would be beneficial to you.


----------



## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Upgrading to 1 GB would definitely make an improvement, and you would see a big improvement going to 2 GB if you do photo/sound editing or gaming. You will also want to check if there is a process eating up your CPU usage, as that could cause the freezes.


----------



## U2XS (Jan 6, 2007)

I have;
- 512 MB of Kingston Hyper X DDR2 Ram
- Intel D975XBX Motherboard
- Intel Pentium D 805 Dual Core Processor


I suppose that anything could be the problem, but I estimate that it is the ram. To see if this was the case I tried a little experiment.

I opened the Task manager and my Ram was up to about 350 while my processor wasn't doing much. Then I opened a few of the programs I would normally open and I acted as if I was unaware of my limits. It took me about 30 seconds to max out the Ram, but the processor barely went over 50%.

Here is the screenshot: Http://www.sergprotector.com/techSupport/01.09.07.jpg

I am not sure how to read the bottom half of that panel (Commit charge & Kernal memory), but maybe that tells a part of the story that I don't see.

Anyway thanks again for all of the help. Its amazing to find a place where people know what they are talking about and actually help!


----------



## 8210GUY (Aug 29, 2006)

Right then I definitely suggest you sell your current ram and buy a matched pair of ram, 2x1 gig sticks ideally if you can afford it, your set up supports hyperthreading so by getting a matched pair of ram you can utilise that and gain performance, there may be smaller issues to help as well, but the ram should make a large difference, and the better the ram's cas latency the better the performance, get that then see what you think.


----------



## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

Yes, it certainly would increase your performance, especially as when Flash is playing, multimedia and imaging software running; the RAM and CPU usage skies. I would expect 1GB to be enough for you to be honest. There's hardly a time when an individual user tops that limit.


----------



## 8210GUY (Aug 29, 2006)

Ordinarily I would agree, but as they are using photoshop and other programmes at the same time 1gig wont be enough on the grand scale of things, it will run a lot better than it currently does obviously, but photoshop is a resource hog and the more ram the better when such programs are concerned, but 1 gig will certainly be a huge improvement from their current set up.


----------



## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

On average, daily at one of my flat systems, I would be running Adobe Photoshop CS2, Corel Paint Shop Pro 11, Babaya Photo Workshop Pro 12, GIMP2, Thunderbird 1.5.0.9 with 51 extensions and 21 accounts, Firefox 2.0.0.1 with 55 extensions and 10 tabs, Universal Explorer 4.2, Wireshark, Notepad++, Dexpot 1.4 with 9 desktops, OpenOffice.org 2.1, 5 scanners in avast! plus resident shield, SpybotS&D TeaTimer with a MVP HOSTS file, Disk Monitor, Gaim with 5 people, Autoruns, RegEditX, YPOPs!, WatchIP, Mmm, Unit Conversion Tool 5.1, Spyware Guard 2.2.0, Spyware Blaster 3.5.1 and TimeLeft 3.25 - simultaneously on a 1.5GB system very perfectly. It peaks at 1.23GB RAM usage usually, hence my last post. 

If he goes for higher than 1GB RAM its better to have matched pairs as stated above by 8210GUY, to run in Dual Channel mode (2x1GB). Most boards support it in at least two slots. If you want to find out what you ideally need then open Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) after you've been running your normal activities of a day; preferably just before you switch off your computer, and under the *Performance* tab, look under *Commit Charge (K)*. The value given for *Peak* is the highest mount of RAM you've used and needed since your last restart. This is an accurate indication of one's requirements.


----------



## U2XS (Jan 6, 2007)

Hey guys, thanks for the help. I bought 2 GB of Viking Ram from Newegg and it's made all of the difference in multitasking for me. I can run Photoshop, flash, winamp and Firefox all at once, which is exactly what I needed.

Now the only question is: Where do I buy wings, because this thing can fly!


----------



## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Nice. Glad you got it working. Here is a little tip for when you have 1 GB of RAM or more. Follow these steps. It will enable the large system cache, which will use a chunk of your RAM for the cache and improve performance on systems with large amounts of RAM.

Start > (Settings) > Control Panel > System > Advanced tab > Performance > Settings > Advanced tab > Memory Usage > select System Cache > click OK


----------



## U2XS (Jan 6, 2007)

Hi Matt, thanks for the advice. I followed, it but I'm not even sure why. The way I figured it, I can't seem to get my Ram to exceed 900 MB, so any setting probably can't make things worse. But how am I making it better?


----------



## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

See here U2XS: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/895932


----------



## U2XS (Jan 6, 2007)

Thanks for the link. I read it but it left me with one more question. This is an excerpt from that page:


> System cache mode is designed for use with Windows server products that act as servers. System cache mode is also designed for limited use with Windows XP, when you use Windows XP as a file server. *This mode is not designed for everyday desktop use.* If you use a server product as a desktop, you should consider changing the resource allocation to Programs mode or adding more physical RAM.


Doesn't this include me?


----------



## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

All the system cache does is use a larger chunk of RAM for the system cache. It will just be utilizing your RAM more. It is not designed for any one specific type of computer, though servers will benefit more from it. I have this enabled on my laptop because I have 2 GB of RAM.

BTW, if you open up a graphics intensive game, Google Earth, or even 3Dmark, watch how much RAM is being used, you will see it jump significantly.


----------



## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

Yes as Matt said, if you have more RAM at your disposal, its better for your system to prioritize it that way. XP finds it quicker to use the System cache instead of the HDD Program itself.


----------

