RAM upgrades on older computers

[hkgant]

Would upgrading a PC which is running 32-bit XP SP3 and has about 372mb of RAM to its max of 512mb see a real speed difference? And would upgrading another which is also running 32-bit XP SP3 from its current 2GB to its maximum of 8GB see a difference? I read somewhere that 32-bit XP doesn't seem to get considerably faster once you have more than 1GB of RAM installed. Can anyone verify this? What happens if you accidentally put more than the max supported amount of RAM into a PC?

 

[voyagerfan99]

Would upgrading a PC which is running 32-bit XP SP3 and has about 372mb of RAM to its max of 512mb see a real speed difference?

You may see a bit of a difference but not too much. It depends on how clean your installation of XP is and if you have any virus'/trojans/malware bogging the machine down/

And would upgrading another which is also running 32-bit XP SP3 from its current 2GB to its maximum of 8GB see a difference?

Probably not.

I read somewhere that 32-bit XP doesn't seem to get considerably faster once you have more than 1GB of RAM installed. Can anyone verify this?

The machine will definately fly, but like I said above it depends on your windows installation.

What happens if you accidentally put more than the max supported amount of RAM into a PC?

It will wither not POST or it will only see the maximum amount of memory the OS can support.

32-bit windows sees only about 4GB give or take a few megabytes.
64-bit windows will see anything above 4GB to a certain extent.

 

[hkgant]

Dw, I'm not your average user - and I know much more about computers than the average person. That said, I've not got a Masters in IT and I'm willing to admit that I don't know everything - tech seems to be changing at a faster and faster rate and it's damn hard to keep up with the constant advances in technology (you can see why the average user just spends money when their PC is slow on a brand new one when they could have saved heaps of money - as I get better at I.T. I learn how manufacturers rip ignorant people off). The two PCs in question have no malware or shitware (crappy programs installed). Thanks for the help so far.

 

[fmw]

HK, increases in memory make a difference when the software you run will not fit in memory. That requires the applications to page to hard drive constantly or access a database on the hard drive rather than in memory. If this is the case, then any increase in memory size will have a meaningful effect. If this is not the case, it won't make any difference at all. You can get a pretty good idea by watching the hard drive led as you run the software.

Generally, 1GB is enough to run XP and most applications efficiently (from memory.) 2GB is enough to accomplish the same thing with Vista. Increasing memory beyond those levels would be valuable depending on the specific applications. For most users, it won't matter much.

Having said that, memory is really cheap. It doesn't cost much to fill up your DIMM slots so you might as well do it.

 

[dug987654]

You can get a pretty good idea by watching the hard drive led as you run the software.

I thought of that as a way to check! It is really obvious though when you think about it.

 

[hondro]

im pretty sure u can only use 3gb of ram in 32 bit xp, if u want any more u need a 64 bit proc and os

 

[hkgant]

You can get a pretty good idea by watching the hard drive led as you run the software.

Thanks for that. I never considered that lol (prob cos I'm usually using a Mac).

im pretty sure u can only use 3gb of ram in 32 bit xp, if u want any more u need a 64 bit proc and os

Ugh. Are you serious?

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[hkgant]

I recently upgraded a PC running Windows XP Pro 32-bit, which only had 256MB RAM to have 768MB. Boy did that make a difference. The thing flies now lol. The PC is 5 years old and it's still going strong. I've been debating whether or not to upgrade it to Vista Basic - everything I use is compatible with it but I don't know whether it'd slow the system down too much. I also recently downgraded the seriously underpowered Lenovo A62 to XP Pro 32-bit in the hope that the performance would pick up but it didn't at all. That saw me having to look for drivers for the sound card and the res is really bad - I think I'll have to look for another driver for the display. That Lenovo has 2GB of RAM.

 

[dug987654]

I've been debating whether or not to upgrade it to Vista Basic - everything I use is compatible with it but I don't know whether it'd slow the system down too much.

The minimum requirements for Vista Basic are 512MB RAM and a 1Ghz CPU. I personally think that the performance will be no better with Vista than XP. So I don't really see any point in upgrading, unless you just prefer Vista. Doug.

 

[hkgant]

True. I should have said that I am considering upgrading other PCs to Vista Basic. And I've got XP Pro which has much more functionality - so it seems - than Vista Basic. Btw, is there any way to get your webcam to show up in Computer in Vista like it did in XP Pro in My Computer?

 

[voyagerfan99]

Ugh. Are you serious?

Thanks for the help guys.

It takes someone more than me to say something?

 

[hkgant]

Lol. No it's alright dw. I believe you. I was just irritated.

 

[hkgant]

Thanks for the help all.